Globalization and Local Consumption

Peter Jacksons article entitled Local Consumption Cultures in a Globalizing World tackled about the impact of globalization to the consumption behaviors of different countries. His article significantly portrayed the resilience of local consumption cultures that affects what is the real extent of the role and impact of globalization (Jackson, 2004, p. 166). The article answered the research question of what is the real impact of introducing globalization and incorporating global products locally to the countrys domestic consumption. Jackson discussed that global products are indeed consumed quite differently in different places and the globalization is indeed received quite differently around the world (Jackson, 2004, p. 166).His main argument in his article is that globalization, despite of the depicted effect it has on the economy of the world, actually has very different implications in terms of local cultures of consumption.

To support his argument, Jackson provided evidences by citing examples of what happens in different parts of the world where global products were forced to adapt to local cultures. The author included stories and testimonies of people in different places they have surveyed to prove his argument. Some of the cultures of consumerism explored in his article were from the countries of China, India, and Russia. The author wrote down comparisons and descriptions of the local consumption that can be observed from these countries.

Jacksons work was very informative and it explained some curious things I have also observed. Globalization has also always been described as a negative thing that could potentially eliminate local culture but the article provided a more in-depth look of how globalization is actually being received in other countries. The truth is globalization has itself required companies to adopt a variety of localizing strategies in order to succeed commercially and had forced transnational corporations to adjust their products according to the local consumption of their target markets (Jackson, 2004, p. 167). The cases presented by the author regarding the three countries prove that a number of the negative notions of globalization are indeed baseless. Jacksons article was able to demonstrate that local geography still matters, particularly when mapping the contours of specific consumption cultures (Jackson, 2004, P.175).

Some of the points presented by Jackson can be easily observed in our daily lives, especially the examples he presented about the culture of food in India. The article was very effective in proving that local culture of consumption is still of primary importance for all developing countries. Globalization has not yet completely influenced or altered the culture of consumption of many countries. In fact, global products have to adjust according to their host countries to succeed in their markets.

On a similar note, Ty Matejowsky had conducted his own study about globalization and its effect on the local culture consumption. His article entitled Jolly Dogs and McSpaghetti Anthropological Reflections on GlobalLocal Fast Food Competition in the Philippines discussed the implications of globalization in a very specific sector of the food industry. In his work, he described how the proliferation of big fast food chains outside North America and Europe transformed the industry of food but had not completely influenced local consumption  because their spread has also given rise to rival domestic chains whose extensive knowledge of native palates and preferences offers real advantages in attracting and retaining customers (Matejowsky, 2008, p.315). His articles main argument is that several other factors should be considered on gauging the extent of influence of globalization to developing countries. The research pursued by the author is focused on how homegrown fast food chains successfully compete against global retail giants.

Matejowsky explained this argument by describing the situation of fast foods in the Philippines wherein McDonalds, an international brand, and Jollibee, a domestic brand, were compared with each other. The global and local fast food rivalry presented a more conclusive reality that support for home grown businesses continuous to exist amid the rapid increase of global consumerism. In fact, as the results of his study showed, more support is received by Jollibee compared to McDonalds in the Philippines. To prove this, the author gathered data through informal interviews, direct observation, customer surveys, and other field methods in a provincial Philippine city in 2005 and 2006 (Matejowsky, 2008, p. 316).
Matejowskys work proved that local consumer preferences, political beliefs, and cultural ideologies indeed have significant effects on globalizations overall impact. In the Philippines, fast-food preferences are beginning to reveal genuine, if sometimes subtle, expressions of postcolonial resistance against globalization and its more homogenizing tendencies (Matejowsky, 2008, p. 315). The historical background of Philippines, or any other country for that matter, has significant influence on what globalized culture would really penetrate a nation.

Jackson and Matejowskys articles both explored the relationship of globalization and the prevailing local culture of consumption. These two articles are well-written and successfully discussed the arguments of the authors. Some questions that could be raised about the two readings would be how strong the authors arguments would be when they will be refuted by the exaggerated notion of globalization. Also, both readings are only focused on selected continents. Another question for their arguments would be how their observations are applicable to the other regions of the world such as South America or Australia. But as a whole, both articles had imparted important information to their readers and had effectively discussed the effect of local consumption preferences to todays phenomenon of globalization.

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