Flash Eurobarometer 299 (Consumer Attitudes Towards Cross-border Trade and Consumer Protection, wave 1)

Attitudes towards cross-border shopping and consumer protection. Product safety.<br>Topics: 1. Attitudes towards cross-border shopping and consumer protection: purchase of goods or services in the past twelve months via the internet, by phone, or by post from a seller or provider located in the own country, in another EU country, or outside the EU; total value of goods or services purchased by distance from another EU country in the last twelve months; purchase of products in another EU country while on holiday or on business or shopping trip in the last 12 months; problems when purchasing at a distance in the last twelve months: refusal to deliver, delay in delivery or no delivery at all when buying from a seller located in the own country, in another EU country, or outside the EU; purchase of or sign up to selected financial services in the last year from a provider located in the own country, in another EU country, or outside the EU; attitudes towards cross-border shopping within the EU: prepared to purchase goods or services using another European language, knowledge where to find information on cross-border shopping, intention to increase the expenses on purchases made by cross-border shopping compared to last year, not interested in cross-border shopping due to lack of information about own rights, lack of internet access, difficulties in case of complaints or returns, fear of becoming a victim of frauds, delivery problems; more confidence in purchases from sellers located in another EU country or in the own country regarding purchases via the internet, by phone or by post, from a sales representative, whilst on holiday; increased willingness to make cross-border purchases in e-commerce or in on-premises situations in case of the application of uniform European transaction rules; experiences with advertisements in the past twelve months: noticed unsolicited commercial advertising, noticed misleading or deceptive advertisements, responded to an advertisement which has been found to be misleading or deceptive, noticed fraudulent advertisements, responded to an advertisement which has been found to be fraudulent; experienced problems in the last twelve months when buying in the own country and reaction to the problem; satisfaction with the handling of the complaint; reasons for not complaining; further steps in case of dissatisfaction; approval of the following statements: easy to resolve disputes with sellers through arbitration, mediation, or conciliation, easy to resolve disputes through the courts, trust in independent consumer organisations and in public authorities, feeling of being protected by existing measures of consumer protection, sellers and providers in the own country respect consumer rights, increased willingness to defend own rights in cooperation with other consumers, change of consumer behavior as a result of media stories.

2. Product safety: assessment of the non-food and food products currently on the market in the own country as safe; personal affection by non-food or food product recalls; personal reaction to an experienced or assumed recall; influence of environmental factors on product choice; preferred place to display environmental impact of a product: on the product, in the store, on the product website.

Demography: sex; age; age at end of education; occupation; professional position; type of community; internet connection at home.

Additionally coded was: interviewer ID; language of the interview; country; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; region; weighting factor.