Merchandising/Marketing/Retailing: Branding

Fashion Design Piracy and Consumers’ Brand Perceptions: The Case of Corporate Copying of Independent Fashion Designers

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Abstract

Scarce intellectual property protection in the fashion industry has contributed to the incursion of design piracy allegations against large corporate brands by small designers. Online exposure has made way for piracy risks, where designs can be viewed and copied by other brands. Despite outcries against corporates pirating small brands, studies evaluating consumers’ reactions are non-existent. Addressing this gap, an experiment was used to expose consumers (n = 260) to piracy revelations to capture reactions (i.e., perceived brand ethicality, creativity, and attitudes towards corporates and small designers). Hypotheses were tested using a 2 (Piracy Case: 1, 2) × 3 (Revelation: corporate, designer, revelation) between-subjects design employing pretested (n = 60) stimuli of alleged cases. Non-significant results were found for corporate and small brand attitudes; however, significant results indicated lowered perceived ethicality and creativity for corporate brands, and higher creativity for small brands. A discussion of theoretical and academic implications is provided.

Keywords: fashion piracy, brand ethicality, brand creativity, brand attitude

How to Cite:

Woo, H., Ross, K. & Kwon, W., (2019) “Fashion Design Piracy and Consumers’ Brand Perceptions: The Case of Corporate Copying of Independent Fashion Designers”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 76(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.8791