There will always be controversy over fake bags. 3 million people purchase counterfeit bags every year. Do they fund gangs and drug cartels? Do they promote sweatshops and child labor? Or are we sticking it to the man who dares charges thousands of dollars for a freaking purse by purchasing the knockoff because regular people need style too?
Feel free to stick by your stance, whatever it is but in today’s video, I am getting a little scientific on you by breaking down the science of counterfeit bags.
Scientists from the University of North Carolina, Harvard Business School, and Duke University have been exploring the power and the pitfalls of fake bags.
In one study, the scientist recruited a large sample of women and had them pop on a pair of designer sunglasses. 50% were told they were real and 50% were told they were fake – they were all real btw.
The researches wanted to find out if wearing fakes (a form of dishonesty) made the women dishonest in other areas of their life.
So they had both sets of women take a test. The women wearing the fakes cheated considerably more – 70% more. Only 30% of the women in the real glasses cheated.
The conclusion was that “faking it” makes us feel like phonies, which in turn makes us act like phonies by cheating and being cynical.
Interesting but why? Why do we even want the real thing if the fake looks just like it?
Enter another interesting scientific tidbit discovered at Yale. The quest for authenticity is developed during childhood. During a study, children were told that a cloning machine created their favorite toy. The majority of the children refused to accept the toy. Scientists concluded that the sentimentality of an item affected the desire.
So basically the memory or pride attached to a genuine luxury good is one of the reasons we seek it. Buying yourself fake Loubs doesn’t feel as good as treating yourself to the real thing.
Fascinating huh? Or are you all about to argue with science? Will you still wear fakes or do you at all? Drop it in the comments.