An Evaluation of the Empirical Studies on the Significance of the Original Audi Manufacturer’s Trademark in Shaping the Perception of Automotive Spare Parts Among Audi Car Owners and Professionals as Published in Tischner, A., Stasiuk, K.: ‘‘Spare Parts, Repairs, Trade Marks and Consumer Understanding’’
An Evaluation of the Empirical Studies on the Significance of the Original Audi Manufacturer’s Trademark in Shaping the Perception of Automotive Spare Parts Among Audi Car Owners and Professionals as Published in Tischner, A., Stasiuk, K.: ‘‘Spare Parts, Repairs, Trade Marks and Consumer Understanding’’
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Authors
Falkowski, Andrzej
Olszewska, Justyna
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2026-05-26
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IIC International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law
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0018-9855
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2026-05-26
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Abstract EN
Tischner and Stasiuk (IIC 54:26–60 (2023), https://doi.org/10.1007/s40319-022-01274-8) concluded that the Audi trademark does not influence the evaluation of independently manufactured automotive spare parts, arguing that both consumers and experts interpret such trademarks primarily as descriptive cues of intended use rather than as indicators of origin. The present paper revisits their empirical evidence and challenges this conclusion by reanalyzing the original raw dataset made publicly available in the OSF repository. We argue that the original authors’ conclusions stem from a methodological error – specifically, the aggregation of evaluations across participants who differed fundamentally in their perceptions of the part’s manufacturer. Using the original data, we reclassified both Audi owners and automotive experts according to the manufacturer they recalled after product exposure: Audi, the independent manufacturers named in the description, or other/unknown manufacturers. Separate analyses of variance were then conducted within these groups for four evaluation dimensions: perceived quality, material durability, appearance, and purchase intention. The reanalysis focused on the radiator grille stimulus, across four trademark presentation conditions. Contrary to Tischner and Stasiuk’s conclusions, the results consistently show that brand recall significantly shaped product evaluations. Both consumers and experts who mistakenly identified Audi as the manufacturer evaluated the spare parts more favorably than those who correctly identified independent manufacturers or expressed uncertainty. These effects were particularly pronounced when the Audi trademark was embedded in the product or visually integrated into its design, and in several conditions reached statistical significance. The high rate of manufacturer misidentification – despite explicit textual information – underscores the influential role of trademarks as associative signals affecting perceived quality and value. Overall, this reanalysis demonstrates that the Audi trademark did influence the evaluation of automotive spare parts. The original claim that trademarks have lost their origin-identifying and evaluative function is therefore unsupported and inconsistent with both the empirical evidence and the broader literature on branding and consumer perception.
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Keywords PL
Keywords EN
Spare parts
Repairs
Empirical analysis
Audi AG
Trade marks
Repair clause
Repairs
Empirical analysis
Audi AG
Trade marks
Repair clause
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Sustainable Development Goals
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