E-commerce: a brand name’s curse

Abstract

The reach of the Internet and the low cost of selling products online have made it possible for anybody to participate in the online market. In this paper, we argue that e-commerce can be a brand name's curse due to information asymmetries and the existence of indifferent consumers, which perpetuate counterfeiting of branded products and the infringement of brand names in emarkets. Counterfeiting and infringement devalue the information capital embodied in a brand name, and ultimately reduce sales and profits of the brand name holders. While legal measures have been enacted to deal with intellectual property problems, we argue that market mechanisms are more efficient and more effective in dealing with brand name problems in e-markets. This is because rules in themselves often provide neither the slightest hint of where to look for violations, nor the incentive to convict violators. Market mechanisms such as information syndication, pricing of e-markets services, and vendor malpractice could be effective in deterring counterfeiting and brand name infringement. We hope our positional contribution will stir interest to look into this serious problem and extend our suggestions by developing concrete innovative mechanisms to safeguard online transactions.

Perceived e-service quality and e-store loyalty: The moderated mediating effect of webpage aesthetics and e-customer satisfaction

“…As a result, making customers loyal to the e-store is much more challenging compared to brick-andmortar shops (Harris and Goode, 2004). To resolve the issue, satisfying customers and making them loyal to the firm has become the top agenda of eretailers (Otim and Grover, 2010;Polo et al, 2011). Hence, it is critical for e-retailers to identify the factors which influence the royalty of customers (Cristobal et al, 2007).…”

Essential Functionalities for Commercial Internet Presence

“…Online users feel safer to buy from previously known sellers (Brashear, Kashyap, Musante, & Donthu, 2009;Otim & Grover, 2010) and, for that reason, online sellers need to ensure that the products being ordered will reach their destiny, while respecting agreed conditions (J. Kim, Jin, & Swinney, 2009;.…”

Case Study of Online Retailing Fast Fashion Industry

“…Customer loyalty will be established afterwards once the brand is established [12]. Otherwise, it is impossible for consumers to trust the brand.…”