Thou Shall Not Imitate: When Do Copycats Trigger Moral Concern?
(A2024-118884)

AUTHORS

Femke van Horen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Anika Stuppy, Tilburg University; Margaret (Meg) Campbell, University of California, Riverside

ABSTRACT

The current research investigates whether copycats, which imitate the trade-dress of other successful brands, trigger moral concern in consumers. Three preregistered studies reveal that consumers respond more negatively to copycats when they imitate an original brand with high (versus low) product investment (Study 1), from a small (rather than a large) original brands’ firm (Study 2) and when the consumer shares (vs. does not share) national identity with the original brand (Study 3). We show that these effects are due to increased feelings of moral concern related to the moral foundations of fairness, harm, and loyalty. We further demonstrate the downstream consequences of the effect, while using a variety of product categories, copycat stimuli, and participant samples. These results have implications for product imitation and morality theories and practice.