Most Romanian city residents prefer the food they consume to have local origins, according to an iSense Solutions survey quoted by Agerpres. However, when it comes to appliances, cars, phones and gadgets, they prefer foreign brands.

Out of 14 categories of products surveyed, consumers favor those of Romanian origin when it comes to perishable food (fruits, vegetables, dairy etc.), canned food, flour, sweets, snacks, clothing (including for children), alcoholic beverages, and furniture.

The products coming from the region of Ardeal, or Transylvania, are the main choice for 30% of those surveyed. The products coming from the region of Molodova rank second, with 10% of the preferences. For 43% of consumers the region of origin does not matter, the study found.

“We have noticed that, in the past years, the Romanians' attachment for domestic products has been steady. For instance, 72% of Romanians living in urban areas say they find themselves more in local brands compared to foreign ones (28%). This brings and important potential to retails positioning themselves with brands built in the authentic Romanian range,” Andrei Cânda, managing partner iSense Solutions, explained.

The main reasons for which consumers prefer local products are: to encourage small producers (77%); the contribution to the national economy (57%); the trust in local products (48%); purchasing local products makes them feel better (41%); they think local products are better (40%).

When choosing foreign products, Romanians do so because they perceive them as having superior quality over the local ones (52%) or trust them more (28%). The preferred countries for foreign products are Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, France and the United States.

The survey was conducted on 1,051 respondents in urban areas.

editor@romania-insider.com