Is it curtains down on globalisation?
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Feb 2023
Consumers now attach greater importance to factors such as local production, climate protection, and fair working conditions, forcing manufacturers to act, according to a new survey by Oliver Wyman and GFU Maschinenbau GmbH.
In August 2022 the two organisations surveyed more than 5,000 consumers in five countries – China, India, US, Germany and France – for the study, ‘The Way Back Home’. All five countries are among the seven largest economies in the world and have extensive international trade relations.
An article Consumers Rethink Globalisation by Dr Martin Schulte said manufacturers of household appliances and consumer electronics around the world are facing increased awareness of consumers from these countries.
The study revealed that a major share of consumers (from 44% in US to 91% in India) felt the world is too globalised. It found that compared to a time before COVID and Russia president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, 66% of consumers now have a stronger interest in the origins of products, resulting in local companies gaining a competitive advantage.
People in India (91%) and France (70%) are particularly sceptical about globalisation, whereas in China (46%) and the US (44%) questioned a global division of labour.
Although the young and highly educated are the most globalisation-critical group, the internationalisation of the economy is questioned by all demographics in all countries.
Companies with a green supply chain could have a good chance of expanding their market position; aggressively emphasising that they are not part of the problem, but part of the solution. Consumers increasingly demand brands to be part of the solution to the climate change crisis and other global crises. M