Faux Real?

The real story behind counterfeit consumption: fakes don't damage the industry.

Following Veblen's theory about conspicuous consumption, Renee Gosline, an assistant professor at MIT, believes that status-seekers own luxury goods to distinguish themselves from other groups of people regardless of them not necessarily being able to differentiate a fake luxury good from the real thing. Surprisingly enough, consumers are not inclined to buy a fake item to save money, they'll buy the real thing to pass as "socially discerning" and to pass verdict on people and just goods.

Mark Ritson, an associate professor of marketing, states that fake luxury goods don't cannibalize sales and even though the market is flooded with copies, clients will continue to buy the real thing because of the social power it carries. Studies have shown that those who buy fakes are 46% more likely to buy the authentic apparel within the following year and continue a brand loyalty. For example: a fake Prada will not bring the consumer into the world of Prada because they knows it's fake, therefore in order to buy into the world of conspicuous consumption the client will eventually buy the real product, since buying the fake is the first step to brand loyalty, therefore fakes actually aide buying the genuine product.

On another note, an American business school found through a study that people who wear fake gods are more likely to cheat and lie; the results suggest that those wearing fakes are literally less trustworthy than those who wear the real thing....