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Flash Eurobarometer 369
INVESTING IN INTANGIBLES: ECONOMIC ASSETS AND INNOVATION
DRIVERS FOR GROWTH
SUMMARY
Fieldwork: January – February 2013
Publication: May 2013
This survey has been requested by the European Commission,
Directorate-General for Enterprise
and Industry and co-ordinated by Directorate-General for
Communication.
This document does not represent the point of view of the
European Commission.
The interpretations and opinions contained in it are solely
those of the authors.
Flash Eurobarometer 369 - TNS Political & Social
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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Flash Eurobarometer 369
Investing in Intangibles: Economic Assets and Innovation Drivers
for Growth
Conducted by TNS Political & Social at the request of
the European Commission,
Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry
Survey co-ordinated by the European Commission,
Directorate-General for Communication
(DG COMM “Research and Speechwriting” Unit)
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
..................................................................................................
3
1. COMPANIES’ PRIORITIES AND THEIR INVESTMENTS IN INTANGIBLE
ASSETS ............................. 5
2. THE NATURE OF THE COMPANIES’ INVESTMENTS IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
................................ 8
3. DRIVERS AND BARRIERS FOR INVESTING IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
............................................ 11
4. IMPACT OF INVESTMENTS IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
...................................................................
13
ANNEXES
Technical Specifications
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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INTRODUCTION
This Flash Eurobarometer, “Investing in Intangibles: Economic
Assets and Innovation
Drivers for Growth” (No 369), was conducted at the request of
the Directorate-General
for Enterprise and Industry. The survey was designed to explore
companies' investment
in a range of intangible assets. Intangible assets are
non-financial, non-physical assets.
They are created over time and through investment, and are
identifiable as separate
assets. They may add value to the company. Examples of
intangible assets include
training, software development, reputation and branding,
research and development, the
design of products and services or business process
improvements. Intangible assets are
increasingly recognised as playing an important role in the
growth of developed
economies, although their impact has been identified as
difficult to quantify1.
More specifically the survey was designed to investigate:
The kinds of intangible assets companies invest in
Companies' use of internal or external resources when investing
in intangible
assets
Why companies invest in intangible assets, and what barriers
they perceive when
making such investments
The perceived length of benefit from investing in intangible
assets
The links between innovation projects and investment in
intangible assets
We would like to thank the Joint Research Centre of the European
Commission for their
contribution to the questionnaire2.
This survey was carried out by TNS Opinion & Social network
between 22nd January and
19th February 2013 in the 27 Member States of the European Union
and in Croatia,
Iceland, Japan, Norway, Republic of Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey,
the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and the United States, where the same
target group was
interviewed. It is a business to business survey co-ordinated by
the Directorate-General
for Communication (“Research and Speechwriting” Unit). This
survey covers businesses
employing 1 or more persons in the Manufacturing (NACE category
C), Services (NACE
categories G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/R) and Industry (NACE categories
D/E/F). The sample was
selected from an international database, with some additional
sample from local sources
where necessary.
1 http://www.iareg.org/index.php?id=23 2 The questionnaire was
prepared under the scientific guidance of Sandro Montresor from the
Institute for
Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) of the JRC. The
contribution of Giulio Perani, from the Italian National
Institute for Statistics (Istat), is acknowledged.
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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The methodology used is that of Eurobarometer surveys as carried
out by the
Directorate-General for Communication (“Research and
Speechwriting” Unit)3.. A
technical note on the manner in which interviews were conducted
by the Institutes within
the TNS Political & Social network is appended as an annex
to this report. Also included
are the interview methods and confidence intervals4.
Note: In this report, countries are referred to by their
official abbreviation. The
abbreviations used in this report correspond to:
ABBREVIATIONS
BE Belgium LV Latvia
CZ Czech Republic LU Luxembourg
BG Bulgaria HU Hungary
DK Denmark MT Malta
DE Germany NL The Netherlands
EE Estonia AT Austria
EL Greece PL Poland
ES Spain PT Portugal
FR France RO Romania
IE Ireland SI Slovenia
IT Italy SK Slovakia
CY Republic of Cyprus* FI Finland
LT Lithuania SE Sweden
UK The United Kingdom
HR Croatia EU27 European Union – 27 Member States
TR Turkey
IS Iceland EU15 BE, IT, FR, DE, LU, NL, DK, UK, IE, PT, ES, EL,
AT, SE, FI**
MK The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
NMS12 BG, CZ, EE, CY, LT, LV, MT, HU, PL, RO, SL, SK***
RS Republic of Serbia EURO AREA BE, FR, IT, LU, DE, AT, ES, PT,
IE, NL, FI, EL, EE, SI, CY, MT, SK
NO Norway
CH Switzerland NO Norway
JP Japan CH Switzerland
US The United States
* Cyprus as a whole is one of the 27 European Union Member
States. However, the ‘acquis communautaire’ has
been suspended in the part of the country which is not
controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
For practical reasons, only the interviews carried out in the
part of the country controlled by the government of the Republic of
Cyprus are included in the ‘CY’ category and in the EU27
average.
** EU15 refers to the 15 countries forming the European Union
before the enlargements of 2004 and 2007
*** The NMS12 are the 12 ‘new Member States’ which joined the
European Union during the 2004 and 2007 enlargements
* * * * *
The Eurobarometer web site can be consulted at the following
address:
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all the
respondents across the continent
who gave their time to take part in this survey.
Without their active participation, this study would not have
been possible.
3 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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1. COMPANIES’ PRIORITIES AND THEIR INVESTMENTS
IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
- Tailored, customised solutions are the most important priority
for companies -
Companies were asked to nominate the two most important
priorities for their company
from a set list.
Within EU27, tailored, customised solutions are the most common
priority (40%),
followed by decreasing productions costs (33%). Around one
quarter mention ensuring
lower prices (26%), rapid development of new products or
services and increasing labour
productivity (both 25%).
Base: All respondents = 8715 (EU27)
In 19 of the countries surveyed, tailored, customised solutions
are the most
mentioned company priority. This is particularly the case for
companies in Germany,
Austria (both 70%), Sweden (67%) and Switzerland (64%). At the
other end of the
spectrum, 10% of companies in FYROM, 12% of Croatian and Cypriot
companies say the
same.
4 The results tables are included in the annex. It should be
noted that the total of the percentages in the tables
of this report may exceed 100% when the respondent has the
possibility of giving several answers to the
question.
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
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- Companies were more likely to invest using internal rather
than external
resources for a range of activities in 2011 -
Companies were asked what percentage of their turnover was
invested using internal
resources for in a range of activities in 2011.
At least half of all companies invested using internal resources
for organisation or
business process improvements (60%), training (58%), and company
reputation and
branding (52%). Just over one in four (41%) invested in product
or service design, 39%
in software development and 32% in research and development.
In terms of the percentage of turnover spent, relatively few
companies spent more than
15% of their turnover on any of these activities in 2011.
Base: All respondents = 8715 (EU27)
Companies were also asked the percentage of their total turnover
that was invested in
the same a range of activities in 2011, but using only external
providers.
Companies in the EU are most likely to have invested in external
resources for training
(38%), followed by company reputation and branding (30%),
software development and
organisation or business process improvements (both 26%). Just
over one in five
companies (21%) invested in external resources for product or
service design, while 15%
invested at least some turnover in R&D from external
resources.
Fewer than one in ten companies invested more than 5% of
turnover on any of these
activities using an internal provider - training is the most
likely to have attracted this
level of investment (8%).
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Base: All respondents = 8715 (EU27)
Investment in internal vs. external resources
Companies have relied more on internal resources rather than on
external providers for
investing in these activities in 2011. For example, in the case
of investments on
organisation or business process improvement, 60% of companies
used internal
resources while 26% used external providers. The pattern is
repeated for each activity.
The two activities that are most likely to have had investments
into internal resources
are business process improvement (60%) and training (58%). The
two activities that are
most likely to have attracted investment in external resources
are training (38%) and
company reputation and branding (30%).
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2. THE NATURE OF THE COMPANIES’ INVESTMENTS IN INTANGIBLE
ASSETS
- One in ten companies that have invested in company reputation
and
branding expect the benefit to last more than 10 years –
Companies that had invested in each of the activities (using
either internal or external
resources) were asked how long the company expected to benefit
from its investment.
Company reputation and branding is the only area where at least
half of all
companies expect their investment to benefit for at least two
years. In fact 11% expect
the benefit of their investment to last more than ten years. 49%
of companies expect the
benefit of their investment in R&D to last 2 or more years,
while 44% expect this length
of benefit from their investment in product or service
design.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities using
either internal or external resources in 2011
(training=5514; software development=3986; company reputation
and branding=4896; R&D=3067; design of
products and services=4005; organization or business process
improvements=5487) (EU27)
Training is considered to have the shortest benefit period - 51%
expect the benefit to
be felt for less than 2 years.
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- Less than three in ten companies reported any of the
intangible assets
discussed on their company balance sheet in 2011 -
Respondents whose company had made investments in intangible
assets in 2011 were
asked whether R&D, software development or other intangible
assets were reported in
their company's 2011 balance sheet.
One in five (20%) say that R&D had been reported on the
balance sheet, while 17% say
software development was listed. Just under three in ten (29%)
say their company had
reported another intangible asset investment such as training on
the balance sheet.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities
using
either internal or external resources in 2011 (R&D=7074;
software development=7039; others=7256) (EU27)
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Portuguese (45%) and Maltese5 (42%) companies are the most
likely to have reported
R&D investment as intangible assets on their 2011 balance
sheet, as have 34% of
Cypriot companies. In contrast 4% of Icelandic and 5% of Latvian
and Estonian
companies did the same.
Base: companies that invested in research and development
(R&D) using
either internal or external resources in 2011 =7074 (EU27)
5 Results for Malta should be interpreted with caution due to
small sample size (N=43)
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3. DRIVERS AND BARRIERS FOR INVESTING IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
- Better relationships with customers and business partners is
the main
motivation for investing in intangible assets -
Companies that invested in any intangible assets were asked
whether a range of reasons
had motivated them to make these investments.
More than half (55%) were motivated by better relationships with
customers or business
partners, while 43% mention greater efficiency of internal
business processes and 42%
say better economic returns or larger market shares.
One third mentions more rapid development of new products or
services and improving
internal skills on the intangible assets (both 33%). More than
one in five (23%) were
motivated by their industry's regulatory framework, while 13%
were motivated by public
financial support.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities
using
either internal or external resources in 2011 = 7588 (EU27)
In all but three countries better relationships with customers
and business
partners is the most mentioned motivator for investing in
intangible assets. The
exceptions are Estonia, where more rapid development of new
company services or
products is most mentioned (22%), and Iceland and Serbia, where
better economic
returns or larger market share is most mentioned (64% and 45%
respectively).
In 25 countries at least half of all companies were motivated to
invest in an intangible
asset by better relationships with customers and business
partners. This is
particularly the case for companies in Portugal (79%), Finland
(77%) and Norway (76%),
but is least likely to be the case for Estonian (19%) and
Japanese companies (22%).
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- High costs are the main discouragement to investing in
intangible assets -
Companies that invested in any intangible assets were asked
whether a range of factors
had discouraged them from making these investments.
High costs are the main discouragement to investing in
intangible assets (45%), followed
by limited public financial support (35%) and unfavourable tax
treatment of intangible
assets 33%).
Just under one quarter mention the regulatory framework of their
industry being difficult
to understand (24%), while 23% mention accounting rules for
reporting capital
expenditure as difficult to understand. Just under one in twenty
(19%) mention limited
external sources of information or expertise as a discouragement
to investing in
intangible assets.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities
using
either internal or external resources in 2011 = 7588 (EU27)
High costs are the most mentioned discouragement in 30 of the 36
countries studied.
Companies in Portugal (66%), Turkey (64%) and Greece (55%) are
the most likely to
mention this factor, compared to 11% of Estonian and 18% of
Japanese companies.
Greece is the only country where at least half of all companies
mention limited public
financial support as a discouragement to investing in intangible
assets (58%).
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4. IMPACT OF INVESTMENTS IN INTANGIBLE ASSETS
- The skills and qualifications of employees are seen as the
biggest beneficiary
from an investment in intangible assets -
Companies that invested in any of the intangible assets
discussed were asked if their
investment had benefited their company in a range of areas.
The skills and qualifications of employees are seen as the
biggest beneficiary from
an investment in intangible assets - one in five say there has
been a lot of benefit (21%),
compared to 11% that say this about the overall value of the
company and 10% that say
this about sales.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities
using
either internal or external resources in 2011 = 7588 (EU27)
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Seven out of ten companies in Cyprus (74%), Finland (72%),
Luxembourg and Austria
(both 70%) say that the skills and qualifications of employees
have benefited from
the investment in intangible assets. Cypriot (46%), Austrian
(38%) and Swiss (36%)
companies are the most likely to say that there has been 'a lot'
of benefit.
Companies in FYROM (42%), Czech Republic (36%), Portugal and
Romania (both 33%)
are the most likely to say there has been little benefit, while
companies in the US (37%)
and the UK (31%) are the most likely to say there has been no
benefit in terms of skills
and qualifications of employees.
Base: companies that invested in each of the activities using
either internal or external resources in 2011
= 7588 (EU27)
- Companies are most likely to have introduced new or
significantly improved
products, services, or processes between 2009 and 2011 -
All companies were asked if they had introduced a range of new
or significantly improved
aspects of their business between 2009 and 2011.
More than four out of ten (42%) introduced new or significantly
improved products,
services or processes, 28% introduced new or significantly
improved organisational
structures and management methods, while 27% introduced new or
significantly
improved marketing strategies or distribution methods.
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Base: All respondents = 8715 (EU27)
Finally, companies that introduced new or significantly
improvements in one of the areas
discussed above, and that also invested in intangible assets,
were asked what proportion
of these investments in the period 2009-2011 were related to
innovation projects.
The amount of intangible asset investment directed to innovation
projects between 2009
and 2011 does not vary greatly across different areas: 26% of
companies say that more
than 5% of their investment in research and development was
related to innovation
projects, (highest) compared to 19% of companies that directed
this proportion of
investment in training to innovation projects (lowest)
Base: companies that introduced new or significant improvements
in one of the areas and those that invested
in each of the activities using either internal or external
resources in 2011 (training=3349; software
development=2605; company reputation and branding=3187;
R&D=2218; design of products and
services=2718; organisation or business process
improvements=3473) (EU27)
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
TS1
FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles: Economic
Assets and Innovation Drivers for Growth”
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Between the 22nd of January and the
19th of February 2013, TNS Political & Social, a consortium
created between TNS political & social, TNS UK and TNS opinion,
carried out the survey FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 about “Investing in
Intangibles: Economic Assets and Innovation Drivers for Growth”.
This survey has been requested by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry. It is a general
public survey co-ordinated by the Directorate-General for
Communication (“Research and Speechwriting” Unit). The FLASH
EUROBAROMETER 369 covers the population of the respective
nationalities of the European Union Member States, resident in each
of the 27 Member States and aged 15 years and over. It was also
conducted in Croatia, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Republic of Serbia,
Switzerland, Turkey, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and
the United States. The survey covers the national population of
citizens in these countries as well as the population of citizens
of all the European Union Member States who are residents in these
countries and have a sufficient command of the national languages
to answer the questionnaire. All interviews were carried using the
TNS e-Call center (our centralized CATI system). In every country
respondents were called both on fixed lines and mobile phones. The
basic sample design applied in all states is multi-stage random
(probability). In each household, the respondent was drawn at
random following the "last birthday rule". TNS has developed its
own RDD sample generation capabilities based on using contact
telephone numbers from responders to random probability or random
location face to face surveys, such as Eurobarometer, as seed
numbers. The approach works because the seed number identifies a
working block of telephone numbers and reduces the volume of
numbers generated that will be ineffective. The seed numbers are
stratified by NUTS2 region and urbanisation to approximate a
geographically representative sample. From each seed number the
required sample of numbers are generated by randomly replacing the
last two digits. The sample is then screened against business
databases in order to exclude as many of these numbers as possible
before going into field. This approach is consistent across all
countries.
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
TS2
Readers are reminded that survey results are estimations, the
accuracy of which, everything being equal, rests upon the sample
size and upon the observed percentage. With samples of about 1,000
interviews, the real percentages vary within the following
confidence limits:
various sample sizes are in rows various observed results are in
columns
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%
N=50 6,0 8,3 9,9 11,1 12,0 12,7 13,2 13,6 13,8 13,9 N=50
N=500 1,9 2,6 3,1 3,5 3,8 4,0 4,2 4,3 4,4 4,4 N=500
N=1000 1,4 1,9 2,2 2,5 2,7 2,8 3,0 3,0 3,1 3,1 N=1000
N=1500 1,1 1,5 1,8 2,0 2,2 2,3 2,4 2,5 2,5 2,5 N=1500
N=2000 1,0 1,3 1,6 1,8 1,9 2,0 2,1 2,1 2,2 2,2 N=2000
N=3000 0,8 1,1 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6 1,7 1,8 1,8 1,8 N=3000
N=4000 0,7 0,9 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,4 1,5 1,5 1,5 1,5 N=4000
N=5000 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,3 1,4 1,4 1,4 N=5000
N=6000 0,6 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1 1,2 1,2 1,2 1,3 1,3 N=6000
N=7000 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 1,2 1,2 N=7000
N=7500 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 1,1 N=7500
N=8000 0,5 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,1 1,1 1,1 N=8000
N=9000 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,0 1,0 N=9000
N=10000 0,4 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 1,0 1,0 1,0 N=10000
N=11000 0,4 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 N=11000
N=12000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 0,9 0,9 N=12000
N=13000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,9 0,9 N=13000
N=14000 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 N=14000
N=15000 0,3 0,5 0,6 0,6 0,7 0,7 0,8 0,8 0,8 0,8 N=15000
5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
95% 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 55% 50%
Statistical Margins due to the sampling process
(at the 95% level of confidence)
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FLASH EUROBAROMETER 369 “Investing in Intangibles”
TS3
ABBR. COUNTRIES INSTITUTES N° INTERVIEWS FIELDWORK
DATES POPULATION
15+
BE Belgium TNS Dimarso 300 28/01/2013 11/02/2013 572.234 BG
Bulgaria TNS BBSS 301 29/01/2013 04/02/2013 294.587 CZ Czech Rep.
TNS Aisa s.r.o 302 28/01/2013 08/02/2013 995.870 DK Denmark TNS
Gallup A/S 302 28/01/2013 12/02/2013 280.192 DE Germany TNS
Infratest 499 28/01/2013 14/02/2013 2.176.111 EE Estonia TNS Emor
205 28/01/2013 29/01/2013 54.526 EL Greece TNS ICAP 300 28/01/2013
14/02/2013 535.717 ES Spain TNS Demoscopia S.A 500 28/01/2013
13/02/2013 2.599.951 FR France TNS Sofres 500 28/01/2013 15/02/2013
2.707.181 IE Ireland IMS Millward Brown 300 28/01/2013 19/02/2013
164.047 IT Italy TNS ITALIA 500 28/01/2013 15/02/2013 3.974.602 CY
Rep. of Cyprus CYMAR 100 28/01/2013 31/01/2013 47.794 LV Latvia TNS
Latvia 202 28/01/2013 14/02/2013 83.951 LT Lithuania TNS LT 202
28/01/2013 31/01/2013 118.312 LU Luxembourg TNS Dimarso 100
28/01/2013 11/02/2013 29.618 HU Hungary TNS Hoffmann Kft 300
28/01/2013 13/02/2013 586.603
MT Malta MISCO International Ltd 100 28/01/2013 13/02/2013
49.233
NL Netherlands TNS NIPO 500 28/01/2013 15/02/2013 888.380 AT
Austria TNS Austria 300 28/01/2013 14/02/2013 311.258 PL Poland TNS
OBOP 500 28/01/2013 13/02/2013 1.557.706 PT Portugal TNS EUROTESTE
300 28/01/2013 07/02/2013 893.812 RO Romania TNS CSOP 501
28/01/2013 08/02/2013 455.192 SI Slovenia RM PLUS 200 30/01/2013
11/02/2013 119.908 SK Slovakia TNS AISA Slovakia 300 28/01/2013
15/02/2013 414.824 FI Finland TNS Gallup Oy 300 28/01/2013
14/02/2013 236.687 SE Sweden TNS SIFO 301 28/01/2013 14/02/2013
677.320 UK United Kingdom TNS UK 500 28/01/2013 14/02/2013
1.747.419
TOTAL EU27
8.715
28/01/2013
19/02/2013 22.573.035
HR Croatia Puls 200 29/01/2013 11/02/2013 166.195 TR Turkey TNS
PIAR 400 28/01/2013 15/02/2013 3.122.434 MK Former Yugoslav Rep.
of
Macedonia TNS Brima 200 31/01/2013 07/02/2013 61.287
IS Iceland Capacent ehf 200 28/01/2013 11/02/2013 17.403 NO
Norway TNS Gallup AS 200 28/01/2013 13/02/2013 295.122 RS Republic
of Serbia TNS Medium Gallup 201 31/01/2013 11/02/2013 82.355 US
United States TNS Custom Research 501 22/01/2013 15/02/2013
14.510.761 CH Switzerland ISOPUBLIC 200 01/02/2013 13/02/2013
146.219 JP Japan Research Freeway 500 22/01/2013 15/02/2013
2.049.141
TOTAL
11.317
28/01/2013
19/02/2013 43.023.952