About 25% of Hungarians are keen on buying counterfeit goods

2010-07-21

About 19% of Hungarians state that they might be interested in the purchase of a counterfeit product, while 5% of Hungarians indicated that they would not have any problem with purchasing counterfeit goods, according to the Hamisitas Elleni Nemzeti Testulet (HENT), a national establishment that fights the sale and purchase of counterfeit goods.
Age was a determining factor in the answers, with younger individuals showing a higher inclination to purchase counterfeit goods. About 38% of the younger respondents would buy something that was falsified. The portion of older shoppers surveyed who would be interested in such items was 11%. Place of residence appeared to be another important factor; a third of the individuals surveyed from Budapest and central Hungary would be open to purchasing counterfeit goods. This figure was significantly lower (15-18%) for individuals from other areas of Hungary.
Compared to last year, the percentage of those individuals who think counterfeit goods are of the same quality as the original has decreased by 5 p.p. to 12%. Furthermore, 69% of those surveyed believe that people selling counterfeit goods are committing a crime. This is a 4% increase from last year. Of those asked, 7 out of 10 would recommend a stricter sentence for punishing those who commit the crime of selling counterfeit goods.