Buying Decisions of Counterfeit Goods and Moral Judgment

The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of moral judgment, both collective and individual, on the acquisition of counterfeit goods. A second objective is to identify to what extent the purchase intention of counterfeits is useful as an indicator of the final decision to buy these products.The results show that more severe moral judgment in relation to the purchase of counterfeits, both of acquaintances and of the consumer, reduced purchase intention and actual purchase. The acquaintances have more influence than personal moral judgment mainly on purchase intention. However, at the time of actual purchase, individual judgment acquires higher relevance, while acquaintances reduce its impact. Given these differences in the intensity of the effects of different variables when researching purchase intention and actual purchase, it is advisable to analyze the actual acquisition decision when it is possible. In both cases, the individual and the acquaintances' moral judgment are very significant explanatory variables