In the turmoil of the last few weeks, many
of us have put aside our research efforts and looked in awe as two of the
most powerful symbols of world trade came crashing down to earth.
Yet, through our anger, fears, tears and sorrows, we now look upon a different
world that is still more interdependent than ever before. World trade
will not cease, problems associated with global enterprises will continue,
albeit in a different colored context, and our journey in the exploration
of solving international issues will continue.
Prior to the catastrophe that struck the U.S.
on September 11, 2001, I had begun examining some of the root problems
that are purported to have given rise to the terrorist attacks. Namely,
I was examining whether consumer dissatisfaction and materialistic consumption
was still alive within the U.S. And, whether some of the same issues
were emerging in other post-industrial states (beginning with the United
Kingdom) with the advent of Wal-Mart’s entry into Europe, Latin America
and Asia. Interestingly, the initial findings suggest that many of
the issues of the 1970’s are still prevalent in the U.S. today and are
now being found in the U.K. as well.
The above flies in the face of the increasing
use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), creating and catering to
micro-markets through the Internet and data mining, and extremely robust
economies (until recently) throughout much of the world. This initial
“crack” in the system suggests that consumption behavior is not a panacea
for happiness and those fulfilling “the dream” have much to learn about
the peoples of the world, their beliefs and value systems before we can
endeavor to please the populace with goods and services. Faith in
the institutional delivery system is at the core of consumer skepticism
and whose motives are most in question.
I would like to suggest that international
marketing researchers begin focusing on outcomes analysis of the purchasing
decision and the level of satisfaction that consumers experience post hoc.
An interesting study would be that of the Japanese, who for the last decade,
have held back on their purchasing as their economy has languished in a
no-growth scenario. Are they more content? More worried?
Deprived? Future research would look into Central and South America
(the forgotten) who are striving to become equal partners and share in
the world prosperity. Longitudinal studies in this world sector would
provide a pre-and post-test of consumer attitudes towards business as they
develop higher levels of consumption patterns. In short, there are
more than ample opportunities for exciting and stimulating research on
the peoples of the world regarding their after-purchase state of mind,
heart and beliefs about the system that we now find under attack. |
