Frankfurt/Main (dpa) – A study found that products bearing the “Made in Germany” seal enjoy an outstanding international reputation. In its recent survey, the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM) found it to be the label that consumers around the world are most likely to think of as trustworthy, even more so than is the case for the corresponding Swiss seal. 66 percent of those surveyed trust the “Made in Germany” seal, this result is slightly better than those achieved by the Swiss and Japanese equivalents.
“Made in Germany” is the label most frequently associated with high quality, the researchers from Nuremberg report. Fun fact: The seal was introduced in Britain at the end of the 19th century, aiming to protect the domestic economy from supposedly low-quality German imports.
The indication that a product is from Germany was also found to be most likely to have a positive effect on purchasing decisions. This was confirmed by 65 percent of those surveyed, also followed by Switzerland (62%) and Japan (59%).
According to the survey, consumers around the world associate the “Made in Germany” indication primarily with cars, followed by household appliances.
For comparison: “Made in China” scored badly in the survey, both concerning trustworthiness and regarding purchasing decisions.
To allow for this analysis, 20,000 people from ten countries were interviewed as representatives of their respective native population. The participants were from France, Poland, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the USA, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and India.
