More than half (52%) of young people in the European Union (EU) have bought at least one fake product online in 2021, intentionally or accidentally, and a third (33%) accessed illegal digital content, according to a study released this Wednesday.
The data is part of the 2022 edition of the Intellectual Property and Youth Scoreboard, published by the European Union Institute for Intellectual Property (EUIPO) based on surveys of 22,021 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 in the 27 member states of the Union. European. , held between February 07 and 28, 2022.
According to the results of the survey, of the young people who bought at least one fake product online in the last year, 37% did it intentionally”which represents a significant increase compared to previous results (14% in 2019)”.
The percentage varies by country, with the highest in Greece (62%) and the lowest in the Czech Republic (24%).
In Portugal, 34% of young people intentionally bought a fake and 17% knowingly accessed pirated content.
At a European level, the counterfeit products most intentionally purchased by young people are clothing and accessories (17%), footwear (14%), electronic devices (13%) and hygiene, cosmetics, personal care and perfumery (12%).
The unintentional purchase of counterfeit products also stood at 37%, with respondents acknowledging difficulties in distinguishing genuine products of counterfeits, the study indicates.
“At a time when e-commerce and digital consumption have grown significantly, the increase in the intentional and unintentional purchase of counterfeit products is a worrying trend,” EUIPO Executive Director Christian Archambeau said in the document. .
Regarding digital content, “access from legal sources is gaining ground among the younger generations”, it can be read in the document, which indicates that 60% of those surveyed said they had not used, reproduced, downloaded or transmitted the past year digital content from illegal sources, up from 51% in 2019 and 40% in 2016.
However, says the panel, “intentional piracy remains stable,” with 21% of young consumers admitting knowingly accessing pirated content in the past 12 months.
The study also highlights that “a significant proportion of young people were tricked into accessing pirated content”with 12% of those surveyed answering that they did it accidentally and 7% do not know if they did it.
The main types of pirated content were movies (61%) and TV series (52%), followed by music (36%), mainly using websites dedicated platforms, applications and social media platforms.
Price and availability remain top reasons for buying counterfeit products and intentionally accessing pirated content, but social influences “are gaining ground,” the authors say.
One in 10 respondents cited recommendations from influencers or celebrities as factors that led them to purchase fake products or access pirated content.
On the other hand, cyber threats, cyber fraud and environmental impact are among the main deterrents of these behaviors.
Source: Observadora
