Saguaro
02-15-2008, 06:38 PM
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most U.S. consumers think domestic manufacturers no longer offer the best quality or make the most innovative products, a survey released Thursday shows.
The survey, conducted by GfK Roper, a market research firm that serves consumer goods companies, suggests U.S. makers of consumer goods are losing their competitive edge to overseas rivals in their home market.
It found that 45 percent of consumers think U.S.-made goods offer the best value for their money, down from 56 percent in a comparable survey in 1996.
"It used to be American brands were at the top and (were) seen as being innovative and the best quality," said Kathy Sheehan, senior vice president of GfK Roper, whose acronym stands for "Growth from Knowledge." "You see the same trend on a global basis, that quality is much more dispersed now."
U.S. consumers also have a much higher opinion of Chinese products than they did a bit more than a decade ago, despite a recent spate of recalls.
GfK Roper said 26 percent of those surveyed found Chinese-made goods to be the best value, up almost three-fold over the same period. Japan, Mexico and Germany ranked behind the U.S. and China on consumers' perceptions of value.
The survey of 2,000 Americans -- conducted in the autumn of 2007, when concerns about toxic Chinese toys and other imports were at their peak -- found that four in 10 Americans could not name the country where the tainted products had originated.
Chinese products also ranked higher on perceptions of creativity and quality than they did in the 1996 survey.
Japan ranked behind the United States on creativity and quality, while Germany, Italy and Britain outranked China on the question of quality, according to the newly released survey.
The number of people who said they didn't know which countries' products offered the best quality or value, or showed the most creativity, was up sharply from the earlier survey.
That likely reflects consumers' awareness that fewer of the products they use are made in just one place, Sheehan said.
"Even the most educated consumer can't determine the country of origin," she said, using as an example Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), a Japanese brand with major U.S. manufacturing operations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080214/bs_nm/usconsumers_dc;_ylt=AkCsEapG4Si7h6Ei.oCpVVMWIr0F
The survey, conducted by GfK Roper, a market research firm that serves consumer goods companies, suggests U.S. makers of consumer goods are losing their competitive edge to overseas rivals in their home market.
It found that 45 percent of consumers think U.S.-made goods offer the best value for their money, down from 56 percent in a comparable survey in 1996.
"It used to be American brands were at the top and (were) seen as being innovative and the best quality," said Kathy Sheehan, senior vice president of GfK Roper, whose acronym stands for "Growth from Knowledge." "You see the same trend on a global basis, that quality is much more dispersed now."
U.S. consumers also have a much higher opinion of Chinese products than they did a bit more than a decade ago, despite a recent spate of recalls.
GfK Roper said 26 percent of those surveyed found Chinese-made goods to be the best value, up almost three-fold over the same period. Japan, Mexico and Germany ranked behind the U.S. and China on consumers' perceptions of value.
The survey of 2,000 Americans -- conducted in the autumn of 2007, when concerns about toxic Chinese toys and other imports were at their peak -- found that four in 10 Americans could not name the country where the tainted products had originated.
Chinese products also ranked higher on perceptions of creativity and quality than they did in the 1996 survey.
Japan ranked behind the United States on creativity and quality, while Germany, Italy and Britain outranked China on the question of quality, according to the newly released survey.
The number of people who said they didn't know which countries' products offered the best quality or value, or showed the most creativity, was up sharply from the earlier survey.
That likely reflects consumers' awareness that fewer of the products they use are made in just one place, Sheehan said.
"Even the most educated consumer can't determine the country of origin," she said, using as an example Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), a Japanese brand with major U.S. manufacturing operations.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080214/bs_nm/usconsumers_dc;_ylt=AkCsEapG4Si7h6Ei.oCpVVMWIr0F