Research

Practices Used by Online Marketplaces to Tackle the Trade in Counterfeits. Geneva, Switzerland: World Intellectual Property Organization, 2023.

Online marketplaces have developed over the past 20 years into a vigorous, innovative and hugely successful industry. It supports large corporations and empowers emerging entrepreneurs by connecting them with customers across the globe. However, there is a dark side to this success: it also facilitates the trade in counterfeit goods. In contrast to other facilitative industries, such as logistics and payment providers, online marketplaces attract special attention because the visibility of the counterfeits in their shop windows create obvious opportunities…

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Police Recruitment and Selection: Resources and Lessons for Workforce Building. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing, 2023.

Police officer recruitment and selection are challenging, yet vitally important contributors to police accountability and establishing a trusted relationship with the community. To help police leaders make informed decisions, researchers at Michigan State University reviewed existing literature and compiled this guide to current resources on law enforcement staffing. The guide presents summaries of publications describing innovative strategies and rigorously tested recruitment and selection tactics in a format that is concise and accessible. All information is cross tabulated on an easy-to-read…

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The Impact of Deviant Social Media Influencers and Consumer Characteristics on Purchasing Counterfeit Goods. Deviant Behavior (Open Access)

Product counterfeiting is a large and global economic crime that causes significant economic, social and personal harms. Facilitated by the efficiency and convenience of e-commerce, finding and buying counterfeits have never been easier. Going beyond product listings on websites, counterfeiters are now using sophisticated marketing techniques to promote their illicit wares. This includes employing deviant social media influencers who violate social norms and the law to peddle counterfeit goods via channels such as YouTube and Instagram. However, very little is…

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Police Retention: A Systematic Review of the Research. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, Vol. 17 (Online Advance), 2023.

Difficulties in recruitment and retention undermine the ability of U.S. police departments to maintain and diversify their workforces, particularly in light changing workloads and performance expectations. The police reform movement and recent increases in crime have highlighted these challenges, but other systemic and acute issues have also made staffing departments difficult. Attention to police staffing has been sporadic and uneven, with much discussion focused on recruitment. Given increasing attrition and that retention is more efficient than recruitment, there is considerable…

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Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022.

***WINNER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY DIVISION ON WHITE-COLLAR AND CORPORATE CRIME OUTSTANDING BOOK AWARD*** Product counterfeits and other brand infringements represent a growing and substantial risk to firms, consumers, and society. While policing such illicit activity is important, there is much that firms can do to protect themselves and their customers. Grounded in field research and practice, this book presents a total business solution approach to brand protection that enables firms to prevent infringement from occurring and respond…

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“The Brand Protector’s Dilemma and the Total Business Solution” in Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach.  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2-17, 2022.

Brand protection practitioners struggle with several common questions. These include the nature of the risk, its size, articulating the need for resources to address it, effectively allocating these resources, and demonstrating the value of a brand protection program. Little systematic research has been available to help practitioners address these questions. This volume reviews the principles of a total business solution for brand protection and means for implementing it. Its chapters on assessing the nature of product counterfeit risk discuss how…

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“Building and Optimizing a Brand Protection Program: A Total Business Solution Model” in Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach.  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 19-36, 2022.

Though the value of their brands is among their most valuable assets, firms may have little in place for brand protection. Those that do have brand protection programs in place often rely on reactive actions rather than including strategies for prevention as well. This chapter introduces the elements of a total business solution program model for a brand protection program. This model goes beyond initial reaction to a brand protection problem and describes a proactive solution. Its elements include problem…

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“Brand Protection and Organizational Silos: Integrating Tactics And Firm Functions in the Fight Against Counterfeits” in Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach.  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 78-103, 2022.

Previous research notes several strategies that firms may use to address product counterfeiting but offers few integrative approaches. Many current approaches are ‘siloed,’ with little interaction across functions. A total business solution for brand protection promotes a holistic approach that integrates and coordinates all parts of the firm for brand protection. To better understand the tactics that firms may use in a total business solution to brand protection, we asked 42 experts and practitioners to identify the tactics that a…

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“Options for Mitigating the Risk of Product Counterfeits: An Assessment of Lessons from Research and Practice” in Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach.  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 104-127, 2022.

Much academic research on product counterfeiting is disjointed and sporadic. It focuses on topics such as prevalence and not on tactics for reducing counterfeiting. Nevertheless, academic research on tactics can offer insights to practitioners. Such research is likely to be more independent, comprehensive, and rigorous than what researchers can do for themselves. This chapter reviews academic research on anti-counterfeiting tactics that businesses may use. It compares the distribution by category of such tactics with those that practitioners offer. While practitioner-suggested…

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“Communicating the Value of Brand Protection through a Persuasive Internal Communications Approach” in Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach.  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 128-139, 2022.

Communicating internally about the important role of brand protection and what the enterprise must do to protect itself from counterfeits is one of the greatest challenges for brand protection programs. This chapter discusses the importance of using communication effectively to create an organizational culture that values and elevates brand protection across all levels of the organization. An analysis of organizational functions and tactics that brand protection experts recommend is reviewed using a persuasive communication lens. This chapter then offers suggestions…

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Featured Research

A Performance-Based Approach to Police Staffing and Allocation

U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Brand Protection and the Global Risk of Product Counterfeits: A Total Business Solution Approach

Edward Elgar Publishing

***WINNER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY DIVISION ON WHITE-COLLAR AND CORPORATE CRIME OUTSTANDING BOOK AWARD***