More time at home, shopping restrictions and more entertainment under your own roof. The pandemic has also given a boost to the (more or less intentional) purchase of fake products and pirated audio / video. According to the latest survey by Euipo (the EU agency for the protection of intellectual property), in the last 12 months, over half (52%) of young people interviewed (15-24 years) have intentionally purchased at least one counterfeit product online or accidentally, and one third (33%) accessed illegal content online. In Italy, 27% of young people (10 points less than the EU average) have intentionally purchased a counterfeit product and 24% have accessed pirated content in a conscious way. Products? The fake sees clothing and accessories at the top (12%), followed by footwear and electronic devices (9% respectively) and hygiene products (7%).
Purchase of counterfeit products
The 2022 edition of the assessment sheet on young people and intellectual property takes into account both the purchase of “fake” goods and “pirated” content. In line with the post-pandemic context, the new survey confirmed that 37% of young people intentionally bought one or more counterfeit products, which represents a significant increase compared to previous results (14% in 2019). The figure varies considerably from one country to another: the highest percentage is recorded in Greece (62%) and the lowest in the Czech Republic (24%).
The counterfeit products that young Europeans intentionally buy most often are clothing and accessories (17%), followed by footwear (14%), electronic devices (13%) and hygiene products, cosmetics, personal care products and perfumes (12%). But young people also buy counterfeit products due to misleading claims: the unintentional purchase of counterfeit products also stands at 37%, and respondents said they have difficulty distinguishing authentic products from counterfeit ones.
Online piracy
When it comes to digital content, access from legal sources is gaining ground among the younger generation. 60% say they have not used, reproduced, downloaded or enjoyed in streaming of content from illegal sources in the last year compared to 51% in 2019 and 40% in 2016, thus confirming the current trend towards legality.
However, intentional piracy remains stable, with 21% of young consumers (one in five) admitting to knowingly accessing pirated content in the past 12 months. A significant percentage of young people were lured into accessing pirated content by misleading claims. 12% logged in accidentally. The main type of pirated content was made up of movies (61%) and TV series (52%), followed by music (36%), mainly using dedicated websites, apps and social media channels.
«At a time when electronic commerce and digital consumption are experiencing significant growth – said the executive director of Euipo, Christian Archambeau – the increase in intentional and involuntary purchases of counterfeit products is a worrying trend. Piracy is not abating, even as young consumers increasingly prefer content from legal sources. While price and availability continue to be the main reasons for buying counterfeit products and accessing pirated content intentionally, social influences, such as the behavior of family, friends or people you know, are gaining significantly. Other factors include the lack of interest in the legitimacy or otherwise of the product (or the source of the content), the lack of perception of any difference between the original and counterfeit products and the ease of finding or ordering counterfeit products online. One in 10 interviewees referred to advice from influencers or famous people ».