Perfumes, leather goods, decorative items, makeup … The list of products is long. A simple research with the hashtag #dupe on the networks makes it possible to become aware of the extent of the phenomenon with hundreds of thousands of posts.
Concretely, the dupe (from English “duplicate” = copy) is a product that copies another, often a luxury product. There is no question of deceiving the consumer since he is aware that it is not the original. Generally, the product is the same: it has the same functions, almost the same packaging, the same smell for a perfume, the same shape for a garment or a bag. Only the brand differs. They can be described as imitations or alternatives to luxury products at reduced prices.
Thanks to a feeling of belonging to a community
If the purchase of imitations or copies of more expensive products has always existed, this practice was up to a little socially taboo because we are frowned upon. This is where the social networks generation breaks codes: it is now a trendy practice. “It is the desire to belong to a premium universe. That is to say that I am also capable, even if it may not be the brand, to have a product that looks like this luxury product. The consumer feels smart, he feels warns, daring. This is something where “I know it is not a real one, but I play with the codes”. It is a certain irony of conscience which is quite malignant and which is still well promoted and accepted by society, “analyzes Sandra Rothenberger, marketing professor in Solvay.
Hence the advertising blunder on social networks: “Today, a product is no longer sold on its own and there, marketing is important because it is in emotion, narration, storytelling, perceived authenticity and the community, which plays a huge role: we are not alone, everyone does it and we feel carried by this community”, a criterion to which generation Z, in particular, is particularly sensitive.
Little prices: the play of hard discounters
This is why discount store signs like Aldi, Lidl or Action openly advertise it on networks with great reinforcement of this magic word: DUPE. In an Action channel store, some customers only come for that. “Today I am in this store because in Italy, I saw vases and I saw that at Action they sell the same vases ten times cheaper,” explains one of them.
Because the small price is the key to this success: “It is still nice to be able to use certain products that we would not necessarily have the opportunity to use in relation to their price or because it is not available in our stores”, estimates another. “I know that for young people, it’s easier to buy cheaper than quality products that are worth more,” says another. All with sometimes a good surprise in the key: “Sometimes it’s the same quality as products that are more expensive”.
