As we get close to St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration of being Irish around the world, closer to home our shopping habits don’t show us as being very patriotic towards buying Irish produce. Although a 61% majority of consumers in Ireland agree that shopping in Ireland (rather than in Northern Ireland) will help speed up an economy recovery as many as 52% of all Irish shoppers (and 46% of those who agreed that shopping in Ireland will improve economic situation in Ireland) still do their shopping in the North for cheaper prices and perceived better value. This highlights that only 33% of consumers in Ireland are buying locally with the intent of helping our economy.
Our shopping habits show Irish consumers to be equally unpatriotic whilst shopping in the Republic. Only just over one-third of Irish consumers (35%) can be considered to be patriotic shoppers towards Irish products (9% always and 26% often check if the product they purchase is made in Ireland). A further 34% sometimes check the product origin, 21% would rarely and 10% never do so. Age is definitely a factor in our awareness with buying Irish, While both genders are equally patriotic (35% of males and 35% of females regularly check if the product is checked in Ireland), the analysis by age reveals that the older the population the more patriotic they are towards buying Irish products: (25% of 18-24s, 26% of 25-34s, 33% of 35-44s 45% of 45-54s and 60% of 55+ regularly check if the product is made in Ireland).
Oisin Byrne, General Manager, iReach Market Research, added: We can all contribute to helping speed up our economic recovery by even the smallest change in our shopping habits. The Love Irish Food campaign is one such initiative to remind us to check where produce bought in shops around Ireland is manufactured, but we need such campaigns to be targeted at younger shoppers to raise awareness particularly amongst 18-34 year olds in Ireland.
ENDS
For further information:
Averil Jermyn, iReach Market Research
Tel: 01 400 3600
Oisin Byrne, General Manager, iReach Market Research
Tel: 01 400 3600
Editors Notes
Survey Overview
iReach Market Research is a leading provider of Market Research services across Consumers and Business leaders in Ireland. The research quoted was collected during February 2010 based on a nationally representative survey of 1,000 Irish Adults aged between 18 and 65+ from the iReach Consumer Decisions Omnibus of 15,000 Consumers in Ireland.