An exploratory study of counterfeit purchases among rural bottom of pyramid customers in India

This study offers insights into counterfeiting purchases by focusing on consumers in a rural BOP in India. More specifically, effects of individual characteristics like consumers’ demographic factors and psychographic factors are examined and the various products related characteristics and situational characteristics are explored. Qualitative data was collected in the form of 43 interviews of rural BOP customers to understand counterfeit phenomenon. Results suggest that rural BOP people do not perceive any adverse social consequence and risk, neither performance nor financial, while buying counterfeits. Further, in this study, besides gender and age, counterfeit purchases were found to be affected by various other factors like value consciousness, type of products purchased, and type of rural retailer chosen by customers. Previous studies in Asian countries and among economically advantaged populations, had not related their findings to rural BOP segment. This paper entails useful implications for marketers and offers specific recommendations for management, as well as the scope for future research is presented.