Survey Reveals 96% of Customers Choose to Buy American

A recent survey conducted by American Certified™ from its customer base reveals that over 96 percent of those polled think that it is important to buy American-made goods. The survey results also provide insight as to what motivates consumers to make that decision. While the sample size was small, the results demonstrate that political orientation is no division when it comes to supporting this country and her manufacturers, showing that almost 90 percent of respondents are willing to pay more for a product if its American origin could be guaranteed.

That being said, some interesting voting patterns did emerge, which we felt would be good to share.

• Regardless of political orientation, supporting the jobs of American producers is the overwhelming motivation for consumers to buy American products, with just over two thirds of respondents indicating that. Among partisan groups, libertarians and independents were the least likely to indicate this as their motivation, but an overwhelming majority of over 60% for both camps show that this was not the case by much.

What's your main reason for buying an American product?

• Tea Party respondents put their money where their mouth is – all indicated that they would buy American to support American jobs, and all indicated that they were willing to pay more to do so, with half indicating that they would be willing to pay 25% or more. By contrast, while 90% of Democrats expressed a desire to purchase American goods, almost 20% refused to consider paying more to do so – by far the least willing among respondents.

How much more are you willing pay to for a product Made in the USA? 

• A majority of Republican respondents were willing to pay more than 10% more for American-made products, with half of those willing to pay more than 25%. Only Libertarians and Tea Partiers were willing to match that.
• 1 in 5 respondents, on average, has faith in the quality of American products – and named this as their primary motivation for buying American. This was constant across partisan lines.
• Not including independents, however, only Democrats were willing to cite patriotism as a motivator in purchasing American products at all – no Republican, libertarian, or Tea Party respondent cited patriotic fervor as a motivator in buying American goods, instead citing the quality of American goods as a motivator.