Foreign consumers appreciated German quality
As reported by "Russkaya Germaniya," a total of 43,000 consumers in 52 countries were surveyed. Participants could only evaluate foreign goods, and the number of respondents in each country was directly proportional to the volume of its annual imports.
Consumers rated brands in several categories, such as "Safety Standards," "Quality," "Status Symbol," "Value for Money," "Design," and some others. The overall result was summed up from the points countries received for each of these parameters.
As a result, Germany took first place overall, Switzerland came second, and the "bronze" step of the podium was unexpectedly occupied by the comprehensive brand "Made in EU." This label is not officially adopted by the EU government – the European Commission – and is not approved by Germany and France, but support from Italy and Greece, as well as most of the new EU members, as we see, has already brought it worldwide recognition.
The USA in this ranking lost not only to the top three but also to the UK, Sweden, Canada, Italy, and Japan. Thus, Americans ended up only in eighth place, sharing it with France.
Germany's undisputed leadership was ensured primarily by the points received in the categories "Quality" and "Safety Standards." The overall palm of victory was awarded to Germany by consumers from 13 countries, which was the best result. Switzerland scored the main points in the categories "Status Symbol" and "Authenticity," Italians were noted by respondents for the design of their goods, and the Japanese for the use of high technology. China received good scores in the "Value for Money" category, but in the overall ranking it took only 49th place. Apparently, because the Made-in-Country-Index project by definition could not contain the "Quantity" category, otherwise the result would have been predetermined.
Interestingly, the current positive brand "Made in Germany" owes its origin to the exact opposite concept introduced at the end of the 19th century by the authorities of Great Britain. In the era of industrialization, they tried to protect their consumers from cheap and often low-quality goods and fakes from continental Europe, in this case from Germany, with such a stamp. But over time, the image of the German economy changed radically: it managed to combine engineering art, the spirit of invention, and technical reliability of both the production itself and the final product. Today, the world perceives the brand "Made in Germany" as an unconditional sign of quality.