How authentic is the experience? Is it what they expected? Why or why not? This book introduces the concept of perceived authenticity, or how a consumer experiences a product, service, environment, communication, or person. It provides some practical business advice and talking points for managers and marketers.

Contrived. Disingenuous. Phony. Inauthentic. Do your customers use any of these words to describe what you sellor how you sell it? If so, welcome to the club. Inundated by fakes and sophisticated counterfeits, people increasingly see the world in terms of real or fake. They would rather buy something real from someone genuine, rather than something fake from some phony. When deciding to buy, consumers judge an offerings (and a companys) authenticity as much asif not more thanprice, quality, and availability.