Research shows that 63% of people agree that product safety is now “very important” to them, an increase from 47% in 2007. Cuts from sharp edges were mentioned by 24%, ahead of allergic reactions on 21% and injuries from product design on 18%.

Furthermore, 77% said they were willing to pay an average premium of 16% to buy goods with “exemplary” safety credentials.

Unfortunately the company does not provide a breakdown of the research sample however, this shows that the principles of age-friendliness are important to all consumers.

Reported here in WARC, TÜV SÜD, the testing firm, polled 5,000 people in China, India, Japan, the UK and US.

29% reported that they did not understand product safety labels, while 51% had used at least one product that turned out to be unsafe in the last five years.

An additional 58% of the sample did not think governments were sufficiently tough on companies which failed to meet the requisite quality level.