How imitation affects consumers


Colour, shape, design – the recognition value of a brand goes far beyond the mere brand name. Consumers recognise and value brands precisely for the familiarity they create. The relevant characteristics are often associated with the authenticity and high quality of a brand. But what happens when well-known brands imitate the characteristics of other well-known brands? How does this affect consumer perception? Prof Dr Pascal Bruno and Prof Dr Martin Ohlwein at the International School of Management (ISM) campus in Frankfurt am Main are researching this question.

Frankfurt/Main/Germany, December 17th, 2024: Consumers have long been accustomed to imitation brands in discount stores. This is associated with lower prices. Although ‘Aldirone’ chocolate is a private label product from Aldi, it is very reminiscent of the original Toblerone, not only because of its name but also because of its pyramid shape. But well-known brands also imitate features of other well-known brands. A prominent example is the long-running legal dispute between Milka and Ritter Sport, as Milka wanted to use the square packaging shape of its competitors for its own products. What effect would such an imitation have on potential buyers?

Dissonance with loss of trust

Prof Dr Pascal Bruno and Prof Dr Martin Ohlwein are investigating this in a current research project. In an online experiment, they showed 170 test subjects the image of the (real) rectangular Milka bar or a (fictitious) square Milka packaging. People who saw the purple packaging in its original form showed a significantly more positive attitude towards the Milka brand compared to those who were presented with the purple square with the Milka logo. ‘Well-known brands do themselves no favours by imitating iconic features such as the packaging shape of competing brands,’ sums up Dr Pascal Bruno. ‘This is because, unlike with private labels, customers often already have many associations with manufacturer brands. If a brand imitates characteristics that are actually associated with the competition, this new information clashes with the existing associations – a potential contradiction that can trigger inner tensions’.

Consumers are therefore confused in their perception. The results of the study also make it clear that consumers perceive a well-known imitator of established brands as unappealing, less attractive and even inferior. ‘Anyone who imitates features from a competitor does not make a trustworthy impression,’ says Dr Martin Ohlwein. ‘This also raises doubts about the quality of the product as a whole.’

The research project once again demonstrates the great importance of genuine product innovations in the food segment. In mature markets of this kind in particular, consumers have a wide range of purchasing alternatives – and therefore many options to penalise imitators by choosing the ‘original’.

Bildquelle gfk DSGN Pixabay, ISM Forschungsprojekt Marken imitieren Marken