A joint survey between Amnesty International Australia and CHOICE has found that Australians are mindful of the ethical implications of products they purchase, but factors which affect them more directly are most important in determining what we buy.

Respondents were asked to rank a number of criteria in order of importance when it came to buying goods like household and hi-tech products, clothes and baby products such as strollers and toys.

"China was ranked lowest of 13 selected countries in terms of human rights and working conditions, and environmental issues. Over 40% of respondents said these issues are important factors in their purchasing decisions, but only a tiny number - between two and three percent - said they would be among the top three most important considerations," said Amnesty International's Sophie Peer.

Consumers consistently ranked good performance, price and low energy use - which relate to costs for the consumer – well above other factors when it comes to making purchase decisions.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner and produces 75 percent of the world's toys.

"China's dismal human rights record is well documented. It is not a transparent society. There is very little freedom of expression and the media are tightly controlled by the state. It is difficult to understand the full extent of human rights violations and labour abuses, yet we do major business together."

"We urge Australians to do more to use their economic power as consumers to advocate for change by seeking more information on the goods they buy and the conditions in which they are made."

The survey was conducted in February 2008, to gauge the extent to which issues like human rights and working conditions influence consumer purchasing decisions. It also provides anecdotal evidence from those who have chosen not to buy a product based on ethical reasons.

The survey was conducted online with 1000 respondents from a cross section of the general Australian population by an external research company (Jones Donald Strategy Partners). 4000 CHOICE magazine subscribers and 4000 CHOICE online members were also surveyed with a response rate of 13.8%.

The survey results are available to download here.