Americans and Chinese are willing to fork out for “Made in America”

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Nov 26, 2012

A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has shown that American and Chinese consumers are willing to pay more for goods that are produced in the United States.

According to this study, 80% of Americans would pay more for a product if it comes from the USA. However, the big surprise outcome of the survey is that a huge 60% of Chinese consumers would do the same, particularly in the clothing and technology sectors. 50% of Chinese people also admitted to preferring American-manufactured products, regardless if they were more expensive than their Chinese counterparts.

“These findings suggest that there is a big opportunity for manufacturers and retailers to command a price premium by promoting the Made in USA brand—not only in the U.S. but also in China,” said Harold L. Silkin, a BCG senior partner and coauthor of the research. “Retailers may want to adjust their strategies to capitalize on the strong consumer interest.”

The higher brand value of U.S.-made goods is a further reason why companies should rethink their global manufacturing footprint and consider the U.S. as a manufacturing location,” said Michael Zinser, a BCG partner.

Aside from American and Chinese clients, the study probed French and German consumers to find out that 65% percent of those consumers would prefer to spend more money on products produced in their respective countries.