New research from Roy Morgan, commissioned by the Australian Made Campaign has revealed what consumers want when it comes to Australian manufactured products.
According to the survey, consumers want country-of-origin labels to be more readily visible on product packaging along with clearer government regulations and greater standardisation of country of origin labelling generally.
The research findings suggest that nearly half (40.3%) of all consumers find it difficult to identify whether a product is Australian made or grown.
The report stated that it is the Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) logo that gives the vast majority (88%) of Australian consumers strong confidence that a product is Australian.
Australian Made chief executive, Ian Harrison said “with recognition of the logo at an all-time high of 98%, the AMAG logo is still the country-of-origin identifier Australian consumers know and trust best”.
The report’s investigation found that the main reason given for buying local products was to support Australian growers and manufacturers.
The outlook seemed bright for the food and beverage industries, with 87% of Australians demonstrating a strong preference for buying Australian made or grown food and beverages.
The research also pointed out that less than half of the Australians are indifferent about the country of origin of their furniture, clothing, hardware and household appliances.
Harrison said “we know Australian consumers want to support our local growers and manufacturers – but if they’re serious about doing that they need to change their purchase behaviours”.
He went on to say that “if they remain indifferent about where their products come from, more manufacturing and processing will move offshore, putting Australians across many industries out of work”.