Counterfeit products: a tradeoff between awareness and ability to distinguish by rural consumers of North Gujarat

Counterfeiting is viewed differently by different experts. From business perspective, the meaning of this term is unclear for two reasons: first, the definition rests on views about consumer perceptions; second, the attitude of the manufacturers towards availability of such products. Fake or counterfeiters are the imitations of main stream brands. They are the look-alikes or spell-alike of genuine products. The spread of the counterfeiters has grown globally in recent years. This research is important in Gujarat because there is an increasing availability of counterfeiters in its rural areas. The paper focuses on the preference of the consumers about the various available brands, their ability to differentiate between the genuine and the counterfeit products and intention of buying the counterfeit products with respect to skincare products in the villages of North Gujarat. A pilot study of the entire Gujarat was conducted and it was found that maximum counterfeit products were sold in the villages of North Gujarat. Therefore, this paper focuses on 10 villages of this region. The study tries to focus on the reason on the wide availability of counterfeiters.