Examining Chinese Consumers' Knowledge, Face-Saving, Materialistic, and Ethical Values with Attitudes of Counterfeit Goods

Although there is increasing research on Chinese consumers' apparel purchasing behavior, there is limited information examining the relationships between Chinese consumers' knowledge of counterfeit goods, face-saving, materialistic, and ethical values with their attitudes toward counterfeit fashion goods sold in China's marketplaces. Understanding the behavior of Chinese consumers is significant given that China is the world's largest apparel producer and exporter and maintains the greatest consumer marketplace today. China also has the world's largest counterfeit market. In the Chinese marketplace, a majority of goods are counterfeited, including fashion products. This has become a serious and costly issue among fashion brands as they endeavor to protect their intellectual property rights. A total of 1192 participants (736 female and 456 male) residing in China participated in this study. Among the findings, significant relationships between Chinese consumers' knowledge of counterfeits, face-saving, materialistic, and ethical values and their attitudes toward counterfeits existed. The results of this study provide a reference for other scholars exploring the three tiers of sustainability. Previous research has shown evidence that the production of counterfeit goods is linked to terrorism, poor working conditions, and the health and safety of consumers--all issues pertaining to social individual responsibility and social corporate responsibility.