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Article History

Received: 3 June 2024

Accepted: 4 September 2025

First Online: 4 November 2025

Competing interests

: The authors declare no competing interests.

: The article includes a study involving human participants. However, data collection was carried out by a professional research company using its own online consumer panel, in accordance with established ethical standards procedures and in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki as they mentioned in his webpage “ As researchers we have to work ethically, according to the sector code of conduct, which in our case are the ESOMAR guidelines. But that is not all. We must also comply with legal obligations such as the GDPR ( General Data Protection Regulation), the European regulation on privacy and the processing of personal data. As well as local regulations, depending on the country where we conduct the investigation” . Therefore, as the authors had no direct interaction with participants, ethics approval was not applied by them.

: As mentioned above, the article includes a study involving human participants, but the data collection was carried out by a professional research company using its own online consumer panel. This company obtains participant-informed consent for its digital consumer panel by clearly explaining data collection methods, privacy protections, and the purpose of the research. This process ensures participants understand how their observed and declared data will be used, allowing for transparency and informed decisions about their participation, as emphasised in their privacy policies and blog posts about their method ( ).