Research released today by the Local Enterprise Offices has shown that 66% of Irish consumers bought goods or services locally, to support their local economy, as a result of seeing or hearing the Look for Local campaign or similar shop local themed campaigns this summer.

New research has shown that 66% of Irish shoppers plan to continue supporting their local economy in the coming months. The research was conducted as part of the Local Enterprise Office's 'Look for Local' campaign, which involved national and local advertising and promotions across the summer months, encouraging consumers to look for local options when purchasing products, services or experiences.

Funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and supported by Enterprise Ireland and the Local Authorities, the 'Look for Local' campaign was launched earlier this summer and offered over 13,000 Trading Online Vouchers which enabled small businesses to establish themselves online. This figure was up 950% from the previous year.

As a result, 75% of adults surveyed said they are now more inclined to shop for local businesses online since 91% believe there are now more local Irish businesses online than ever before.

Those surveyed also showed an understanding of the benefits of spending in your community or town with the research highlighting they “strongly agreed” that looking for local is beneficial to the economy and jobs and also have a positive environmental impact.

Speaking about the campaign, Padraic McElwee, chair of the network of Local Enterprise Offices, said:

“As we outlined during the campaign, every euro that is spent locally is an investment in that community and that money has a knock-on effect through a village or town. Consumers now understand that spending locally will positively impact the economy and jobs in their area and going forward for small businesses there is a big opportunity to capitalise on that sentiment.”

Damien English TD, Minister for Business, Employment and Retail added:

"What this research shows is that the Irish public responded to the 'Look for Local' call by the Local Enterprise Office Network and supported their own when they needed it the most. People are aware of the benefits of looking for local and they consciously chose to support local businesses this summer and plan to do so into the future. This is a testament to the campaign."

The 'Look for Local' campaign was promoted by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices across Ireland.

There are now over 4,500 local businesses listed on the 'Look for Local' hub where you can browse and search for businesses and services in your area.

Reporting: Newstalk