More and more Australian consumers are prepared to wear their hearts on their sleeves, with the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research indicating nearly 90 per cent of Australians are more likely to buy products and goods grown or made in Australia. 
Its latest survey on country of origin buying habits released earlier this month found that in the 12 months to   September 2015, 89.2 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over said they would be more likely to buy products made in Australia. This represented an increase of 3.6 per cent compared with a previous survey in 2013 that noted 85.6 per cent of the population preferred Australian-made products.
Michele Levine, chief executive officer of Roy Morgan Research, says this is encouraging news, particularly for the country's manufacturing sector.
"The love affair between Australians and Aussie-made products shows no sign of fading," she says. "In fact, it's the healthiest it's been for two years, with nine in every 10 Australians saying they're more likely to buy products made in Australia."
The survey looked at products across six sectors - food, clothes, wine, sporting goods, electrical goods and motor vehicles - with all except motor vehicles recording an increase in the percentage of consumers likely to buy Australian compared with 2013.
Not surprisingly, food was top in local preferences with 88.1 per cent of people more likely to buy Australian produce, while 76 per cent were more likely to buy clothes manufactured in Australia.
Wine, sporting goods and electrical goods all recorded an Aussie preference of more than 60 per cent while only Australian-made cars (52.9 per cent) were less popular than previously, possibly as a result of Ford, Holden and Toyota all due to close their Australian manufacturing operations by the end of 2017.
Ms Levine says one of the driving factors for the increase is the perception of Australian goods and produce being high-quality, and this is not just limited to Australian-born consumers.
"Even though Australians are getting more multicultural and diverse, the trend to buy Aussie-made products seems to only be getting stronger," Ms Levine says.
"Almost the same proportion of Australians born in the UK and Europe agree that they 'try to buy Australian-made products as often as possible' as Australians born in Australia.
"There is also an upward trend of people saying they 'believe quality is more important than price' over the last few years and this could be a reason the proportion of Australians saying they are more likely to buy Australian products is on the rise."
The rise in popularity of Australian-made goods and products comes despite a massive increase in shopping options, with the internet allowing consumers to buy goods easily and affordably from around the globe at the click of a mouse.
However, while the products may be imported Ms Levine notes that Australians are still prepared to support local online businesses.
"Online shopping has broadened our retail horizons, enabling us to purchase items made in all corners of the globe," she says. "It's worth remembering, however, that the majority of online shoppers in most product categories still buy from local sites."