December 12th, 2023, Lesley Simeon
Factors ranging from taste, dietary preferences, health concerns, cultural aspects, habit, mood and price all come into play when choosing what to eat or drink. Another choice consumers often make nowadays is choosing between branded items and store-brand or generic products.
A recent YouGov survey asked consumers across 17 international markets whether they prefer buying branded or generic food and drink items. Polling data reveals that consumers are most likely to say (46%) that they buy branded and generic food and drink items in equal proportions.
The data also shows that 23% of consumers stick with mostly name-brand food products while an equal share prefer generic items (23%).
Let’s look at how these preferences play out when it comes to consumers across individual markets.
Hong Kongers most likely to opt for branded food and drink items; Singaporeans most likely to go for generic.
Mostly branded items
Almost three in five consumers in Hong Kong (59%) mostly pick up branded food and drink products - the highest share of any market surveyed. On the other hand, Germans (10%) are the least likely to say so across all markets.
In Europe, Italians account for the largest share of consumers (28%) who say they mostly buy branded food and drink products.
Mostly generic items
Singaporeans are the most likely across all the markets we surveyed to favor generic food and drink items over branded ones - nearly two in five consumers here (37%) say they mostly buy generic products, followed by over a third of Brits (35%). Hong Kong is the only market to reports a single-digit figure for its share of consumers who say they buy generic food and drink products (7%).
Equal amounts of branded and generic products
Germans are the most likely across markets (56%) to buy equal amounts of branded and generic food and drink products followed by Spaniards (52%) and Canadians (51%). Within Europe, nearly half of all consumers have an equal preference for branded and generic food and drink items.
Similar proportions of Brits (47%) and Americans (48%) also equally favor branded and generic offerings, so do two in five Indians (40%).
In Asia, Singaporeans are most likely (45%) to say they buy equal amounts of branded and generic products.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 508 and 2001 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in September 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.
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