- Mark Dolliver

NEW YORK As the recession drags on, there has been talk of fresh consumer interest in  "buying American." An AdweekMedia/Harris Poll indicates this is indeed an attitude marketers of U.S.-made goods could tap into, though such sentiment may be more wide than deep.

In polling fielded last month, 59 percent of respondents said they're more likely to buy a product when an ad emphasizes that it is made in the U.S. However, that included fewer than half as many (28 percent) saying they'd be "much more likely" to do so. Hardly any consumers would find such a message offputting, though, as just 3 percent said they'd be less likely to buy a product whose advertising stressed its made-in-America aspect. Thirty-seven percent said it wouldn't make a difference to them one way or another.

Younger consumers are less susceptible than their elders to a made-in-America sales pitch. Thirty-nine percent of the survey's 18-34-year-olds said they're more likely to buy a product when an ad emphasizes that it's made in America, vs. 60 percent of the 35-44-year-olds, 68 percent of the 45-54s and 74 percent of those 55 and older.

The disparities are even more striking when you focus on those saying they're "much more likely" to buy a product that has advertised itself in this way. The number of 18-34-year-olds putting themselves in that category (15 percent) was barely one-third the number of 55-plusers doing so (43 percent).