Loyalty under strain: consumer pathways and the role of counterfeit purchase

Purpose This study aims to examine how consumer strain reshapes the balance between identity-consistent consumption and resource constraints by focusing on loyalty toward authentic brands and non-deceptive counterfeit purchase as alternative responses. Specifically, it investigates how self-brand connection, social influence and perceived counterfeit benefits and risks shape consumer decision-making when marketplace disruption, financial pressure and uncertainty make ordinary consumption choices more constrained. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a structured online questionnaire from 177 consumers who were instructed to answer with the pandemic as the reference context for strain. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the direct net associations between the predictors and the two outcomes, while fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis identified configurational pathways through which identity-related and evaluative mechanisms combine to produce loyalty towards authentic brands or counterfeit purchase. Findings Self-brand connection strengthens loyalty towards authentic brands under strain, confirming the stabilising role of identity-relevant brands. Perceived counterfeit benefits reduce authentic-brand loyalty and increase counterfeit purchase, whereas perceived counterfeit risks discourage counterfeit purchase. Social influence does not operate as a direct net predictor, but the configurational results show that it matters conditionally, particularly when perceived counterfeit benefits are weak. The findings therefore show that loyalty and counterfeit purchase are not simple opposites, but context-dependent responses shaped by different combinations of identity-related and evaluative conditions. Originality/value The study contributes by integrating brand loyalty and counterfeit consumption within a single strain-based framework. It explains how consumers preserve authentic-brand loyalty, consider non-deceptive counterfeits or reject counterfeits depending on how identity motives, social pressures and benefit-risk evaluations combine under conditions of strain. By revealing multiple pathways to these responses, it advances a configurational understanding of adaptive consumption under constraint.