By Simon
There are a host of features consumers’ desire from products and services: reliability, consistency, general affordability, decent quality, customer service, not being taken for granted.
These features comprise the sociology of choice, which help determine whether consumers continue with or discontinue various brands. As in other jurisdictions, Bahamians are dissatisfied and sometimes just plain disgusted with certain brands, desperately seeking alternatives.
Bahamians are abandoning cable service providers in the country in droves because of the limited and poor choices of programme s, the frequent disruptions, uneven customer service, poor quality of online technicians, and the rolling blackouts of various channels.
Whatever one thinks of the to put it mildly, “mercurial”, Elon Musk, many thousands of Bahamians and residents have abandoned cable for Starlink in order to have more reliable and speedier internet services.
For some Family Islands, this is an utter necessity for businesses and residents given the extremely poor service in their communities.
A friend called BTC just last week and heard a recording bragging of the telecommunications company’s new voice recognition system. Not only did this feature fail, at the end of the recording, it stated that the BTC number she was trying to reach was not in service. Yes, BTC’s own number was out of service. LOL big time!
Poor quality of service is rife within the public and private sectors, with limited exceptions. When one experiences quality service it stands out. We pay first world prices for third world service. Yes, there are a few standout services in the country. Again, they are the proverbial exception, not the norm.
The poor services with which we contend include: grocery stores, commercial banks, media outlets, utilities, home repairs, and a range of other goods and services providers.
The main grocery chain in New Providence has so taken shoppers for granted for decades that their stores are physically drab, rundown, and in desperate need of modernization and refurbishment, more of which in a subsequent column.
The disregard for the shopping experience begins at the front entrances of this chain that are often filthy and unwelcoming. The potholes in the parking lots are disgraceful and a danger to vehicles.
Few believe they are getting super values or quality markets in terms of prices, and shopping facilities that resemble the past century, despite the gargantuan profits made by the owners of the chains, who are among the richest Bahamians.
With often ridiculous fees, poor in-bank service, and difficulties in getting certain kinds of commercial loans because of outrageous collateral requests, certain commercial banks have long shown their contempt for Bahamians.
Neither the Central Bank nor successive governments have comprehensively tackled these thorny issues and impediments.
In 1973, the year of Bahamian independence, the US-based fast-food chain Burger King launched the “Have it your way” advertising campaign. In a famous jingle the chain promised they could: “Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. Special orders don’t upset us. All we ask is that you let us serve it your way!”
The burger house, like others, was spreading its franchise globally, and adding a critical dimension to its marketing strategy. That dimension was giving consumers a customized product with greater choice, a hamburger made to order satisfying a range of tastes.
Burger King’s strategy was the opposite of what automobile pioneer Henry Ford quipped in 1909 about the mass-produced Model T: “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.”
Fast forward many decades. With the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1979, the audio cassette player went even more portable. Portability was now taken for granted. Then there was a quick skip from portable CD players to the iPod.
The revolution sparked by the iPod and intensified by smart phones and other mobile smart devices was marrying portability and ubiquity of service to a dazzling array of choices. No matter where we are we can utilise smart devices and a wireless connection to near instantaneously access all manner of content.
We no longer have to purchase an entire CD to get the song we want. Now we can mix rap, Beyoncé, rake and scrape, and Bach’s Piano Concerto in F Minor from the musicians of our choice.
With our smart devices we can instantly access our Amazon account to order a plethora of goods or a book we want to read.
A friend notes that his shaving powder, which costs $9 a tin in The Bahamas, can be ordered from Walmart through Amazon for $2.50 a tin.
For the price of one tin in The Bahamas, he can order three from overseas and land them here with shipping and local taxes, cheaper than the price of a tin in The Bahamas.
This is not just choice. It is choice on steroids at a cheaper price amidst one of the greater inflationary periods in the country since independence.
It is difficult for a small country to compete with the United States. Nevertheless, when consumers feel gouged or taken for granted, or receive poor service, they are going to find alternatives.
By example, the continued decline in cable is inevitable globally because of streaming services and alternative internet providers.
Today, we enjoy an extraordinary variety of choice in selecting the content of our liking whether in entertainment, news, general information, pornography or whatever peaks our curiosity or suits our fancy.
The reality of this array of choices engenders the sociology of choice, influencing everything from ethics to education to politics. The worlds of advertising and marketing have an in-depth understanding of this social ecology, applying it to sell every product or service imaginable from soap to cars to clothes.
Mega churches long ago understood the power of choice, while many traditional churches are still scratching their heads and souls wondering what is going on. The latter are often paralyzed by a static approach to new technologies and how to reach and influence current and prospective churchgoers.
Those who fail to understand this notion of choice, whether religious groups, political parties or businesses, will pay a price in terms of votes, clients and adherents.
There is another critical feature of the new world of technology and choice. The world of one-way communication is dead. Choice has been married to interactivity and now artificial intelligence.
What both choice and interactivity appeal to is the desire for agency, the ability to express oneself, to have a series of 15 minutes of fame, to expand one’s notoriety, and to appeal to one’s peers and others.
When tapping into choice, a marketer, salesman or public relations expert taps into something fundamental and powerful in the human psyche, namely, the desire for an individual to express themselves with a complex of messages such as: “I matter!”, “I’m important!”, “Don’t take me for granted!”, and related messages of individuation.
Then there is good old human vanity, of which social media sites such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat take full advantage. Print media in various forms will continue to thrive, especially platforms which offer choice, good journalism and analysis.
Consumers will pay for quality subscriptions. They will also pay for services which feed, fuel and appease their biases with algorithms that give the appearance of choice.
Equally important in the marketplace of ideas and choice are podcasts, which the US political veteran, 80-year-old, James Carville now describes as “the new print newspapers and magazines,” which he insists are vital for politicians to master.
Today, choice is not just something we appreciate. We demand and expect to have multiple choices. Yet there are a number of ethical dimensions to so much choice, including discerning what is fake or misleading, genuine and credible.
Moreover, just because we have more choices does not mean we will choose wisely, a topic for another time. Indeed, too much choice may often spell confusion and disaster.
Comments
Porcupine 3 weeks ago
We don't care. We just don't care. Do any government offices offer fast, friendly and efficient service? Exactly my point! We just don't care. We have very limited choices, so we just take what is given us. Makes no sense to complain. Wonder why? We don't care. Trash all over the sides of the road? We don't care.
birdiestrachan 3 weeks ago
BtC recording of their fame your call did not go through. The Sim cards do not work . After one puts money on their cell phone they take the number the Fnms papa is responsible for this failure After a while to save the lining of ones stomach one has to just let BlTC go.
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