Three Quarters (74%) of Canadians Say They Plan on Only Buying Gifts that are Discounted or On Sale this Holiday Season, Up 5 Points From Last Year

Toronto, ON - Canadian holiday shoppers may be on the lookout for a good deal, but fewer say they'll knowingly purchase counterfeit goods online to save a buck, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Microsoft. Three quarters (74%) `agree' (28% strongly/45% somewhat) that `they plan on only buying gifts that are discounted or on sale this holiday season', up 5 points from last year. However, fewer (25%) `agree' (5% strongly/20% somewhat) that they will `consider purchasing fake clothing and accessories online if the product looked authentic and was available for a lesser cost', down 4 points.

Eight in ten (76%) `agree' (33% strongly/43% somewhat) that `due to recent economic conditions, their holiday shopping strategy this year is to spend less on everyone, down one point from last year. Further, two in three (64%) `agree' (22% strongly/43% somewhat) that they `plan on doing more comparison shopping online this year than in previous years, also down just one point.

Nearly half (46%) of online Canadians say they're considering making purchases online during the holiday season, up 3 points since last year. One half (49%) `agree' (13% strongly/36% somewhat) that they are `concerned about mistakenly purchasing counterfeit goods like toys, clothing, video games and software this holiday season', down 1 point. Perhaps as a result, seven in ten (67%) `agree' (15% strongly/52% somewhat) that `Canadian deal seekers might get more than what they bargained for due to increased availability of counterfeit goods', down 1 point, and three quarters (72%) `agree' (23% strongly/49% somewhat) that they are `concerned about online deals being too good to be true', down 1 point.

Most Canadians appear to have a sixth sense when it comes to sniffing out a fake. While only two in ten (22%) say they know how to tell if they have purchased a counterfeit item (unchanged since last year), eight in ten (80%) `agree' (32% strongly/48% somewhat) that `when they see a deal that is too good to be true, they think it could be a fake'. However, six in ten (58%) `agree' (14% strongly/45% somewhat) that `Canadians would do anything to get a good deal', when in fact only one quarter say they'd even consider buying a counterfeit product.

Thinking about products that might be counterfeit, Canadians seem to be most concerned about a lack of quality or good craftsmanship, as nine in ten (87%) say they're concerned (44% very/43% somewhat) about this. Most (82%) express concern (42% very/40% somewhat) that the product may impact their own possessions in a negative way (like software damaging their computer), and eight in ten (80%) are `concerned' (46% strongly/34% somewhat) that a counterfeit product's proceeds may be supporting illegal activity or organized crime. A similar proportion (78%) would be concerned (35% very/44% somewhat) that `purchasing counterfeit products negatively impacts the Canadian economy', and seven in ten (68%) are would be concerned (28% very/40% somewhat) about their `own moral state' if they knew they purchased a counterfeit item. Just four in ten (43%) say they'd be concerned (16% very/28% somewhat) about the chance of someone else noticing that the product they purchased was fake or counterfeit.

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Microsoft between November 2 and 7, 2011. For this survey, a national sample of 1,004 adults from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100 per cent response rate would have an estimated margin of error of 1773.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Canada been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to, coverage error and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Associate Vice President
Ipsos Reid
416.572.4474
[email protected]

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