Human nature is the same today as in the time of Caesar and the principles of human psychology are fixed and enduring. Disagreeing to this centuries old statement, I personally believe that such a scenario ceases to exist and the current one is that human is a fickle lot, demanding and still mistrustful.
In the context of this ever changing scenario of supply, demand and consumption, let us, for clarity of idea review the change that has taken place in the market arena during last fifty years.
Technology fifty years ago was in the hands of few leaders with a big R&D advantage over others but now the speed of technology transfers shortens lead time and narrows gap with many companies sharing the same technology. Likewise mass markets with moderate competition have been replaced by aggressive competition.
In place of simple single runs of products there is now segmentation and customisation requiring more complex manufacturing capabilities. Trade which was fragmented, weak and manufacturer dependent is now concentrated, powerful control of manufacturer focused on brands.
The earlier simple structured media is now explosive in all forms. People with mass taste, stable traditional values and predictable lifestyle have fragmented into individualistic tastes, discovered values and changing lifestyle. But what all these changes have brought about is one big change that it is no more the manufacturers who control the market but the consumers.
Consumer Behaviour is defined as a decision process and physical activity individuals engage in when evaluating, acquiring, using or disposing off goods and services. As a sub - set of human behaviour it is largely dependent on human psychology, sociology, social psychology, economic and anthropology of individuals, cultural groups and nations.
Money or economic wealth is ultimately about giving yourself the freedom to choose the lifestyle that you want to and to champion the causes you believe in. That is new ethic in this era for prosperity when many of us have already achieved the fundamentals of survival, security and living.
Inspired by the above, the Consumers Association of Pakistan (CAP) decided, more than a year ago, to institute on a yearly basis, the Consumers Choice Award which besides promoting healthy consumerism in the country will give a recognition in the market to the good ones over the not so good ones. A concept paper on this new crop was written by me which was generally well taken.
Since the initial take off is always a painful and time consuming exercise, CAP with its continued efforts for year and a half has Alhamdollilah been able to sow the seed of concept today. We have found the black box which gave us the AID - the awareness, interest and desire leaving the ACTION for the consumer products and services providers to complete so that we together succeed not only in promoting healthy consumerism but also a healthy relationship based on trust between the consumers and the suppliers.
Big change comes with small step. The first step - the first Consumers Choice Award is a step in this direction. Based on opinion survey, values and lifestyle of the people of Pakistan, the Consumers Choice Award would, we are confident, serve as a first step in promoting a quality culture and transforming the hitherto Daily Adjusted Life into a Quality Adjusted Life with at least a minimum for everyone.
We take it, ab-initio, a good achievement that the first Consumers Choice Award has attracted thirty five quality manufacturers and service providers. We have - launched a futuristic concept which, with the consumers awareness and education one of the foremost tasks of CAP, will Inshallah show growth in times to come.
We are also starting from today the website of Consumers Association of Pakistan (www.consumersassociationpk.org ) which besides consumers awareness and information, will also have e - Choice opinion survey provision as a supplemental support for deciding the awardees of the second Consumers Choice Award planned for next year. This is yet another way, a modern one for motivation and involvement of consumers, information processing and changing attitudes study.
Consumers Choice Award is our first product. There may have been shortcomings on our part which we will try to rectify and also refine the product for which we will anxiously be looking forward to healthy feed back. We are consumers, and thus, we together have to promote consumerism in Pakistan and build trustful relationships for a quality culture internally and country's reputation internationally.
Finally let may say that human mind is the basic tool of survival - the driver of thought process. To think or not to think decides for us to be or not to be. Let us decide to be, to be a healthy consumer, to have a choice for quality and to promote a quality culture.
Comments
Comments are closed.