Consumer Trust in Local vs Imported Goods

Our latest survey at Versus Africa revealed interesting dynamics in consumer trust and purchasing behaviours concerning locally made and imported goods. Understanding these preferences provides actionable insights for businesses looking to capture value from the shifting consumer landscape.

Perception of Value for Money

When asked if imported goods generally offer better value for money, over half of the consumers were in agreement. (On the flip side, 20.7% disagreed, with a mere 1.1% strongly disagreeing. This suggests that, although a significant portion of consumers lean towards imported goods for perceived value, there’s still considerable room for local producers to challenge this perception.

Commercially, local businesses can focus on quality improvements or strategic marketing to sway the 1 in 5 people (20.1%) who remained neutral. Targeting this segment could be critical in tipping the scales in favour of local products.

Purchase Habits: Local vs. Imported

A notable 23% of respondents always prefer locally made products, while 35.6% mostly buy locally but occasionally opt for imported goods. These figures indicate that a strong preference for local goods exists, with more than half of consumers leaning toward local purchases.

On the other hand, 27% buy an equal mix of local and imported goods, creating an opportunity for local brands to shift consumer preferences further by offering more competitive advantages, such as enhanced product features, affordability, or better customer service. Businesses selling local products can benefit by maintaining high quality while leveraging national pride or sustainability aspects in their marketing.

Factors Influencing Trust in Local Products

Quality was the leading factor influencing trust in locally made products at 22.2%, followed closely by price (20%) and availability (17.7%). Consumers want to feel assured that local goods meet or exceed their expectations in these key areas.

Local manufacturers stand to benefit if they prioritize product quality and competitive pricing. Strengthening distribution channels to ensure availability also remains crucial, as consumers clearly value ease of access to products. Building brand reputation (14.7%) and leveraging word-of-mouth recommendations (10.4%) are additional strategies to boost consumer trust.

Competing with Imported Goods

The survey also explored which categories of local products have the potential to compete with imported goods. Food and beverages took the lead, with 56.6% of respondents expressing confidence in this category’s competitiveness. Fashion and textiles followed at 26.6%, indicating significant opportunities in these two sectors.?

Local businesses in these categories can enhance their offerings and focus on unique cultural or regional aspects that resonate with consumers. For example, emphasizing fresh, locally sourced ingredients or promoting ethically produced textiles could give them a distinct edge over imported alternatives.

Other categories like electronics, health and beauty, and automobiles had lower potential (5.2%, 4.6%, and 3.5%, respectively), suggesting that local manufacturers in these industries may need to invest heavily in research and development or innovation to catch up with their foreign counterparts. That said, niche markets or collaborations with government initiatives can still provide entry points.

The last question attempted to understand what could be done to improve the perception and trust of locally made products, and the responses generally emphasised key areas such as improving quality, better packaging, affordable pricing, and branding efforts.

Many respondents highlighted the importance of using high-quality raw materials and creating more competitive prices to align with or surpass the expectations set by imported products. Enhancing product availability and increasing awareness through marketing were also seen as crucial strategies.

In summary, while imported goods may still hold some sway in terms of perceived value, local brands have some great opportunities to close the gap by focusing on quality, and availability, and leveraging their local appeal. Visit https://versus.africa/demo to start leveraging quality insights and data for your business today.