Consumer Attitude and Purchase Intention of Counterfeit Phones Among Masters Students in Selected Public Universities in Kenya

Abstract

Persistent increase of consumption of counterfeit goods despite government efforts to curtail it has justified further research to determine any factors that may not have been studied conclusively the studying the progression of the illicit goods consumption.  The general objective of this study was to comprehend consumer attitude towards intention to purchase counterfeit mobile phones among masters’ students in Kenya. Specifically, the study focused on effects of materialism attitude, subjective norm attitude and moral intensity attitude on purchase intention of counterfeit mobile phones among masters’ university students in Nairobi. The study was premised on three theories, Theory of Planned Behaviour, the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Attitude Function Theory. The study adopted descriptive survey design, and used purposive sampling to select the four public university campuses to target from the 10 public universities licensed to operate in Nairobi's central business district and subsequently used stratified random sampling to choose the target respondents in the selected campuses. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data for the study. Quantitative data was captured and organized using statistical package for social sciences and analysed using descriptive statistics which was shown using percentages frequencies and standard deviation. Inferential statistics comprising Pearson’s correlation and multiple regression analysis were utilized to demonstrate the relationship between the independent and dependant variables. Content analysis was utilized to analyse qualitative data. Data was presented in the form of graphs and tables for simplicity of interpretation. This study will assist policy makers in coming up with plans to fight counterfeiting. The study found that materialism attitude, subjective norm attitude and moral intensity had a positive significant effect towards purchase intention of counterfeit phones among university students in Kenya. The study concluded that the consumers with a high level of materialism trait would be a very prospective segment for sustainable luxury brands. Subjective norm is a person’s perception of pressure in the social environment that is accepted so that it shows certain behaviour through considerations made by someone. Through moral intensity attitude individuals encounter moral or ethical issues within the personal environments of their daily living. The study recommended that high-materialism consumers should be driven to acquire goods and phones primarily to symbolize and communicate status and success messages to others. In terms of brands, more attention should be paid to consumers’ emotional needs and sensitivity. Organizations should emphasize the importance of moral judgment and attitude in explaining behavioural intentions and ethical behaviour in shaping demand for phones and also other goods.