Most of Russians believe that Russian products are better than the imported food in terms of quality.
MOSCOW, September 12, 2014. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information concerning the following issues: what products Russians think are better; whether Russians can refuse to buy imported food; what measures in response to western sanctions they would support.
Over the recent twenty years many Russians have strengthened their position stating that domestic foods are better than the imported foods: whereas in 1995 fifty-four percent of Russians thought so, in 2014 this share made up 64%. Those who think so are mainly elderly respondents aged over 60 (74%), residents of middle cities and rural area (74% for each). The share of those who think that domestic foods are as good as imported foods has increased from 16% to 24%, respectively. Residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg (48%) and 18-24-year-old Russians (32%) share this stance. Only 8% of respondents say that the imported foods are better than the foods produced in Russia.
Most of Russians did not buy foods which are not allowed to be imported to Russia. Most of them bought Spanish citrus fruits (43%); remarkably, 34% are ready to refuse to use these foods. One-third of respondents (37%) purchase Norwegian salmon, however 26% say that they cannot refuse to buy it (11% are not ready to abandon these foods).
One-quarter of Russians purchase Latvian dairy products (25%); at the same time, 20% say that they can abandon them. Twenty-seven percent of Russians like Italian parmesan cheese; 18% of them can exclude it from their everyday diet; 9% cannot easily do that. Certain respondents bought American chicken (17%); 14% of them could abandon it. Fifteen percent of Russians like Australian beef; almost everyone (13%) could abandon it in favor of the Russian one. Only 10% of Russians ate Spanish ham (8% could refuse to buy it in the future).
The VCIOM opinion poll was conducted on August 16-17, 2014. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. Data are weighted by gender, age, education, working status and type of settlement. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
In your opinion, is the quality of domestic foods better, same or worse than the quality of the imported foods? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||
| 1995 | 2014 |
The quality of domestic products is higher | 54 | 64 |
The quality of domestic products is lower | 18 | 8 |
The quality of domestic products is the same | 16 | 24 |
Don`t know | 12 | 4 |
In your opinion, is the quality of domestic foods better, same or worse than the quality of the imported foods? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 + |
The quality of domestic products is higher | 64 | 53 | 61 | 62 | 65 | 74 |
The quality of domestic products is lower | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
The quality of domestic products is the same | 24 | 32 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 18 |
Don`t know | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
If you buy the following products, would you abandon them in favor of the current Russian foreign policy course? (closed-ended question, one answer per each item) | ||||
| I buy them but I could refuse to use them | I buy them and I am not ready to refuse to use them | I do not but this product | Don`t know |
Spanish citrus fruits | 34 | 9 | 52 | 5 |
Norwegian salmon | 26 | 11 | 60 | 3 |
Latvia dairy products | 20 | 5 | 72 | 3 |
Italian parmesan cheese | 18 | 9 | 71 | 2 |
American chicken | 14 | 3 | 80 | 3 |
Australian beef | 13 | 2 | 80 | 5 |
Spanish ham | 8 | 2 | 85 | 5 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!