Understanding the value-chain of counterfeit products: A multimethod investigation

Sreekumar Arun, -

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Description

Title

Understanding the value-chain of counterfeit products: A multimethod investigation

Author(s)

Sreekumar Arun, -

Issue Date

2021-04-15

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Viswanathan, Madhubalan

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Viswanathan, Madhubalan

Committee Member(s)

• Otnes, Cornelia
• Rindfleisch, Aric
• Echambadi, Raj

Department of Study

Business Administration

Discipline

Business Administration

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Ambiguity
• counterfeit
• equivocation
• emerging markets
• illegal markets

Abstract

The context of this dissertation is the market for counterfeit products, which accounts for more than one trillion US dollars of trade globally every year. Entrepreneurs who manufacture and market these products are clandestine and operate in the black market. Drawing from this context, this dissertation seeks to advance knowledge on how entrepreneurs strategically use ambiguity in marketing communications, and in relationships with other firms. The first essay examines how and why equivocation is used as a persuasive strategy by sellers of counterfeit products. This essay develops a framework that can help qualitatively and quantitatively identify equivocation rhetoric in firm-generated text. The second essay examines how relationships between firms are managed when one of the firms employs ambiguity as a protection strategy. Specifically, the essay sheds light on how manufacturers and retailers of counterfeit products succeed in maintaining ambiguity, and in managing relationship tension arising from ambiguity. Put together, the essays present an investigation of how counterfeit manufacturers and retailers conduct their marketing functions despite being clandestine and illegal.

Graduation Semester

2021-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

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Copyright 2021 - Sreekumar Arun

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