MUMBAI: A majority of Asians love American brands regardless of their origin whereas nearly one fourth of them have declared their apathy towards the US brands. In India, 36 per cent of respondents said they rejected US. brands, compared to just 19 per cent in Muslim-dominated Indonesia and 13 per cent in China.

These are the findings of a survey conducted by Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett in five Asian countries (China, South Korea, India, Indonesia and the Philippines), says an adage report.

The Leo Burnett team telephonically queried 1,000 respondents about the perceived origin of 20 major brands (such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, McDonald's and KFC); attitudes toward foreign brands compared to local brands; and intentions to purchase major foreign brands in the current political climate.

The following are some findings of the survey:
Nearly 65 per cent claimed to buy the brands they liked regardless of where they come from.

Most of the US brands were perceived to be global despite different attitudes which persisted in different countries. Chinese people equated international brands with the "prestige factor" whereas Indians preferred "quality" and Indonesians bought local brands to support their economy. Koreans, who had strong indigenous brands and its younger brigade was anti-western or American brands.

Each US brand scored three -- signifying that the consumers had the same propensity to buy and that the " intent to purchase remained the same as last year" -- or higher when consumers were asked about purchase intent in the coming 12 months.

Leo Burnett's regional planning director, Hong Kong, John Woodward was quoted as saying that the brand origin wasn't the key driver of purchase related decisions. "Asian consumers are more interested in lifestyle and social values than politics," Woodward was quoted as saying.