Criminality, Consumption and the Counterfeiting of Fashion Goods: a Consumer Perspective
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Criminality, Consumption and the Counterfeiting of Fashion Goods: A Consumer Perspective Joanna Suzanne Large "Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" The University of Leeds School of Law August 2011 Intellectual Property and Publication Statements "The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others." "This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement." "The right of Joanna Large to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988." © 2011 The University of Leeds and Joanna Large Acknowledgements This PhD was funded by the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies (CCJS) (School of Law, Leeds University) scholarship and my first thanks go to the CCJS for providing this opportunity. Without the funding I simply would have not been able to take on a PhD. I would also like to thank colleagues at the CCJS for their support throughout. I am forever in debt to my supervisors. In particular to Emma Wincup for her constant support, ideas, and patience, tolerance and help with my constant stream of questions as the final deadline drew near, and guidance throughout the whole process. Also, to David Wall for my early opportunities as a researcher on Couture and inspiration and confidence to take on the PhD in the first place. The final year of writing up I spent working at the Centre for Criminology, University of Glamorgan. I would like to thank the whole team for a great year but especially Fiona Brookman, Mike Maguire, Trevor Bennett and Katy Holloway for their support and concern about 'how the write up is going' and the many informal discussions over lunch (or a glass of wine!) really helped me to refine ideas and think of new avenues to consider. Extra thanks must also go to Fiona for helping me right at the last hurdle and Katy for her 'beady eyes' and helpful advice. I cannot write an acknowledgements page without thanking Anna Barker, who starting her PhD at the same time has been a constant in the whole process from start to finish. Many hours on the phone (or again, over wine) were spent discussing our PhDs and together we stuck out the good, the bad and the ugly to see our PhDs through to the end. Thanks mate! I also owe thanks to Keleigh Cold ron and Liz Oliver for their help and support over the years and proof that you can come out in one piece at the other end of this process. Thanks also to all my other friends for faith and support - most of whom I have abandoned in the past few months and am looking forward to getting back in touch with! Many other people have helped along the way, and many in ways they will never realise, but it has not gone unnoticed on my part. Thanks also to Sophie Large for being a great sister. Thanks to my mum for just being my mum and helping when needed, and to my dad for supporting me throughout the 4 years and funding my last 2 months so I could focus on finishing. I hope I have made you proud. ii Final thanks goes to everyone who participated in the research, a lot of people have taken part along the way and your ideas, thoughts and comments have made this PhD possible. iii Abstract The past decade has seen heightened attention towards the potentially harmful consequences of intellectual property crime. In particular, there are concerns about the damage to industry and the global economy, alongside increasing recognition of links with organised crime and terrorism. As a result, a plethora of policy initiatives have sought to reduce the problem of counterfeiting and piracy, of which the underlying principle is consumer responsibility. However, this thesis argues that this approach is based on a number of assumptions. These are prominent when the specific example of fashion counterfeiting is examined. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore consumers' perceptions about fashion counterfeiting and how they relate to their fashion purchasing and assumptions underpinning anti counterfeiting policy. The research seeks to contextualise fashion counterfeiting within the broader literature about consumption and fashion and add to criminological literature. This is achieved by taking an interdisciplinary consumer-based approach which involved the completion of 801 questionnaires and conducting 27 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups. The findings support recent existing research findings that consumers of counterfeit fashion goods cannot be distinguished by their demographic characteristics. Instead, consumers' preferences about fashion, as well as the situation, context and availability are major factors related to the propensity to purchase fashion counterfeits. Techniques of neutralisation and notably the denial of harm can be clearly identified in consumer justifications for purchasing counterfeits. This has clear consequences for consumer perceptions about whether counterfeiting is a 'real crime' and inevitably, responses to counterfeiting. In particular, the notion that consumers will change their behaviour through being educated about the 'dangers of buying fakes' is problematic, as is the suggestion that criminalising the consumption of counterfeits could be a solution. Therefore, these findings demonstrate fundamental concerns about current assumptions underpinning anti-counterfeiting policy. iv Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures .................................................................................ix Key of Abbreviations .........................................................................................xi Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Rationale and Focus ................................................................. 1 Approach ...................................................................................2 Definitions .................................................................................4 Legal Framework ......................................................................7 Enforcing Legislation ..................................................... 7 Thesis Outline ........................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: A Background to Counterfeiting ...................................................... 11 The Standard (Anti) Counterfeiting Debate ............................... 11 Types of Counterfeits ................................................................ 13 Harm: Quality vs Deception ...................................................... 14 Consumer Demand for Counterfeit Goods ............................... 19 Price, Quality and Performance ................................... 19 Consumer Attitudes and Consumer Behaviour ............ 21 Demographics of Counterfeit Consumers ................................ 22 Consumer Types ...........................................................22 Image of Counterfeits and Counterfeit Consumers ...... 26 Risk and Counterfeit Consumption ........................................... 27 Concluding Comments ............................................................. 30 Chapter 3: Theoretical Context. .......................................................................31 The Consumer as a Rational Actor.......................................... 31 Class Differentiation Approaches - Trickle-down Theory' ....... 33 Class Differentiation Approaches - Revising Trickle-Down Theory ......................................................................................34 Collective Selection Theory ..................................................... 040 Fashion as a Communicator: Individual & Collective Identity..42 Fashion: The Role of Social Structures and 'Community' ...... A4 Consumption, Social Exclusion and Identity ............................46 Fashion and Explicit Communication ....................................... 50 Summary of Key Points ............................................................50 Concluding Comments ............................................................. 53 v Chapter 4: Methodology ...................................................................................54 Research Questions .................................................................54 Issues ....................................................................................... 55 Research Approach ...................................................... 55 Reflexive Account: The Survey ................................................ 57 Designing the Questionnaire ........................................ 62 Sampling ......................................................................66 Data Collection and Analysis ........................................ 69 Pilot Study .........................................................69 Final Questionnaire ........................................... 69 Demographics of the Sample: The Survey ............................... 71 Reflexive Account: The Interviews ........................................... 73 Sampling .......................................................................74 Designing and Analysing the Interviews ....................... 77 Demographics of the Sample: The Interviews .......................... 78 Reflexive Account: The Focus Groups ....................................