The Chinese market is full of homogeneous products
as a consequence of mass copycats. Consumers’
preference for authentic luxury goods is altered
by both their longing for low-priced counterfeit
brands and the availability of counterfeits
(Wilcox, Kim, and Sankar 2009; Large 2009). Although
Chinese government increase surveillance
and regulation of selling pirated goods, the phenomenon
still exists online and off line. In apparel
industry, once first-tier brands have designed new
collection, companies like Zara and H&M, will
mimic and do a slight modification to the design
and sell them as fast as they can be, not to mention
other minor enterprises. In addition, since the patent
protection system is defective in China, consumers
may easily buy a fake LV or Gucci bag in
much lower price, which will directly impede luxury
companies’ interests. In this sense Shanghai
Tang does an excellent job by rolling out brandnew
collections every six months in order to tackle
the risks of copycats (KMPG 2010). Only by constant
innovation can a company survive and keep
ahead of its competitors.