Research Korner: Consumerism

Assessment of Customer Satisfaction in Governmental Organization

Customer Satisfaction in Governmental Organization   In every part of America, taxpayers are giving their satisfaction rating to the government employees along with their services rendered to the people.   This kind of survey enables the US government to monitor which part of the federal government is not doing its job and responsibilities to the public.   It also reveals how the employees in the federal government treat their customers or public based on the satisfaction level of the public.  In this regards, there have been 30 federal agencies that serve more than 90 percent of the American people --   they will be randomly surveyed to determine levels of satisfaction with the services they receive from these government agencies. This customer satisfaction policy   has been started in the implementation of Executive Order 12862 in 1993, which instructed federal agencies to establish customer service standards, report on their customer service activities, and develop customer service standards. Putting people first means ensuring the federal sector provides the highest quality service possible to the American people. In moving the government-wide survey initiative from the drawing board to actual contact with taxpayers is a significant achievement.  Moreover, the  Federal Advisory Committee for Excellence in Customer Satisfaction, which composed of industry, academic, consumer groups, and government agency leaders, oversees the survey. Aside from that, the committee is focusing on the best methods for institutionalizing a customer service culture in the federal government, the committee works with the High Impact Agencies to target catalytic changes necessary to improve the services provided to the American public. Other initiatives will be done in order to identify and to share the best practices for improving and delivering customer service among federal employees. Improving customer service is an essential ingredient to promote a high level of trust among the public towards government employees. (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/announc/survey.html) Correspondingly, the federal government has also established a customer focus, expectations and loyalty program that are designed to address all public’s concerns and complaints regarding government customer service or products.   In this center, the customers are being accommodated by the officer on duty, and see to it what the most immediate response is to be initiated.   Next,   any government organization must see to it that they encourage their customers to voice out or express their complaints to the concerned agencies or employee, in order to improve the quality  customer service of they offer to the public.  Similarly, this is also an effective way to ensure that the government organization will find ways to develop an customer serviced enhance their products and services.   There is correspondence, on bills, and in the telephone directory. Some offer discount coupons to encourage customer feedback. Many publish information on how they can be contacted in more than one language. They publish 1-800 and other numbers for the company where consumers are most likely to see.  Companies also market their complaint handling systems in conferences , meetings,  annual reports, newspapers, association circulars, videos, audio tapes, letters, press releases, speeches, training sessions and thru email.  Accordingly, there are government companies that really go out of their way just to please the customers.   A good example of this public firm is the insurance company with an excellent staff.    The insurance staff can greatly deal with the needs of grieving spouses.  Majority of the government  companies in the United States have been given  their leading employees  authority  to  provide any  cash incentive or in-kind award to the customers who have complaints with the products, coupon or even in  monetary issues, this is being done just to resolve  any complaint from the customer.  Relatively, the U.S. Postal Service is giving $ 20 in stamps whenever it is needed for the customer’s concern and satisfaction.  In the same token,  the government agencies are distributing supplement surveys among American people who complain on the routine. These government organizations  are giving surveys of a people who have complain with the routine and mostly extensive data collection tools.  By this, the  government personnel  will understand the level of satisfaction with  the existing customers. (http://www.customerexpressions.com/cex/cexweb.nsf/(GetPages)/fb0e21c03e1a1fbb85257011006e6396) The government –company partners focus on clear customer target groups. One company that serves a wide variety of customers decided to focus on its high-volume business customers. Three months after a high-volume business customer has complained, the company follows up to find out whether they are still using their services and, if not, the reasons for dissatisfaction. In addition, the company routinely solicits feedback before, during, and after service. It conducts focus groups and has established a Customer Advisory Council to drive decisions related to this key target group.  All these organizations   try to anticipate the needs and problems about a product or service.  In the same time, the government organizations has been educating their customers. (http://www.customerexpressions.com/cex/cexweb.nsf/(GetPages)/fb0e21c03e1a1fbb85257011006e6396)   References: (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/announc/survey.html) (http://www.customerexpressions.com/cex/cexweb.nsf/(GetPages)/fb0e21c03e1a1fbb85257011006e6396) (http://www.customerexpressions.com/cex/cexweb.nsf/(GetPages)/fb0e21c03e1a1fbb85257011006e6396)

Assessment of Customer Satisfaction in Governmental Organization

Customer Satisfaction in Governmental Organization In every part of America, taxpayers are giving their satisfaction rating to the ...

Business Assignment: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS         Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are products that can be available almost everywhere and it is easily sold at low cost. FMCG companies earn a little in just an items but their distribution and volume of sales everyday is generally and collectively large. Some of the few examples are products that you can see in supermarket, grocery, drugstores etc. these are like soft-drinks, bottled water, toiletries; like soap, detergent, toothpaste, shaves, pharmaceutical products and others. Customers usually buy such products without much thinking or proper planning like they do in other products because most of these products are their usual daily needs or at least they need to replace such items at least every month or every year. Some companies who are generally well known to distribute fast moving products are Nestle, Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and more.       Unilever creates a positive potential and synergy using their logo or ice cream brand in many countries when they try to push their products in other countries when they put the heartbrand in their ice cream even if they change its brand name. Customers can still figure out that this product is made by the same manufacturer because of its label of hearts and it carry through diversified products when it is newly launch. In their effort to create international to local brand awareness and create a symbol of nationalism they use a different names like Selecta in the Philippines is Algida in Hungary while it is called Starbucks in US but still they use the same classic heartbrand and it carries through the same customers satisfaction and pride of differences and identification of nationalistic approach while it is being sold in 40 countries worldwide.            Each country can choose to diversify their own flavor of this ice cream according to their favorites they can even create product segmentation ice cream for slimming, for all time favorite and for special occasions but they make sure that all products comes from strict process of freshness, ingredients, flavor and quality before the distribution. Their promotional strategy may include a different variety they may choose to launch in the local television programs using well known individual and celebrities, they may even give product launching or free tasting in supermarkets and groceries they also conduct taste challenge and comparison from other brands. Usually their price do not exceed to the product standard that has been expected in public although some of their items may usually cause a bit higher even in their new products or depending on the flavor.       In their distribution of Shampoo it is expected that Unilever is probably the leader in distribution when almost all their own brands compete in itself in stores, supermarket, groceries and other retail and wholesale stores. This is probably to replace or eliminate competition that if they have to compete in sales and distribution they can compete on their own. Their brand has becomes very popular that even children remember their brand names and it is being sold for everyone therefore their target market includes a very large degree of people that only the bald people would not buy their shampoo products. Their Close Up toothpaste seems to target the audience of the youth, while most of their Zwitsal products are usually designed for babies, most of their laundry products like Surf usually targeting mothers and house helper.       When Unilever tries to position their laundry products in India especially Surf brand they replace its name as Surf Excel to compete with wheel. In the Philippines they popularized the commercial of a wise mother who uses the brand for quality, freshness and economical value for the family and they have penetrated the market to become very effective in positioning their brand by identifying common target market which is usually the mother who often do the laundry in the Philippines although other brand still persist, the battle of the laundry brand is still steep. Most of their popular products includes Sunsilk, Creamsilk, Clear, Vaseline, Dove, Lifebouy, Lux, Zwitsal, Close up and many other popular products.       One of the best and latest preparation that they have done in 2011 product launching is using UK’s well known TV personalities, Vernom Kay and his mother Glady’s about their latest product which is Flora Cuisine liquid all in one use for frying, baking and roasting that they have promoted a unique product in supermarkets, television and the internet with Yahoo, MSN and YouTube. They promise to give healthy choice for consumers of 45% less saturated fat than cooking oil, the secret of this product why it can be used for multi function is the ingredients. Their objective includes brand promotion of products with minimal competition and their target markets are household users and restaurant. Unilever makes sure that in offering this product, they offer highly beneficial product like they always do and it is sold in a good price that people will surely love and continue to patronize.

Business Assignment: Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) are products that can be available almost everywhere and it is e...

Consumer Behavior Patterns in the Era of Globalization

Consumer Behavior Patterns in the Era of Globalization Globalization spawned elevated consumer awareness at increased tangible rates. The growing trend of stagnate income levels attribute to globalization as an effect came under pressure to fit to a new generation of markets driven to constantly changing consumer preferences and demand contemporary from the effects of a globalized economy. This effectuate to provide flexible mechanisms appropriate to varied consumer preferences that cause increased supply chains markets with a proportional number of buyers and sellers alike that respond to increasing competition among markets fit to different consumer categories. This, in turn, lead to driving factors on how consumer behavior and preferences are affected for the long term in different scales from varied national economies and in return, how consumer behavior responds to various consumer goods according to needs and at consumer profile segments with respect to lifestyle, quality, brand and price with the overall economic profile the national jurisdiction under which the consumer in question holds (Spiewack, n.d., p. 1).Another alternative driving factor is how respective national legal systems vary that employ different antitrust and legislative approaches with respect to international trade policy according to the dictates by international economic dynamics (Feinburg et al., 2010, p. 1). This drives the whole consumer matrix on behavior from the lowest hierarchal actor, the consumer, in ways the preference factor impacts the market on macroeconomic levels, and to what extent, national economies on a respective country basis respond. This spurs how the competition factor shapes among markets on a national and international purview and the pace international economic policy institutions form and permeate varied national societies and business communities manifest in different norms and purchasing choices the public employ based on culture. Along to note the institutionalization policymaking adjuncts to in international levels involve how international arbitrage measures on pricing function in different countries taken to control a country’s international trade performance through the flow of goods and services  affect foreign currency and consumer behavior incited by inflation (Anderson and Ginsburgh, 1999, p.1). Added to the diversity spread on a dominant scale attribute how internet technology breakthrough influence users across the globe institutionalized a convenient and efficient purchasing system stretching the consumer preference scale to avail a wider pool of choices with increased quality and more affordable prices at one’s fingertips as an increasing trend (Spiewack, n.d.,p.1).  That said this provides with elevated sense to discuss economic players and indicators in the international level that shape consumer behavior along the basic tenets on price, brand, quality  as central macroeconomic determinants. International economic principles centralize the supply-demand relationships and foreign currency markets. Demand is the determinant factor by which supply depends on. Demand which bear weight on purchasing power and income level distribution remain asymmetrical.  Due to varied concentrations of these determinant factors around the globe, the economic performance and foreign currency market between developed and developing countries dictate the purchasing power for trade and goods that vary. The credit risk factor also associates to the economic matrix that depend on the economic profile linked to a country, dictates the level interest rates central banks and their capability offer, and the growth and availability of diverse equity market and debt based financing packages or fixed income markets to these countries dictate the supply level accord to their purchasing power respectively. The greater the economic performance through well distributed income the greater chances for larger financing avail at lower interest rates, the greater the purchasing power for good and services, then the greater the supply in accord to the demand. This is also proportioned to a weaker economy. Should this be true a greater supply and demand means a wider coverage for quality goods and services.  The degree of flow of goods and economic performance relative to supply and demand corresponds to varying indices among countries inherent to their economic rank. Contemporary economic recessions that ravage developed countries impact the prime markets with high liability margins with lesser equity, along with high interest rates ongoing as prevalent economic issues. Due to the mutual degenerate effects, to give leverage to purchasing power with respect to good and services uniformly distributed among all markets to maintain tolerable demand levels with respect to supply, between developed and emerging markets, rests on international arbitrage as a necessary price control mechanism which provide to discriminate prices yet able to generate marginalized profits considering the market in question is exposed to monopolistic conditions (Anderson and Ginsburgh, 1999, pp.1-2). However sheer level adjustment in international price arbitrage technique is a disadvantageous measure and warrant compensation to offset deficits is imperative by encouraging foreign direct investments. This was similar in situation to China reflected on the Engel’s coefficient as the governing index that sheered foreign trade, international and national economic policy restructuring that shifted consumer demand to be lower than income level due to national income growth (Anderson and Ginsburgh,1999,p.5). On the national level, the higher income distributed, demand is likely distributed among consumers who prefer known and higher quality brands, but is not the necessary factor for purchase nowadays because of income constraints while quality is not sacrificed. These dynamics cause to study how economic indicators play. Consumer preference proved a factor respective to national trade policy and antitrust enforcement on national trade policies governed by legislative decisions.  Research on international political dynamics show respective nations the vested interest expressed with their culture influence who control international competition by imposing limits on the flow of trade and goods and therefore results to limited choices left to consumers.  Due to the onset of trade liberalization through free trade agreements or mergers and acquisitions between countries as the concurrent trend, a wide exposure to free competition among markets can yield likely to a lesser market share among competitors, with less revenue from sales. If a foreign competitor hovers in sales rank over a domestic competitor and in cases when the former has a stronger currency over the weaker on the average, meaning public preference on imported goods than domestic, then the outflow to pay imported goods will be costly and harmful to the economic welfare. Aside that demand on certain markets thrust heavily on religious belief and its adherence to a group of people. For example, Muslims require covered gowns and headdresses than the modern contemporary fashion world offers. Mergers and acquisitions among countries pose to disclose trade secrets that pose substantial antitrust risk while championing greater investment opportunities and market expansion. Other reasons bear on national security, economic and political interests especially that thrust on sensitive technologies by economic powers. Once violations occur legislators take action to file antitrust suits against any firm regardless of nationality for the protective welfare of constituents. This especially pervaded international intellectual property law to govern and model national legal structures prevalent in developed nations to dispose legal guidance implementing certain rules to address a wide spectrum of issues. That said antitrust laws serve to evade competitive market behavior and hence limit consumer choices (Feinburg et al., 2010, p.2). But the onset of internet technology introduce international boundaries to merge by which trade costs are reduced  to minimal levels and come to equilibrium resulting to affordable price while antitrust risks increase that subject to careful mutual corporate governance among mergers.

Consumer Behavior Patterns in the Era of Globalization

Consumer Behavior Patterns in the Era of Globalization Globalization spawned elevated consumer awareness at increased tangible rates. ...

The Influence and Impact of Advertising on Consumer Purchase Motive

THE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMERS BUYING HABIT         There are big differences of products and services that is flooded in the market and how advertising and promotion influence and impact the buying perception of the general public, for example let us take the brand of an ice cream in a local supermarket mostly people tend to buy the ice cream that is most advertise on the television, internet, magazine, radio and other media because people tend to believe what they often see and what they often hear rather than take risk of the unknown. This makes advertising real powerful tools in almost all business endeavors.       Advertising in particular is a part of marketing and advertising in itself is an entire course in college, if a certain company or organization use this tools they have definitely taken the advantage to build a strong solid foundation in the perception of the people to build a positive buying impact in the eyes of the public, if they intend to destroy or eliminate a certain competition through a series of promotion and advertisement they can do so. The real influence of advertisement is to condition the minds of the consumer to believe in the advertiser’s point of view and if they are successful about it they have build the name of their company and their products and services and therefore sales and supports from their consumers is on their way.       Another reason why companies advertise is to redirect the attention of customers who never knew about their products or they also want make the other customers to shift into their brand. People are always seeking innovative products, products that have a more benefits that they usually buy, they also tend to look for cheaper but quality products and advertisers can do all that in a single platform advertisement. If an advertiser created a strong eye catching, highly appealing and moving advertisement and they have stressed out possible benefits then they are assured that it can have shifted in the buying perception of the customers over others.       Advertisement can basically make an entire company an instant success that a single positive advertising can create a huge response to the audience. Some companies who already captured the heart of the buying public usually continue to advertise because they deem it wise to influence the perception of their customers seriously and continuously that makes their products and services a cut above the rest, this time their motivation is not create awareness about their products and the advertiser already knows that they have already made a great contribution to the industry but why do they continue to advertise? They want to maintain their position in the market and the stable buying perception of the customers they need to retain who already preferred their brand.       Advertisers want their customers to see new changes and innovation in their brand, some companies simply change labels and people somehow believed that the product also change, a change in price or a change in sizes, colors or content makes a difference in advertisement for old and new products. A product that have been accepted should and must have to continue to advertise or they may find their product in unstable position and people who already forgot some old products do not usually return to their old habit of changing back their preferred one.       Advertising can maintain or decline a certain products or services if they are not appropriate or timely in their release. There are also poor advertising that simply ignored by customers and these advertiser puts down their company even worse in the market and they have wasted their time and money in doing so. Advertisers must see to it that their advertisement is worth watching; usually it only takes a few seconds or minutes to see the ads so it must be complete and highly structured. It is tremendously expensive so that they must have to have a lasting impression in the viewer’s perception or their time is out.         Advertisement is like a movie but very brief, if an advertiser has summarized the point they would like to stress out, then they have succeeded. To do just that, they must ask themselves if the advertisement is informative, reliable, realistic or fun or a combination is much better makes these ads really amazing. It can stay in the customers mind and they tend to buy the products and refer this to another person making it more powerful.       Advertisers must also learn to use the variation of such media depending on the products or services they would like to advertise, they can use all the media like television, radio, internet, magazines etc. if they like or test one or more who pulls better or depending on their budget it doesn’t matter, as long as they know how to get the people’s attention and attract them positively to respond on their part, should be the start of their success. It doesn’t matter what strategy they need to follow they simply must advertise. I remember one commercial that says it all. “NIKE (just do it!)”

The Influence and Impact of Advertising on Consumer Purchase Motive

THE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMERS BUYING HABIT There are big differences of products and services that is flooded in the ...

A Critical Essay on Malaysian Consumer Behavior on Computers and Laptops

Consumer Behavior Among Malaysians A Critical Essay on Malaysian Consumer Behavior on Computers and Laptops   One of the dominant areas of consumer theory rests on the notion of the consumer as `chooser' (Gabriel and Lang, 1995: 26). Those objects with which one chooses to surround oneself in the home setting are more often than not products of careful choice and selection and may also be freely discarded (Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton, 1981: 17). Like most of the durable technological artifacts of mass production, laptops are impersonal objects, at least at the time of first use, and are therefore initially `alienated' or externalized from the subjectivity of the user, as Miller (1987) would put it. In this essay, I wanted to focus on Malaysians using personal computers and laptops and trace the cultural factors affecting their choice of laptops. The personal computer is of interest because it is both a functional and a symbolic object. Notwithstanding this functionality, the computer carries a range of symbolic meanings that set it apart from other workplace technologies. It is a sign of `progress' and `sophistication', of `the future', of `knowledge' and `information', and now of interconnection with others around the country and the globe (Lupton and Noble, 2002). Moreover, all technologies substitute, enhance or compensate for human capacities. The purpose of this essay design a research programme that illustrates the consumer behavior in Malaysia using IT hardware consumption particularly laptops as the case study. Moreover, I shall demonstrate a method of interpretation based on that model, using data drawn from two distinctively different forms of cultural text: advertising and television programming. A new emphasis is given to the process of meaning creation by identifying the influence of historical habits, events, and imagery on contemporary product discourse. We suggest ways of incorporating the analysis into current research programmes in dealing with consumer-based issues and problems. This essay also proposed a research program design that can be used in evaluating cultural and symbolic meanings of consumer behavior particularly in Malaysia’ information technology hardware industry. Furthermore, an assessment pertaining to the my proposed research design program shall be tested using this essay. Consequently, the weaknesses and strengths of the research program as indicated by the research findings were also illustrated.   Research Methodology There are three kinds of research methods, correlational, experimental and descriptive. (Walliman and Baiche, 2001) This essay shall utilize the descriptive research method which uses observation and surveys. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach.  This descriptive type of research will utilize observations in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) will guide the researcher when he stated: Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.  The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. The research described in this document is based fundamentally on qualitative research methods. This permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan. This study investigated consumer behavior in Malaysia and how it is affected by their cultural and symbolic perceptions particularly, in the area of information technology hardware consumption. The primary source of data has been the carrying out of a semi-structured, one-to-one interviews with 10 Malaysian nationals and 10 semi-structured interview conducted via electronic mail. Among other things, I explored how the participants incorporated their cultural values in their consumption behavior particularly in choosing their computers and laptops. To do so, I adopted the kind of approach used by researchers such as Csikszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) and, more recently, Dittmar (1992), Livingstone (1992) and Nippert-Eng (1996). These researchers used qualitative interviews with people at home or work or both to identify and analyze the ways in which their interviewees related to mass-produced artifacts in their immediate environment. Like these researchers, I chose qualitative interviewing as the primary data-gathering method. I was interested in exploring the nature of people's experiences with personal computers using their own accounts as data, while simultaneously acknowledging that the interviews themselves needed to be treated as texts rather than as transparent accounts of a single reality or truth. That is, I recognized that, while the interviewees were describing their personal experiences, understandings and beliefs (albeit selectively) in response to my  questions, they inevitably did so as members of diverse social groups with perhaps competing interests, drawing on pre-established shared systems of discourse and meaning (many of them shaped by marketing and advertising strategies around computers) and within a certain politico-economic context (in this case, as staff members at varying levels of the hierarchy in a university in the largest city of a wealthy western nation). The participants in the study were selected purposively. To address the issue of appropriation, some of our questions asked the participants to describe their computers and to talk about their consumption patterns, the importance of branding and their cultural leanings in their choice and in their perceived effects of their buying particular brands to their consumption behavior. There are, of course, other important strategies of appropriation, such as developing mastery in using the computer, bestowing gender, personality and personal names upon computers, and the temporal and spatial arrangements around computers that could also be discussed, but because of space limitations we are unable to elaborate upon these strategies here (Lupton and Noble, 1997; Noble and Lupton, 1998).   Symbolic and Cultural Properties of Products For more than four decades, advertising and marketing researchers have been intrigued by the symbolic properties of products (Gardner and Levy 1955; Hirschman and Holbrook 1982; Levy, 1986; Umiker-Sebeok 1987). During that period, it has become increasingly clear that the consumption of any product is richly embroidered by the symbolism of the practices, rituals, and texts surrounding it and, further, that the meanings associated with products are crucial to understanding their exchange value in the marketplace (Hirschman, Scott and Wells, 1998). Research inquiry has generally proceeded along two relatively independent paths: recording and analyzing the symbolism of product consumption practices (Arnould and Wallendorf 1994; Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989) and interpreting the symbolism of products as presented in cultural texts, such as advertisements, films, television programs, and novels (Hirschman, 1990; Holbrook, Bell, and Grayson 1989). Only a few theoretical attempts have been made to join the symbolism of practice with the symbolism of text (Otnes and Scott 1995). Further, although products and their consumption practices are generally acknowledged to acquire symbolism in a processual way, the actual dynamics of embedding products within meaningful cultural practices has been neither conceptualized nor analyzed in any detail. Thus, this essay shall use a symbolic approach in evaluating the consumption behavior of Malaysian particularly in IT hardware or laptops as compared to that of other countries. Given the ever-increasing globalization of economies, growing numbers of marketing firms are expecting more of their profits to be derived from international sales (Singhapakdi, et al., 1999). Global competition is ferocious; thus, developing long-term partner relationships often becomes a significant competitive advantage. Failures to account for the effects of differences in consumers' culturally-based ethical values will hinder a marketer's efforts to expand internationally (Singhapakdi, et al., 1999).   Malaysian Consumerist Culture The changes in Malaysia have been acknowledged by its admirers and critics alike. Two decades of uninterrupted economic growth and political stability have managed to guarantee nearly-full employment and a constant rise in living standards for the population (Noor, 1996). The volume of consumption within Malaysia alone should deter even the most gloomy of skeptics, for here we see that the universal right to consume is protected most zealously. For the economic prosperity of Malaysia has partly been based upon this as well: the right to buy your own CD player, latest TV and Video entertainment system, computers, laptops and soon, private TV cable-channels as well. Therefore as far as these economic and cultural rights are concerned, Malaysia can be said to have done no wrong whatsoever; on the contrary, her record has been one of successive achievements. The rise of this consumerist culture would not have been possible had it not been for the loyal support of Malaysia's youth, for it is they who are both the patrons and targets of this youth-oriented consumerism (Noor, 1996). The ever-increasing numbers of urban and suburban youths who flock to these centers of youth culture, be it in officially-Islamic Kelantan or in the Metropole of Kuala Lumpur itself, are added proof to the claim that such consumerist culture has gained popular foothold on the Malaysian imagination today. For those still in doubt, the government regulated television channel will confirm these observations when it broadcasts its regular karaoke contests to an audience hungry for such insubstantial entertainment. The home and office of the 1990s has become a showplace for advances in computerized technology. Embedded computer chips are found in nearly every kitchen appliance, business machine, and entertainment device. Many children's toys are computerized. The situation in Malaysia is not different (Rosen and Weil, 1995). Social roles and identity study by Otnes et al (1993) suggested that gift-givers express different social roles in relation to different gift recipients. Kleine et al (1993) suggested that consumers are attracted to products congruent with their own social identity or role. Research also examined changing social roles and their impact on consumption (Lavin 1995). For instance, culture within the United States, Hispanic consumers perceive advertisers of ads that are partly or fully in Spanish as more sensitive to Hispanic culture and prefer these to English ads (Koslow et al 1994). Research also focused on the relation of culture to consumption (Sirsi et al 1996) and suggested that intracultural variation (e.g. between experts and novices) is important. However, to break away from this state of dependency upon Western consumerist culture is something that the Islamic youth of Malaysia cannot do by themselves. They lack both the means as well as the resources, and as yet no credible alternatives have been given to them. Against the mighty weight of MTV and McDonalds, the Islamic elite have only been able to produce endless diatribes about the evils of Western culture and lifestyle without offering something else in its place.   Malaysian Attitudes on Marketing of Products The study conducted by Singhapakdi, et., al. (1999) compared Malaysia and the US in terms of their perceptions of marketing situations, their attitudes toward business and salespeople, and their personal moral philosophies. The survey results reveal some significant differences between the consumers from these two countries. It indicated that Malaysia is more oriented towards cultural leanings than that of the United States. Self-image, product image and their combination, self-congruity, are important concepts in consumer behavior. They have been hypothesized and found to affect significantly product choice and purchase intention. Question, Karunaratna and Goh (2000) studied two samples (Australia and Malaysia) from contrasting cultural backgrounds are compared in relation to the importance of self-congruity with respect to four brands of two products categories of contrasting involvement levels. Unexpectedly, samples from Australia and Malaysia were found to use differently actual vs. ideal self-image in their product evaluation. This confirms overall the role of self-congruence in consumer’s choice and points to the need for further investigation of this concept in a cross-cultural context.  Internationalism vs. Nationalism in Consumer Behavior When a firm decides to export products to new markets it faces two fundamental decisions: which markets to enter, and whether to use a global or a localized strategy (Klein, 2002; Jain, 1989). Regarding the first issue, managers must identify the intrinsic factors of each potential new market that might predict future success or failure. These factors are extremely varied and range from matters concerning infrastructure and political stability, market size and consumer income levels, to issues related to the presence of local or previously established multi-national competitors (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 1996; Gupta and Govindarajan, 1999). Once a market is selected, marketing managers must determine whether a global or local approach should be taken. Brand strategies involve inherent choices between using a global brand across markets or developing brands for specific markets. Relevant issues to consider in making these decisions include consumer familiarity with the global brand (and the size of the global consumer segment), the linguistic implications of the brand name for a new market, consumer culture, the presence and nature of competing brands within a given category, and the degree to which the brand is to be positioned on the basis of its country-of-origin (Alden, Steenkamp and Batra, 1999; Batra, Ramaswamy, Alden, Steenkamp and Ramachander, 2000; Gupta and Govindarajan, 1999; Shoham, 1999) Two constructs emerging from the marketing literature suggest important additional factors that the international manager should consider when making branding decisions: consumer animosity toward a producing nation, and consumer ethnocentrism. Consumer animosity--defined as anger related to previous or ongoing political, military, economic, or diplomatic events--has been found to affect consumers' purchase behavior (Klein, Ettenson and Morris, 1998). Consumer ethnocentrism is defined as the belief that it is inappropriate, or even immoral, to purchase foreign products because to do so is damaging to the domestic economy, costs domestic jobs, and is unpatriotic. This construct has also been found to affect purchase behavior (e.g., Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Research on country-of-origin effects has generally examined how a country's image (concerning, for example, workmanship, innovation, and technological advancement) is projected on to the features of products produced by that country (Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Johansson, 1989; Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka, 1985; Papadopoulos and Heslop, 1993).   Price Information and Consumer Behavior The impact of price information on consumer perception of quality has been studied rather extensively (Monroe and Dodds, 1988). Similar to country-of-origin studies, no clear picture has emerged to indicate unequivocally whether a positive price and quality relationship exists, particularly in cases where other information cues were also provided to the consumer. Given that consumers do not possess perfect information, they are likely to rely on prior experience as well as a variety of information cues, other than price provided, to judge product quality. In such a context, for consumers who are more experienced with the product, the price-quality association is likely to weaken (Wheatley, Walton and Chiu 1977; Rao and Monroe 1988). It would seem logically consistent that as the consumer confidence in judging product quality based on other information cues such as product attributes increases, his/her inclination to rely on price as an indicator of quality naturally should tend to decrease. Analysis               Malaysian consumption behavior, is still largely conservative despite their choices of products and brands which is apparent in their increasing openness to Western technologies particularly computers and laptops. The result of the interviews suggested that there is also a difference in the perception of Malaysians based on their age and gender. Youths for instance are generally more susceptible to the lure of advertisements and marketing efforts whereas, the older segment of the sample has been more conservative not only in their choice of brands but more so in their acquisition of laptops and computers.             Consequently, consumption behavior among the interviewees showed an irregular pattern- they are highly dependent on advertisement and marketing on some products while they are not so particular with some products. This is especially true between food consumption and computers and laptops. Majority of the respondents replied that they would rather eat Malaysian-made food items but added that in terms of technology, they prefer Western brands as opposed to Asian brands.             The most popular brands mentioned by the respondents are Apple Mackintosh and Dell, computer brands that are located in the Western countries. Moreover, the respondents showed resistance to laptops made in China as they argued that it is less durable and the qualities are not as good. Moreover, when asked if they consider price as a factor in their choice of products, majority of the respondents agreed. The primary reason for such agreement can be reflected in their definition of value as being “getting the best least costly alternative.” Thus, I can say that while they would have preferred to buy computer brands from Western countries, they are oftentimes restricted by the pricing of the products.             Malaysian culture had been described earlier as evolving. This is also shown in the consumption behavior of its nationals. For instance, while they have been shown to be highly conservative in their choices of products, the influx of western-educated professionals and the advent of MTV, the internet, and the media had allowed the penetration of Western culture among Malaysians. Thus, it was not surprising to hear that they prefer Western goods from Asian goods. When asked however on their own products, the interviewees still showed their tendency to prefer their products. What is disturbing though is their ability to connect with Western civilization to a larger extent than their Asian counterparts.   Conclusion             The effects of the internationalization of goods has been severe to several cultural segments particularly that of Third World and developing countries such as Malaysia. The implication has been they tend to identify and look up to the Western ideals as better than their own. This is shown in their consumption of products. In information technology, Malaysians had shown leaning towards Western products. Again, this can also be attributed to the fact that Malaysia has also yet to establish its own brand of computer thus, in Asia, it is only Japan that can be considered as a competitor for Western computer manufacturers. In fact, on food items, Malaysians still showed their preference for domestic brands.   References Alden, D.L., Steenkamp, J. & Batra, R. (1999). Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer Culture. Journal of Marketing, 63 (January): 75-87.   Arnould, EJ. and Wallendorf, M. (1994). Market Oriented Ethnography: Interpretation Building and Marketing Strategy Formulation. Journal of Marketing Research, 31 November, 484-504.   Batra, R,, Venkatram, R. Alden, D., Steenkamp, J. and Ramachander, S. (2000). Effects of Brand Local and Nonlocal Origin on Consumer Attitudes in Developing Countries. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 9 (2): 83-85.   Belk, RW., Wallendorf, M. and Sherry, J. (1989). The Sacred and the Profane in Consumer Behavior. Theodicy on the Odyssey. Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (June), 1-39.   Bilkey, W.J. and Nes, E. (1982) Country-of-origin effects on product evaluations. Journal of International Business Studies, 13 (1): 89-99.   Campbell, C. (1995) `The Sociology of Consumption', pp. 96-126 in D. Miller (ed.) Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies. London: Routledge.   Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.   Csikszentmihalyi, M. and E. Rochberg-Halton (1981) The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.   Czinkota, M. and Ronkainen, I. (1996). Global Marketing. Dryden Press.   Dittmar, H. (1992) The Social Psychology of Material Possessions. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.   Gabriel, Y. and T. Lang (1995) The Unmanageable Consumer: Contemporary Consumption and its Fragmentations. London: Sage.   Gardner, Burleigh B. and Sidney J. Levy (1955), "The Product and the Brand. Harvard Business Review, 33 (March-April), 33-39.   Gupta, A.K. and Govindarajan, V. (1999). How to Build a Global Presence. Financial Times: Mastering Global Business, Pitman Publishing.   Hirschman, E., Scott, L. and Wells, W. (1998) A model of product discourse: linking consumer practice to cultural texts. Journal of Advertising, Vol. 27.   Hirschman, E C. (1990). Secular Immortality and the American Ideology of Affluence. Journal of Consumer Research, 1 (June), 31-42.   Hirschman, EC. and Holbrook, M/ (1982). Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions. Journal of Marketing, 46 (Summer), 92-101.   Holbrook, MB., Bell, S. and Grayson, M. (1989). The Role of the Humanities in Consumer Research. in E.C. Hirschman, ed., Interpretive Consumer Research, Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 29-47.   Jain, S. (1989). Standardization of International Marketing Strategy: Some Research Hypotheses. Journal of Marketing Research, 53 (January): 70-79.   Johansson, J.K. (1989). Determinants and effects of the use of "made in" labels. International Marketing Review, 6 (1): 47-58.   -----, S. and Nonaka, I. (1985). Assessing the impact of country of origin on product evaluations: A new methodological perspective. Journal of Marketing Research, 22 (November): 388-96.   Klein, JG. (2002) Us versus them, or us versus everyone? Delineating consumer aversion to foreign goods. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 33.   Klein, JG., Ettenson, RE and Morris, M. (1998). The Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Marketing, 62(1): 89-100.   Kleine RE, Kleine SS, Kerman JB. (1993). Mundane consumption and the self: a social identity perspective, J. Consum. Psychol. 2(3):209-36   Koslow S, Shamdasami PN, Torchstone EE. (1994). Exploring language effects in ethnic advertising: a sociolinguistic perspective. J. Consum. Res. 20(4):575-85   Lavin, M. (1995). Creating consumers in the 1930s: Irma Phillips and the radio soap opera. J. Consum. Res. 22(1):75-89   Levy, SJ. (1986). Dreams, Animals, Fairy Tales, and Cars. Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 2.2, 163-171.   Livingstone, S. (1992) The Meaning of Domestic Technologies: A Personal Construct Analysis of Familial Gender Relations. pp. 113-30 in R. Silverstone and E. Hirsch (eds) Consuming Technologies: Media and information in Domestic Spaces. London: Routledge.   Lupton, D. and G. Noble (1997) `Just a Machine? Dehumanizing Strategies in Personal Computer Use', Body & Society 3(2): 83-101.   Lupton, D. and Noble, G. (2002) Mine/not mine: appropriating personal computers in the academic workplace. Journal of Sociology, Vol. 38.   Monroe, KB. & Dodds, W. (1988). A research program for establishing the validity of the price quality relationship. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(Spring): 151-68.   Nippert-Eng, C. (1996) Home and Work. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.   Noble, G. and D. Lupton (1998) Consuming Work: Computers, Subjectivity and Appropriation in the University Workplace. Sociological Review 46(4): 803-27.   Noor, F. (April-August 1996) Youth culture & Islamic intelligentsia: Ignoring the     popular cultural discourse. Muslimedia.   Otnes C, Lowry TM, and Kim YC. (1993). Gift selection for easy and difficult recipients: a social roles interpretation. J. Consum. Res. 20(2):229-44   Otnes, Cornelia and Linda M. Scott (1995). Something Old, Something New: The Relationship Between Ritual and Advertising. Journal of Advertising, 25 (Spring), 33-53.   Papadopoulos, N.G. and Heslop, L. (1993). Product-country images: Impact and role in international marketing, New York: International Business Press. Question P.G., Karunaratna, A. and Goh L.K. (November 2000). Self-congruity and product evaluation: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Consumer Marketing. 17, 6: 525-535 (11). Rao, AR. and Monroe, K. (1988). The moderating effect of prior knowledge on cue utilization in product evaluations. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(September): 253-64.   Rosen, L. and Weil, M. (1995) Adult and teenage use of consumer, business, and entertainment technology: potholes on the information superhighway? Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 29.   Shimp, T. & Sharma, S. (1987). Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing Research, 24: 280-289.   Shoham, A. (1999). Bounded Rationality, Planning, Standardization of International Strategy, and Export Performance: A Structural Model Examination. Journal of International Marketing, 7(2): 24-50. Singhapakdi, A. Rawwas, M., Marta, J. and Ahmed, MI. (1999)  A cross-cultural study of consumer perceptions about marketing ethics. Journal of Consumer Marketing; 16: 3; pp. 257-272. Sirsi AJ, Ward JC, Reingin PH. 1996. Microcultural analysis of variation in sharing of causal reasoning about behavior. J. Consum. Res. 22(4):345-72   Umiker-Sebeok, Jean, ed. (1987), Marketing and Semiotics, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.   Walliman, Nicholas and Bousmaha Baiche. (2001) Your research project. SAGE Publications   Wheatley, John J., Richard G. Walton & John S.Y. Chiu. (1977). The influence of prior product experience, price and brand on quality perception. In William D. Perreault, Jr., editor, Advances in consumer research, Vol. 4, 72-77. Atlanta, Ga.: Association of Consumer Research.

A Critical Essay on Malaysian Consumer Behavior on Computers and Laptops

Consumer Behavior Among Malaysians A Critical Essay on Malaysian Consumer Behavior on Computers and Laptops One of the dominant are...