Moving from beliefs to concrete behaviors, 13% of Europeans say they have intentionally bought counterfeit products in the last 12 months. This figure rises to 26% for people aged 15-24, double the EU average, while it falls to 6% for those aged 55-64 and below 5% among people aged 65 or over. Nationally, the percentage of consumers who intentionally bought counterfeit products varies from 24% in Bulgaria to 8% in Finland. Besides Bulgaria, the intentional purchase of counterfeit products is higher than the EU average in Spain (20 %), Ireland (19 %), Luxembourg (19 %) and Romania (18 %). A lower price of genuine products remains the most frequently mentioned reason (43%) to stop buying counterfeit products. The risk of negative experiences (poor quality products for 27% of people, safety risks for 25% and fines for 21%) is also a key factor in making consumers desist from buying counterfeit products.
Uncertainty about authenticity is also on the rise. Almost 4 out of 10 Europeans (39%) wondered if the product they purchased was counterfeit and, among young people, half (52%) expressed the same doubt. Disparities between Member States are also significant: while in Denmark and the Netherlands around a quarter of consumers (26 %) are not sure of the authenticity of what they have bought, this figure rises to 72 % in Romania. Europeans also express uncertainty about the legality of the sources from which they access online content: 41% have doubts about the legality or otherwise of the source they accessed. Europeans are generally against the use of pirated content: 80% say they prefer to use legal sources to access content online if an affordable option is available. Indeed, almost 9 out of 10 people are aware of at least one type of legal content offer in their country and in the last year more than 4 out of 10 Europeans (43 %) have used paid legal services to access, download or play in stream copyrighted content. However, a large majority of people (65%) find it acceptable to resort to piracy when content is not included in their subscription. Furthermore, 14% of Europeans admit to having intentionally accessed content from illegal sources in the last 12 months. The percentage rises to 1 person in 3 (33 %) for young people aged between 15 and 24 years. This was especially the case for watching sporting events using illegal streaming devices or applications. The proportion of people accessing pirated content also varies between countries, ranging from 9% in Finland and Denmark to 22% in Malta. More affordable prices and a wider choice of content from legal sources are the most frequently cited reasons for not resorting to piracy anymore.
“Understanding citizens’ perception helps to establish a meaningful dialogue with both consumers and stakeholders as part of our awareness-raising and outreach activities – said EUIPO Executive Director Christian Archambeau – The latest edition of the Perceptions of Intellectual Property (IP) study contains new insights into perceptions of IP rights infringement and underlines once again the need to enhance consumer protection.The study also confirms the positive developments regarding IP awareness ‘existence of legal sources and the availability of digital content from those sources’.
(9Colonne Agency)
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