Every fifth Pole buys fakes
23:26
According to the survey UCE RESEARCH and SYNO Poland, conducted for the Modern Commerce Group, 19.2 percent of Poles openly admit that they are purchasing fakes. 10.9 percent of those polled say they do not remember if they are doing it. As an expert from the Modern Commerce Group comments, the above-mentioned result may seem small, but the problem needs to be viewed differently. Non-original products are often considered by some to be "cheaper alternatives", which of course is a symptom of low awareness and badly reflects the consumer culture. It is not only producers who suffer from this. After all, taxes are paid on the sale of legal products. For this reason, budget losses of EU countries reach up to €15 billion a year. Interestingly, counterfeit products mainly interest people with higher earnings.
"It's good news that 70 percent of the public is aware that buying non-genuine goods is supporting illegal activities. Trademarks are legally protected and counterfeiting is breaking the law, and buying counterfeit goods is helping those who do not. However, education is still needed in this area," Maciej Ptaszyński from the Polish Chamber of Commerce argues.
The most frequently purchased counterfeit products by Poles are clothes (52.6 percent), shoes (50.7 percent), and cosmetics (40.5 percent). The list further includes electronics (26.5 percent), toys (23.7 percent), accessories (20.5 percent), and jewelry (15.8 percent).
