This emphasis on the spectacular and exotic, consistent with an oppositional or marginal view of the consumer, is often also emphasised in academic writing on counterfeiting. Consumers of counterfeits are often represented through anecdotal narratives which serve as a proxy for deeper understanding of consumer motivations. For example, Lasica (2005) illustrates his work with case studies which potentially confuse everyday users with vanguard consumers. This encourages the consumption of counterfeits to be symbolically overwritten with various meanings, for example, as associated with the hacker ethic. This again reinforces the separateness of the individual from others: they are.
