- Mark Dolliver, Adweek

Respondents to a 23-country survey largely agreed that store brands are at least as good as national brands in many respects.

Released yesterday by Ipsos Marketing the Consumer Goods poll (conducted last November through this January) found 89 percent of respondents saying store brands are "the same as or better than" national brands when it comes to "providing a good value for the money."

But it's not just that they're seen as a bargain. Large majorities of respondent also said store brands are at least the equal of national brands in "offering products that meet my needs" (87 percent), "offering products that are good for the family" (86 percent), "offering food products that taste good" (81 percent) and "offering home products that work well" (81 percent).

Another indication that store brands have shed the fly-by-night aura they had in years past: 80 percent of respondents agreed that they're as good as or better than national brands at "offering products I trust." Likewise, 73 percent said they're at least as good at "offering high-quality products."

Smaller majorities rated store brands as highly as national brands in "offering innovative products" (69 percent) and "having appealing packaging" (65 percent).

Besides the U.S., countries covered in the survey included Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Sweden, Britain, Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Turkey, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia.