Profiling brand‐piracy‐prone consumers: an exploratory study in Hong Kong’s clothing industry

Abstract

This research profiles consumers of pirated products, specifically pirated brands of clothing. Utilising a structured questionnaire and counter‐biasing statements, results from face‐to‐face street‐intercept interviews showed that low spenders on pirated brands of clothing are mainly people aged 19 to 24 with a blue‐collar occupation, relatively low monthly income, secondary education level, and no children. High spenders on pirated brands are in the age bracket 25‐34 with white‐collar jobs, a monthly income of HK$10,000‐HK$19,999, tertiary or university education, and children. Consumers identify pirated brands of clothing usually by lower price and buying location, but price was not the sole determinant for purchase. Finally, they bought the pirated brands mainly for private use. Based on these results, the paper makes recommendations to original brand manufacturers and policy makers for combating pirated products.