   We first have to explore the grand orchestrator that made it possible to have such a dizzying catalogue of goods; globalization. The phenomenon of globalization transformed our world to be smaller and more accessible. Products that could once only be purchased at the place of origin, such as silk, are now available in other countries, through trade and exploitation of comparative advantages. The sheer amount of choices that a consumer would face at a typical grocery store is staggering; on average, he will choose between 285 types of cookies, 75 types of ice tea, 230 types of soup and 175 different types of salad dressings. There are several factors that contribute to the fact that consumers  One of the factors leads globalization is free trade agreement between countries. FTA is a good example of how free trade between countries would maximize the choices of products in each country. 41 percent of the U.S. goods produced were exported to FTA partner countries in 2010 at growing rate.(International Trade Administration, 2011) For instance, NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) removed the major trade barriers and tariffs between Canada, U.S. and Mexico. This means that consumers in Mexico could easily purchase American goods without paying higher price, which implies that the foreign goods would gain the competitive power over some local goods. Because of this reason, selling foreign goods became more profitable which creates the increase in supply. The mixture of local and imported goods can provide more variety of products in choice. Another facilitator of choice is the wide usage of internet shopping and electronic commerce. E-commerce is one of the fastest growing industries which led the increase in economic and market globalization.(B.2010) Many people purchase products online. It provides discounted prices and convenience in reduction of time. Also, due to innovation of transportation, the internet became a perfect tool for foreign consumers to purchase local goods. This process makes the customers have bigger choices to look over when they attempt to make purchase. Also, changing in life styles can be one of the factors. Different lifestyle leads different demand in products. As nations get closer, different cultures spread like fire. In many Asian cultures, people have adapted a western lifestyle through the influence of media, expatriates, and the market. The change increases the demand of imported goods which would fit in their new lifestyle. Recently in China, consumption of western lifestyle goods is continually growing among high and upper class locals. Many consumers demand western lifestyle products such as organic foods, wine, cheese and similar high-end products. These products were originally designed to target expatriates, but now they are more popular among Chinese customers. To meet the contemporary needs, some stores carry 70-80% imported goods. (Leanne, May, &Tong, 2011) The imported goods add to aisles in supermarket and become one of the choices for the customers. As a product of open-market competition, trade blocs and a shift toward a global standard, globalization has diversified the markets at unprecedented levels, throwing consumers into the tempest of choices. Despite the current misconception that this increase in choices maximizes human welfare, the levels of choice modern day consumers face as a result of globalization actually have an adverse affect on people in a variety of ways. One way in which this occurs is through the form of “consumer paralysis”. This is when the consumer is faced with such an overwhelming amount of choice that they refrain from making any choice at all. This can be a common symptom in areas where consumers are forced to make decisions regarding health insurance and pension plans where there are a large number of variables in decisions that have high influence in a consumer’s everyday life. According to ‘The paradox of choice’ by Barry Schwartz, the creation of more and more choice also reduces customer satisfaction in a number of different ways. The first way is that with the existence of increased choice, it becomes easier for the consumer to imagine that there was probably an alternative choice that may have been better. This enduces them to regret their choice even if it was a good one. Another possible reason for the reduction in post-purchase customer satisfaction can be derived from the concept of ‘opportunity cost’. This makes it easier for the consumer to be nagged by the attractive features of the alternatives they could have chosen. It is human nature to desire and imagine the best possible outcome in a situation. Through the increased choice that globalization creates however, it becomes even easier for the consumers to imagine the things that they are missing out on, which in turn drains the level of satisfaction they walk away from each decision.  Furthermore, choice satisfaction is further diminished by the increase in customer expectations. For example, decades ago when you could only buy one type of jeans, customers would walk away from the store with a pair that might not fit great, but with a smile on their face. Now, with thousands of different types and brands available, a customer can walk into a shop and try lots of styles and walk away with a better fitting pair. Despite this, their customer satisfaction is lower as with so much to choose from they expect to walk away with a perfect fitting pair - when all they got was good. Despite getting a better product, the consumer is less satisfied as a result of the amount of choice available to them. The reason why "everything was better back when everything was worse is that when everything was worse it was actually possible for people to have experiences that were a pleasant surprise" (Barry Schwartz, The Paradox of Choice, 2004) Perhaps the most convincing argument within the paradox of choice lies masked in the theme of blame. For instance, if a consumer makes a poor choice in an environment where there is little choice available, they believe the blame to fall on the world surrounding them, as sufficient choice was not provided. When the consumer makes a poor decision in an environment that provides them with extensive choice however, the consumer blames themselves. This concept of self-blame has an adverse effect on us psychologically and can deteriorate our self esteem and often throw consumers into depression. Whether we chose it or not, globalization has thrown us all into a smaller, more crowded and ever more paradoxical and confusing world. At the swipe of an iPhone, or by simply walking into the town mall, we are hit by a tidal wave of choices that slowly and obscurely overwhelm us. Globalization has very literally shrunk the globe, putting goods, services, cultures, animals, trends and even ideas at our “leisurely” disposal if ever we would choose to have them. The “Silk Road”, having transformed itself into the internet and worldwide trade and logistics, has engulfed the world like a spider web, throwing producers onto the world market to procure an infinite array of choices to satiate our gluttonous consumerism and meet our ever-high expectations. As the entire world as our shopping mall, we as consumers, choose not to settle for anything but the best. As self-proclaimed “global citizens”, we try to make sense of this maelstrom of choice and confusion by convincing ourselves that “this is good, it’s how it’s supposed to be”. We are all entrapped by the central dogma that asserts that more choices leads to more freedom and freedom will make us all happier. … Right? What could be better than having the “freedom” to choose between 342 different kinds of chocolate or 321 brands of shampoo? Probabilistically speaking, more choice means that there is a higher chance that at least one of those choices will be the perfect chocolate bar or shampoo, and everybody knows that good chocolate makes you happy. But ironically, instead of liberation, the thick, daunting catalogue has turned us into the most picky, miserable and materialistic generation in history. Through “Consumer Paralysis”, diminished happiness from our ultimate choices, the nagging thought of opportunity costs foregone from the 1349 other choices you could have made, and just the sheer stress of making decisions after decisions, when the fog clears at the end of the day, it turns out that more is not more, but less. Although we have more options to choose from then ever, we are considerably less happy about the choices that we make as we sit at the tippy top of the “diminishing marginally utility curve”. So what, then, should we do? How should we, as already demanding consumers, deal with the demoralizing truth that the sense of security we felt as we looked at the endless list of foreign brands and choices was actually an illusion? The first step we could take is to realize that not every choice we make needs to be perfect. Buying the wrong type of orange juice will not yield unfortunate and life-long effects. We need to learn to be less demanding on ourselves and the producers to meet our every meticulous needs and wants. We also need to be more aware of the sway and influence that marketing and familiarity has on our choices, and realize that we actually do not need a lot of the things that we own or buy. Eliminating these useless choices will make our lives a lot easier and economic. Although this paradox of choice can often confuse and leave consumers in doldrums, we have to understand that underneath this conundrum lays a blessing. This paradox is a side-effect of economic prosperity, and only exists in affluent developed countries. There are still plenty consumers in poorer countries who would benefit greatly from more choices. So although our complex, globalized world may at times seem contradictory and confusing amongst the infinite choices, we have to be grateful for what we have and stay aware so that we may not fall victim to the hands of the paradox of choice. |
Reference
B. Katalinic. (2010). Electronic Commerce within the Context of Globalization, Annals of DAAAM for 2010. 21(1). 1726-9679. 727.
International Trade Administration. Free Trade Agreement. Retrieved from http://trade.gov/fta/
Leanne Wang, May L., &Tong W.(2011). China Retail Annual Report (GAIN Report number: CH0816). Shanghai, China. Shanghai ATO.
The Paradox of Choice (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 1, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less
I believe that more choices will lead to more happiness in general because of globalization. First of all, there is always something better, since nothing is perfect. For example, the decisions we make each day can lead to different results, but we never know which one is better or the best, as each decision will have both the positive side and the down side. Therefore, there is no need to be less happy by thinking that there is always a better option out there when choosing a product or service over another. In addition, many products such as food and snacks are things you can try before settling down on the one you feel is best. Many people actually enjoy trying new things when it comes to food, and might be much less happy if there are little options to choose from. In addition, some people might like doing research before making a decision on which brand to buy. For example, researching on the different cellphones available online might even be a hobby for some. It is true that people might blame themselves in the case where there are more options to choose from and that there is always something better, however, consumers can also find other reasons to blame their decision on, such as the store or brand when some products are over-priced. If they do blame themselves for not making enough income, then it might in fact encourage them to focus more on their career in order to increase their salary. Also, more choices mean that there are more competition as each brand competes against each other in the market, which may lead to enhanced quality or reduced price. According to the article “The impact of globalization on living standard, quality of life and international competitiveness,” globalization enhances the living standard and quality of life as there is a positive correlation between these 3 variables (Schuller, 2011). This means that although people might be less happy mentally, they are actually better off physically.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that today’s society is much more confusing compared to a century ago, with the constant advancement of technology. The introduction of computers would be a great example where our lives might actually have become more complex even though computers help us in many ways. I believe it is more about adapting to changes. The new generation will have no problem with using a computer compared to the older generations as people are usually resistant to change. This also explains why people will tend to stick with the brand they are using and would not switch to another brand unless there is something wrong with theirs or the other one is really much better. Even with the increased numbers of choices, some people might not even know it exists or bother looking into it. The best solution to avoid being unhappy when buying but knowing there are better options out there is to not think too much!
I believe that more choices will lead to more happiness in general because of globalization. First of all, there is always something better, since nothing is perfect. For example, the decisions we make each day can lead to different results, but we never know which one is better or the best, as each decision will have both the positive side and the down side. Therefore, there is no need to be less happy by thinking that there is always a better option out there when choosing a product or service over another. In addition, many products such as food and snacks are things you can try before settling down on the one you feel is best. Many people actually enjoy trying new things when it comes to food, and might be much less happy if there are little options to choose from. In addition, some people might like doing research before making a decision on which brand to buy. For example, researching on the different cellphones available online might even be a hobby for some. It is true that people might blame themselves in the case where there are more options to choose from and that there is always something better, however, consumers can also find other reasons to blame their decision on, such as the store or brand when some products are over-priced. If they do blame themselves for not making enough income, then it might in fact encourage them to focus more on their career in order to increase their salary. Also, more choices mean that there are more competition as each brand competes against each other in the market, which may lead to enhanced quality or reduced price. According to the article “The impact of globalization on living standard, quality of life and international competitiveness,” globalization enhances the living standard and quality of life as there is a positive correlation between these 3 variables (Schuller, 2011). This means that although people might be less happy mentally, they are actually better off physically.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that today’s society is much more confusing compared to a century ago, with the constant advancement of technology. The introduction of computers would be a great example where our lives might actually have become more complex even though computers help us in many ways. I believe it is more about adapting to changes. The new generation will have no problem with using a computer compared to the older generations as people are usually resistant to change. This also explains why people will tend to stick with the brand they are using and would not switch to another brand unless there is something wrong with theirs or the other one is really much better. Even with the increased numbers of choices, some people might not even know it exists or bother looking into it. The best solution to avoid being unhappy when buying but knowing there are better options out there is to not think too much!
To a certain extent, I do agree that increased choices might confuse us and end up stifling us instead. But alas, without having more choices at hand, I doubt any of us would be able to enjoy a better quality of life. Take for instance, in the past, given a choice between product A and B (both local produces), the probability of choosing the right one is significantly higher and much easier for the consumer. But then again, no one dictates that the right choice, in this case, is definitely the best solution for the end user. It might be better, but not necessarily the most suitable for the consumers.
ReplyDeleteHence by boosting the number of choices we have through the influx of globalisation, we do increase the possibility and chances of picking the right one. And even if we pick the wrong one, out of 100 choices, we could always go back and pick another one on our next visit. The search for the perfect solution is never complete. Consumers are never truly satisfied. So why blame globalisation for giving us more choices and making us confused? One only tends to be confused by the multiplitude of choices due to lack of research and competency level. This would in turn only force consumers to be more educated and take up research before making any decision, which might be a good turn. More educated buyer= informed consumer
Congratulations to a very interesting topic, this is something really worth thinking about! I must say I totally agree with most things you say. It is overwhelming sometimes when you need to go to the store just to get a few things quickly, but end up staying there for a long time both since you can’t choose among all the brands and can’t find what you are looking for because there is too much things everywhere! “Why is this one so cheap, does it mean it’s bad?” “Should I buy that one instead, the package is a lot nicer” and so on…
ReplyDeleteIt would have been interesting if you would have had some kind of evidence that all these choices make people unhappy. Are more people depressed today and could it in that case have a connection to globalization and too many choices? For instance I have heard that (in countries with a clear difference in summer and winter) a lot more people get depressed in the spring when it is getting warmer and sunnier outside again, and not during the cold, dark winter which you would expect causes depressions. Apparently, the reason for this is that people get depressed just because they know that during the spring and summer they are supposed to be happy, and if you’re not it feels ten times worse since everyone else is so happy. Maybe it could be the same thing with globalization. Young people today have so many more opportunities than generations before us to get a good education, travel around the world, make contacts in other countries and so on, that is causes so much pressure and in fact make people more unhappy. But again, interesting reading, thanks!
It is impressive that JARSolutionz has good insight on the concept of ‘More is less’. The extensive choices in the supermarket somehow provide us a better fit of products and needs. Nevertheless, we gradually overwhelmed by the variety and different attributes of products. To what extent customer satisfaction could be maximized by numerous choices? It depends on the product category and the value.
ReplyDeletePeople would usually demand for fewer choices on commodity products. For instance, toothpaste, ruler and salt require minimum comparison and buying efforts because the products features and quality of different brands are nearly identical in nature. However, it deserves to ask for more choices and detailed information for personalized products or those of high value. Life insurance, automobile, property, high-end electronics are typical examples requiring enormous effort on making purchase decisions. Consumers would request for careful comparisons on suitability, quality, price and style among brands.
In conclusion, ‘More is less’ principle has high validity on commodity products and convenience products. However, personalized products and high-value products still worth a complicated selection process from variety of brands and manufacturers.
Hello, team JARSolutions,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful first blog! It really mentions and explains the basic advantage and disadvantage of globalization - giving more choices to us. As far as I perceive, you and all classmates who made comment here explained their views in the role of consumer. Hence, I do love to explain my view in another role: businessmen.
Globalization makes local businessmen easier to contact potential customers all over the world. In financial aspect, globalization seems a good idea for them. However, just like what the blog mentioned, free trade agreement and the Internet make globalization possible, making endless list of competitors. As a businessman, facing all the local and global competitors, and demanding customers, all you need to do is ‘be the best’. These days, businessmen tend to use different technologies to make products; use different strategies to promote products; use different methods to retain customers. Take Cathay Pacific Airline as an example. It introduces ‘Asia Miles’ as a travel reward programme to let customers to earn rewards if they keep on choosing it to travel around the world. This is one way to increase customers’ switching costs and a way of promotion and retaining customers.
Thus, globalization seems like giving more choices to customers and making doing business difficult.
Reference:
http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INTL/ffp/asiamiles?CX_LANGUAGE=en&CX_COUNTRY=INTL
To a certain extent, I do agree that increased choices might confuse us and end up stifling us instead. But alas, without the more choices at hand, I doubt any of us would be able to enjoy a better quality of life. Take for instance, in the past, say given between the choice of product A and B (both local produces), the probability of choosing the right one is significantly higher and much easier for the consumer. But again, no one dictates that the right choice, in this case, is definitely the best solution for the end user. It might be better, but not necessarily the most suitable for the consumers.
ReplyDeleteHence by boosting the number of choices we have through the influx of globalisation, we do increase the possibility and chances of picking the right one. And even if we pick the wrong one, out of 100 choices, we could always go back and pick another one on our next visit. The search for the perfect solution is never complete. Consumers are never truly satisfied. So why blame globalisation for giving us more choices and making us confused? One only tends to be confused by the multiplude of choices due to lack of research and competency level. This would in turn only force consumers to be more educated and take up research before making any decision, which might be a good turn. More educated buyer= informed consumer
Hey Team JARSolutionz,
ReplyDeleteI think you pose many great arguments as to why too many choices can be detrimental to the decision maker. I definitely agree with all three of your “The paradox of choice” arguments, and I think that buyer’s remorse can feed into this as well.
Buyer’s remorse occurs when the consumer has a sense of regret after making a purchase that usually extends from fear of making the wrong choice, of splurging, or of being influenced by a seller. All three of these factors can be seen when there are too many choices presented.
On the flip side, however, I think that choice has allowed people to become much more educated, and therefore more comfortable and healthier, than they would have been in the past. For example, with the emergence of health trends such as gluten-free diets, wheat-free diets, vegetarianism, veganism, etc., choice has allowed these lifestyles to be a lot easier to practice. Quinoa, a high-protein grain from the Andean region of South America, has been the latest trendy food to be eaten by the aforementioned diets. Though still hard to find in some parts of the world, the grain is becoming more widely distributed as education of its benefits are becoming more widely acknowledged.
Along the same lines of leading a more educated, comfortable, and healthier lifestyle, and in looking outside of consumables, I think that choice has encouraged progress in this direction as well. If we look at healthcare for Canadians and Americans living at the border of the country, the ease of passage the citizens of either have to the other country has benefited patients immensely. For example, some Americans who live at the border may opt for dual citizenship with Canada in order to reap the benefits of Canadian public healthcare. On the other hand, for special procedures, Canadian public healthcare may mean long waiting times, but if a Canadian were to go to America for the procedure, it can be done at a much faster pace, granted for a fee, at a private practice. The point is, there is the choice as to where you can receive your healthcare because of globalization and as a result, you may just be better off.
I hope this provides some further insight into your already very in-depth and well written entry!
Good job guys!
I agree that somehow its better to have less options in this world where we can get different goods from all over the world . As the group mentioned on the blog, we have to make many choices since the moment we get up every day. Keeping making decisions is really tiring since we have to check out so much information before picking up the choices. After choosing it, we may think of if we made a good choice. What if chose a just fair or even bad product, our choice satisfaction reduces because we will blame ourselves that we didn't make the right choice. Indeed, this feeling happens more often now than before when the world is less globalized . That's because the more options we have, the more difficult to get all products'information to compare and then make the best decision.
ReplyDeleteBut all in all, I still prefer to have more choices because I can have more options to choose the better products. Although its tiring to compare so many products to make a decision, its good as I know that I have many choices which I can choose and thus I have higher chance to buy a better product with higher quality.
Very thought provoking article guys, good job! it's an interesting debate. Is less really more? Economically speaking the more products there are on the market, the better it is for consumers as prices will be kept low. Without all the choices available to us as consumers it is likely that prices would be higher and we'd end up with cookie oligopolies who can charge a lot more than they can in what appears to be an almost perfectly competitive biscuit market. However i do agree that in reality, too much choice is a bad thing. It means that it takes longer to make a choice and there is more of a chance that the choice you make is wrong. As you said, this can lead to self blame. There needs to be a suitable balance between no choice at all and a number of choices whereby the market is forced to give consumers the best price possible.
ReplyDeleteGreat articile Team JarSolutionz!Indeed globalization has improved our standard of living through an increase in our choice of products. It is favourable that globlisation allows someone living in Africa to buy a Japanese car at an affordable price, or someone living in Asia to seek medical treatment in America.
ReplyDeleteHowever, for most companies, the concept of decreasing marginal utility from additional choices will kick in at some time. Many consumer studies have shown that consumers will tend to purchase a product when given a moderate amount of choices than an excessive amount to choose from. Hence,companies must take extra effort in preserving their consumer's brand loyalty in order to survive in the current global climate.
It is impressive that JARSolutionz has good insight on the concept of ‘More is less’. The extensive choices in the supermarket somehow provide us a better fit of products and needs. Nevertheless, we gradually overwhelmed by the variety and different attributes of products. To what extent customer satisfaction could be maximized by numerous choices? It depends on the product category and the value.
ReplyDeletePeople would usually demand for fewer choices on commodity products. For instance, toothpaste, ruler and salt require minimum comparison and buying efforts because the products features and quality of different brands are nearly identical in nature. However, it deserves to ask for more choices and detailed information for personalized products or those of high value. Life insurance, automobile, property, high-end electronics are typical examples requiring enormous effort on making purchase decisions. Consumers would request for careful comparisons on suitability, quality, price and style among brands.
In conclusion, ‘More is less’ principle has high validity on commodity products and convenience products. However, personalized products and high-value products still worth a complicated selection process from variety of brands and manufacturers.
40039933honghu
ReplyDeleteI love choices. It's perhaps one of the greatest things in life to know that you have a choice to do something else. Does it make me less contented with life? I guess there are too many assumptions involved in that our happiness is directly correlated with our material goods. There are also other factors such as values, culture, religion which plays a part.
On a side note, the massive pool of choices have also given rise to an ever more competitive advertising market. More companies are finding innovative ways to break through this media clutter in order attract consumers. It is definitely becoming more and more difficult to discern between products and find the "perfect choice". We would have to be able to filter out the "truths" behind the products, read reviews and research to become a more informed consumer.
Nevertheless, this has been an interesting read!
Great post. I've been aware of the paradox of choice for a while and knowing this, I always do my best not to think too much of what else I could have bought that might have been better. I recently bought an expensive DSLR camera. I spent months planning my purchase, waiting to see if a newer and better model would be announced. Gave in and finally bought it, and haven't looked back. I think it's important to enjoy what you've got, otherwise it would be a pointless purchase.
ReplyDeleteDear JARSolutionz, I think your group provides a very special angel to see the diversity of products in the impact of globalization. I think the current situation of the decisions that we need to make on choosing products is similar as facing information overload. As the technology developing over time, we feel more stressful dealing with the information. If we cannot handle the information well, we may tend to feel information is overloaded. However, in my opinion, information is never overloaded. It is very useful and helpful that we can obtain different information through various channels if we have the ability to organize and process the information. In my opinion, the phenomenon that there are millions of choices in the consumer market is a good sign. It means that the market is becoming more mature and the producer is caring more about the individual preference. I think we should take the initiative rather than being lost in these different products. There is no need to be panic if we have a clear mind on what we want. We can use different strategies when we have different demand and it also depend on our own personalities. For example, there are different notebooks provided, various design, quality, size, price and so on. If you just want to buy a notebook to drop down some notes, and don’t care about other things, then you can just randomly pick one up and then left. If you really don’t care, then nothing will bother you. On the other hand, there are some people care more on the characteristics of notebooks. Just like me myself, I like collecting pretty notebooks. I will have a better mood writing if I use a notebook that is cute and with good quality. So I enjoy going to stationary shops and looking for pretty notebooks. Then the variety means a lot to me. People care about different things based on their personalities, habits, and so on. The same thing may be unnecessary for one person but significant for the other. The market as a whole is providing a great variety of products and services that fulfill different tastes, preferences and demands. So I think we should not blame that the variety of products wasted our precious time. What we need to consider is how much time I would like to spend on making choices and how can I do it.
ReplyDelete