Buying local had the highest awareness among U.S. consumers, topping the charts at 46%, according to a study produced by Nielsen, Chicago.

The new research examined whether consumers prefer goods produced by global/multi-national brands (defined as those that operate in many markets) or by local players (those operating only in a single market—the respondent's home country), based on responses from more than 30,000 online respondents in 61 countries spanning 40 categories.