Understanding the Drivers for Purchasing Non-Deceptive Pirated Products: An Indian Experience

Abstract

The study aims to understand the drivers for purchasing non-deceptive pirated products and the effect of demographic factors on purchasing criteria for choosing non-deceptive pirated products. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire from the respondents in Gandhidham-Adipur, a city in the state of Gujarat in western India, and was analyzed. This study was focused on those buyers (students and non-students) who have recently bought counterfeit product/s. Although ‘price’ was found to be a major criterion for identifying and buying pirated products, other non-price drivers were also found to induce the consumers to buy such products. The study also found the impact of demographic characteristic of respondents on the importance attributed to different drivers. Piracy and product counterfeiting are a severe threat to licit companies and consumers alike. As literature abundantly focuses on the general description or supply-side investigation of the problem, and due to paucity of research in the Indian context, the present study attempts to fill the gap by providing empirical evidence of drivers for purchasing pirated products, investigating the demand-side determinants (individual level) in the Indian context.