Posted on 12/29/2004 2:15:16 PM PST by schaketo
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration's foreign policy may jeopardize the economic health of American multinational companies abroad, an international consumer survey released Monday said.
According to an international survey of 8,000 consumers taken by Global Marketing Insite World Poll on Dec. 10 through 12, fifty percent of foreign consumers distrust American companies as a result of the U.S. decision to invade Iraq and the war on terror. Additionally, 79 percent said they distrusted the American government, while 39 percent said they distrusted Americans.
"American companies' livelihoods depend on trust. It's extremely important. You almost never get a second chance once that trust is lost," said Allyson Stewart-Allen, co-author of "Working with Americans."
International consumers surveyed from G8 countries like China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and others described U.S. brand companies like AOL, Exxon Mobile and Starbucks as "arrogant, intrusive and self-centered" making them the top companies likely to be boycotted.
However, analysts explained that consumers were more inclined to boycott a product because they believed it closely resembled the attributes of the United States, rather than brand loyalty.
For example, 64 percent of consumers surveyed thought of American Express as "extremely American," while only 17 percent considered Visa to fall into the same category.
According to Mitchell Eggers, COO and chief pollster at GMI, Visa has been an exception to the rule because it has been able to detach itself from the image of being an American company - a problem that may cost other companies loses in revenue.
"Some American brands become closely connected to their country of origin and are quintessentially American," Eggers said in a released statement. "They represent the American lifestyle, innovation, power, leadership consumers as a significant negative, when it used to be a positive."
According to the poll, the negative international perception of the United States matched the unenthusiastic views of American multinational businesses. Based on their findings, 61 percent of French consumers and 58 percent of German consumers had negative feelings toward American multinational companies. While an additional 47 percent of European and Canadian consumers viewed how Americans conducted business negatively.
"American companies are accused of aggressiveness and arrogance because they insist on imposing the American way of doing this on their international markets; they are inflexible. They show limited respect or concern for non-U.S. cultures," said Stewart-Allen.
For the last three months, GMI tracked the consumption of American products by Europeans and found that as many as 20 percent consistently said they would deliberately avoid purchasing American products.
The survey, which is based entirely on consumer perception, has already seen some affect in the current market with the recent mass layoff of 9,000 GM Europe employees in Germany. Additionally, products like Barbie Doll made by Mattel have seen a 13 percent drop in sales worldwide.
"It could play out in a year...or it just might be a couple months thing and then all of sudden it dies away," said Kenneth Pick of GMI.
However, even if a boycott does occur, some analysts explained that any consumer-lead boycott would not greatly affect American companies abroad.
"Sanctions and boycotts don't work unless they very directly hit the bottom line," said Usha Haley, professor of management and international business at the University of New Haven in Connecticut.
"They don't seem to affect (much) because companies can resort to various mechanism to sell their products."
Haley who has written a book based on a seven-year study on the effect of sanctions and boycotts on multinational American companies in South Africa explained that the best run multinationals are those who are perceived as local brands, so they don't have to face the full force of anti-sentiment.
Though she agrees that there has been a great deal of ant-American sentiment abroad, stemmed from the U.S. polices in Iraq, she does not believe it will significantly affect American multinationals in Europe.
However, other analysts fear the current neglect by American multinational companies to take a closer look at the effects of the current U.S. anti-sentiment, might open further doors to Asian companies who are looking to expand further into Europe.
"They're competitors are going to swoop into those markets," said Josef Blumenfeld, a global PR and communications consultant, and founder of Tradewind Strategies.
"If Whirlpool can't sell, Samson will. The Asians are prime and ready to swoop right in. You can expect them to move aggressively and forcefully to seize market share," said Blumenfeld.
Through his company Tradewind Strategies, Blumenfeld helps American global companies to develop strategies to counter the backlash of anti-U.S. sentiment. He recommends to his clients to promote their companies as "global brands, not American brands" and to localize the company wherever possible.
He cautions that companies should remain flexible in its global marketing plan under the constructs of the current geopolitical situation, which can be unpredictable and ever changing.
However he added,"If they [companies] continue a unilateralist approach with complete disregard for the European governments American businesses will suffer as a result of that."
Now THAT is ridiculous.
Yep, that's why we grew our economy at a measly 4.5% the last 2 years while those european powerhouses raced to a 1.1% growth rate. Another fine MSM analysis.
Oh yea! Well OI took my survey today & it said 100% trusted American companies, 100% say the war is worth the sacrifice, 100% view the democrates as an equal enemy of America - so there.
Since when has the World Peace Herald cared about the state of US corporations?
pinkos still desperately trying to hang an albatross around Bush's neck.
I think this story is a bit extreme and designed to scare americans. Coca Cola still flys off the shelves. Ford still sells. They even have generic "American Cola" for sale in supermarkets.
We have to examine the source and see what this reporter's and the publication's agenda is really up to.
Where some foreign countries had one mcdonalds they are all over. Where dominoes did not exist there is now multiple chains. Despite the price Harley Davidson anything is still coooool.
Ecconomics and politics are two seperate issues for these people.
I would suspect it has more to do with the shrinking EU ecconomy and 10% unemployment.
They only care when they can bash em.
Therein lies the problem.
We can have an honest debate, and equally passionate argument as to whether our dedication to capitalism should drive foreign policy to the point of capitulating to "other forces".
In other words, which is paramount? The economic health of the country? or its cultural and moral health?
They can't stop america so they are trying to scare americans.
Could it just be that the EU consumer is buying less because their ecconomy is in the dumps? Germany's ecconomy is SHRINKING. France's unemployment is close to 10%.
And the Euro is constantly plauged with accounting scandals at their central bank.
In addition there are more countries which are going to be penalized for running an excessive debt. (a penalty france and germany have refused to pay over their own deficits)
Eg Whirlpool or Samson. They don't compete. Maybe Samsung was meant. Like wise with 5 or 6 other absurdities.
The article is a collage of unrelated anecdotes. Barbie sales are declining everywhere. Is that because Barbie dumped Ken and imitated Nitwany Spears? Or is it inherently a rejection of "American". To what extent is "Amercian" associated with Hollyweird image vs being associated with traditional images?
America's big exports are intellectual property including entertainment and software and non-consumer goods like raw food products from ADM/Conagra, etc and non-consumer goods like Caterpillar and Boeing. In recent years, American export of "consumer" goods has been very small. So does it matter what foreign consumers think, or just what the buyer of airplanes in Singapore and China think?
When they think they can use it to shape public opinion.
Thanks-- after reading the article it's always nice to have input from someone who's given some thought to economic factors.
Since when do any of the companies mentioned in this article manufacture anything in America for export?
Those are all transnational corporations.
Who gives a rat's patoot what happens to them?
"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."
--Thomas Jefferson to Horatio G. Spafford, 1814. ME 14:119
Yawn.....
I would tend to believe that these figures haven't changed much since the war in Iraq. If the gist of this article is that Europeans hate Americans, what's new?
Additionally, 79 percent said they distrusted the American government, while 39 percent said they distrusted Americans.
The feeling is mutual toward the european socialist appeasers who think that about us.
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