"Smart" to buy defective goods, so long as they're cheap?

The American Chamber of Commerce in El Salvador has released the results of a survey on the perception of counterfeiting and piracy there, according to an item by Jose Roberto Romero (Romero Pineda & Asociados) in the World Trademark Report. The survey, conducted in December 2007, covered urban respondents ages from 18 to 50+.

Clothes, CDs and DVDs were the goods that respondents most identified with counterfeiting, the recordings in particular being easy to copy. The survey concluded that Salvadorans were most likely to buy fake clothing (53%), shoes (34%) and perfume (26%), followed by counterfeit CDs, DVDs, food products, sport shoes, medicines, jewellery, toys, watches and books. Consumers in general believes that that “buying counterfeit products is smart, even if they are deficient with regard to their quality, safety features and durability”.