Boycotting Danish Products
The topic that I am going to discuss doesn’t require an article to refer to. Being in the Middle East provides me with first hand experience that no article will be able to provide. I am talking about the consequences that resulted after publishing of the caricature depicting Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
After the cartoons where re-published in the Norwegian magazine, a wave of rage and anger covered the societies in the Arab and Muslim counties. The immediate result of this anger was the coalition formed in these countries by consumers who were calling for boycotts on Danish products. The Denmark is portrayed as an ‘enemy’. And as human beings we won’t buy from the enemies if we were provided with alternatives. In this situation, Muslim customers of Danish products have alternatives. The Danish products, consisting mainly of dairy products and juices, are undifferentiated. This fact increases the bargaining power of buyers. Moreover, the customers face few if not no switching costs: thus, strengthening further buyer’s power.
Another way of analyzing the situation can be done through Hamel’s second business concept component, Strategic Resources. Firms can ask a number of questions to discover what are their core competencies. This would include questions on what is valuable to the customers and unique. When the Danish newspaper published the caricatures, customers linked this to any Danish product. Therefore, through the eyes of Muslim customers, all Danish Products are ripped off any uniqueness or value they represented to these. Consequently, losing their core competence from the customer’s points of view.
Moreover, when I look at the third component of the business concept, customer interface, I can see a strong link to this issue. Firstly, the way the firm reaches customers is labeled as Fulfillment and Support. When some Saudi and Emirati supermarket chains decided to stop selling Danish products, the producing firms lost their channel with the customers. So not only did Muslim customers stop buying due to their beliefs, but even the non-Muslims who aren’t boycotting the products, but who are customers of these supermarkets, do not have access to the products. The opportunity lost from selling products comes from one party intentionally, through personal beliefs, and by another party forcefully,through the decision of the channel provider, the supermarkets.
In the article Effect of Danish Boycott Patchy SADAFCO felt that as a consequence of the boycott to Danish products that its stock prices were slipping. SADAFCO was able to apply Customer Interface, information and insight. Pre-purchase conceptions were that SADAFCO was still partly Danish. This fact hindered many customers from buying their products and consequently resulted in a slip in stock prices. Company management had to publish a statement to fix this misconception. They were able to analyze the wrong information that reached customers during the pre-purchase stage, and do something about it.
On a personal note, if I talk about myself, I am boycotting Danish products. For me, it’s about my principals and values. I was brought up to respect the values of others, regardless of whether they are aligned with my beliefs or not. The fact that the Denmark is defending its position by saying that it’s part of their ‘freedom of speech’ is an explanation that I don’t buy-in. It’s common sense that your freedom ends when it intervenes with others’ freedom. I feel that I am an empowered buyer. (Yes!) In any case, it will be interesting to live and see what will happen next!
After the cartoons where re-published in the Norwegian magazine, a wave of rage and anger covered the societies in the Arab and Muslim counties. The immediate result of this anger was the coalition formed in these countries by consumers who were calling for boycotts on Danish products. The Denmark is portrayed as an ‘enemy’. And as human beings we won’t buy from the enemies if we were provided with alternatives. In this situation, Muslim customers of Danish products have alternatives. The Danish products, consisting mainly of dairy products and juices, are undifferentiated. This fact increases the bargaining power of buyers. Moreover, the customers face few if not no switching costs: thus, strengthening further buyer’s power.
Another way of analyzing the situation can be done through Hamel’s second business concept component, Strategic Resources. Firms can ask a number of questions to discover what are their core competencies. This would include questions on what is valuable to the customers and unique. When the Danish newspaper published the caricatures, customers linked this to any Danish product. Therefore, through the eyes of Muslim customers, all Danish Products are ripped off any uniqueness or value they represented to these. Consequently, losing their core competence from the customer’s points of view.
Moreover, when I look at the third component of the business concept, customer interface, I can see a strong link to this issue. Firstly, the way the firm reaches customers is labeled as Fulfillment and Support. When some Saudi and Emirati supermarket chains decided to stop selling Danish products, the producing firms lost their channel with the customers. So not only did Muslim customers stop buying due to their beliefs, but even the non-Muslims who aren’t boycotting the products, but who are customers of these supermarkets, do not have access to the products. The opportunity lost from selling products comes from one party intentionally, through personal beliefs, and by another party forcefully,through the decision of the channel provider, the supermarkets.
In the article Effect of Danish Boycott Patchy SADAFCO felt that as a consequence of the boycott to Danish products that its stock prices were slipping. SADAFCO was able to apply Customer Interface, information and insight. Pre-purchase conceptions were that SADAFCO was still partly Danish. This fact hindered many customers from buying their products and consequently resulted in a slip in stock prices. Company management had to publish a statement to fix this misconception. They were able to analyze the wrong information that reached customers during the pre-purchase stage, and do something about it.
On a personal note, if I talk about myself, I am boycotting Danish products. For me, it’s about my principals and values. I was brought up to respect the values of others, regardless of whether they are aligned with my beliefs or not. The fact that the Denmark is defending its position by saying that it’s part of their ‘freedom of speech’ is an explanation that I don’t buy-in. It’s common sense that your freedom ends when it intervenes with others’ freedom. I feel that I am an empowered buyer. (Yes!) In any case, it will be interesting to live and see what will happen next!
posted by Nothing is crystal clear at
10:42 PM
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