homelandThere is no doubt that the campaign to boycott the products of European and American companies accused of supporting “Israel”, which followed the start of the aggression against Gaza, achieved this time an unprecedented success in the Jordanian markets, in terms of its comprehensiveness and its continuation throughout the period of the ongoing aggression until now.

In parallel with the boycott campaigns, campaigns have spread calling for the adoption of alternatives to these goods, and in this context, calls have spread specifically for the adoption of a “locally made” alternative if available.

In terms of form, it was generally observed in the markets that a new, subsidiary promotional method for sale was added with the title: “This is a locally made product,” which is considered a new marketing phenomenon, because it was common to indicate that the product was “imported,” especially if it was European or American, as an element. Encouragement to customers. However, with the spread of the boycott, large markets and stores took the initiative to place written and repeated signs prominently near the shelves of local goods, and they also rearranged the priorities of the display cabinets so that they gave a relatively advanced position to some local goods, and this included goods from countries that were considered friendly or at least not supportive of the enemy. .

Store workers confirmed that they noticed a change in the behavior of buyers, as checking the country of manufacture has become necessary, and many customers resort to using their mobile phones to check whether a certain item is on the lists of boycotted goods, after activists took the initiative to circulate these lists on social media. This new behavior particularly included the younger generation and even children, who began to alert their fathers or mothers to the need to make sure before purchasing. In this context, the Chamber of Industry announced a special application to promote local industry.

Mashhour Amash, marketing director at one of the companies operating in the detergent industry, believes that there is an actual positive change in the citizen’s attitude towards the local product, and it is comprehensive in various regions. In the capital and outside it, and according to his experience, this has had a significant impact on sales. With special reference to the Amman markets, where the increase in demand was more noticeable in the areas of western Amman, in locations where the public was accustomed to foreign goods, due to the availability of financial capacity, while in eastern Amman the purchase of locally produced goods in the field of cleaning materials was relatively widespread. Before the boycott.

However, Mashhour Amash was keen to point out the state of stagnation in the markets prior to the aggression, which increased after it, and therefore the aforementioned increase in sales does not mean high demand as much as it only means a comparative percentage. While he confirms that the phenomenon of demand for the local product on this scale is new and unprecedented, he expects that it is temporary, and that its sustainability may be difficult, because the foreign product is stronger in marketing and can be flexible in its methods, and its high financial potential helps it finance its advertising campaigns.

Amjad Al-Zaben, the owner of a relatively large store specializing in detergents and household supplies, confirms the effectiveness of the boycott and increasing demand for the local product, but he also believes that the matter is temporary, unless the factories change their plans, in terms of improving the quality of the product, including alternatives, and developing marketing policies, because the seller is a link. A link between the manufacturer and the consumer, which has requirements that are not provided by the local factory owner, who may not bear the costs of improving marketing.

However, Amjad noticed a positive initiative with a degree of boldness, as one of the local factories rushed to fill a gap in a product that was not manufactured locally, meaning that it had no alternative, which is the “tablets” of electric dishwashers, and the factory actually rushed to introduce its new product after the boycott. In the same field, Mashhour Omeish indicated that their factory has completed the necessary preparations to manufacture the material itself. We also noticed that some food items that were limited to famous foreign products have become among the boycotted goods. Local factories rushed to provide an alternative in order to perhaps benefit from the new situation.

Suhail Al-Nabhan, a resident of Irbid Governorate, who has worked in the field of marketing food products for more than 25 years and still follows the state of the markets, confirms that what is happening is a serious, new and influential phenomenon that attracts the attention of merchants. However, he notes the lack of flexibility of product providers who do not show long-term interest. Some of them see it as just an opportunity to sell broadly and make gains at the present moment.

Local industry and difficult promotion
To understand the latest developments in the phenomenon, it may be useful to point out that campaigns to promote homemade products have gone through previous experiences, through pre-designed campaigns with conscious goals and ambitions, meaning that they differ fundamentally from the current campaign that came as an initiative “from below,” so to speak, that is, from the circles. Popularity, interested activists and customers themselves.

Perhaps the most prominent of these campaigns was the “Made in Jordan” campaign, which was launched in June 2013 and continued to be effective for about seven years, and in practice it still exists, albeit at a slower pace, through a special website for the campaign.

Musa Al-Saket, the founder of that campaign, says that its activity covered all sectors of the local industry, and that many parties inside and outside the industry sector participated in the campaign, such as the Ministry of Education, the Broadcasting Corporation, the Journalists Syndicate, the Greater Amman Municipality, and others, and the campaign activities also moved between the governorates. The campaign used various forms and means of propaganda and media work. According to Al-Saket, it achieved some promotional results. In conclusion, it is a media campaign that contributed to introducing the national product. However, it is difficult to identify results related to what it actually achieved in the markets.

Al-Saket pointed out that the issue of the national product is the responsibility of three parties: the producer, the citizen, and the government. These parties have complementary roles. He pointed out that the development dimension requires that an increase in the proportion of local production inputs be achieved, as it does not exceed 30% in total, and this is a defect that must be resolved, but this requires more comprehensive thinking and other comprehensive strategies, because moving to primary industries that provide productive inputs is an economic activity of its nature. Others and requires formal interventions and procedures.

According to a study issued in 2020, seven years after the launch of the campaign, the status of the local product is still low compared to European and American products.

Is it possible to build on this change?
According to the principles of economic science, there are determinants of the individual’s rational economic decision, whether he is a consumer, investor, or saver, including what is known as benefit and cost calculations, which are calculations that the individual makes over time, and on this is built the concept of “rational choice,” which focuses on the size of the return. Or the expected benefit at the personal level.

However, a relatively new trend has begun to speak strongly about the role of psychological and social factors and their impact on the decision, which may have priority over the elements of rationality in the decision in the manner described above. It is true that the role of psychological and social factors was known in advance and accompanied the development of economic sciences, but the matter has grown and developed to the point of the emergence of a special branch called “behavioral economics,” which has been growing since the last three decades of the twentieth century, and seeks to integrate the approaches of psychology, sociology, and anthropology with science. Economics with the aim of a deeper understanding of economic phenomena.

In his book “Society and the Economy: Framework and Principles,” Mark Granowitz explains how the economic action or decision of an individual or group may be subject to a system of prevailing social standards. People may have some perception about the nature of this action or how it should be, a perception that may negate or It goes beyond or modifies economic action and distances it from the requirements of the idea of ​​rational decision.[2]

Granowitz asserts that social norms are binding primarily through their impact on emotions. They are reinforced by feelings of embarrassment, stress, guilt, and shame that a person experiences at the prospect of violating them, and may also charge a person committed to a norm with positive emotions. Social norms “have a grip on the mind because of the strong emotions they can arouse.”

In 2015, the World Bank issued a development report for that year entitled “Mind, Society, and Behavior,” in which it set some behavioral principles for the individual and the group in the economic field. It built its ideas through some actual experiences in some countries, especially in the Third World.

Therefore, it is true that the main event is titled “the aggression against Gaza,” or the resistance in Gaza, and it is a major global political event. It is true that we are originally facing the phenomenon of solidarity with Gaza and protest against the enemy, and that boycott is one of the tools of this general position, and that bias toward “friendly” products » Mainly, for local products, it was one of the accompanying results or phenomena, but all of this is closely linked to elements with a cultural, psychological and social dimension at the individual and group levels.

Therefore, the founder of the “Made in Jordan” campaign, Musa Al-Saket, expressed his objection to overriding political factors among economic decision-makers in the country. He stressed that the political factor should be present even when looking at the risks that may affect economic activity and its results. He pointed, for example, to the issue of the official focus on the tourism sector, while we are in a region witnessing tensions that lead to the fragility of projects and plans.

It is known that bringing about changes in deep psychological and cultural factors is a complex goal. It is not just a promotional, media, cultural, or “awareness” effort, according to the term used in the country. The citizen shopper simply enters the store and sees in front of him a range of products of varying quality, price, luster and reputation. He knows his financial capabilities and makes his own calculations. If the result of these “rational” calculations leads him to purchase a foreign commodity, what could motivate him to purchase a commodity? Local? This line of thinking extends to the other two sides of the economic equation: the investor and the saver, in addition to the consumer.

I am not interested here in expanding on the explanation of the factors or causes of the low status of local commodities. In addition, the discussion of the local industry requires bringing in other elements related to macro policies, financing, developing expertise, and bearing the consequences of improving quality, as much as stopping at the consumer’s position and the possibility of forming a “positive” bias in him towards the local product, as the individual and collective psychological element, formed and developed, immediately comes into the discussion. Historically.

In our current situation, we are facing the phenomenon of a psychological and cultural change that came under pressure from below and was not planned by the beneficial decision-makers in advance and intentionally. This change, in the way it was achieved, allows the issue of building on it, investing in it, and making it extended, to be raised. It precedes the decision of producers and industrialists, and it can be a pressure towards an appropriate, useful, and economically feasible decision. The local industry is facing an achievement that did not cost it any effort, money or thought. Change has turned into something resembling a latent popular demand, but so far it is subjective, unable to continue and subject to stopping or retreating, and the rest of the parties must meet it halfway.

All relevant parties should integrate together; The government as a total decision maker regarding duties and taxes, the industrialists themselves, those concerned with major national political, economic and cultural goals, and the consumers. An equation must also be reached between the interests of the two opposites: the importing merchant on the one hand and the manufacturer on the other. It seems that the entitlements and repercussions of solidarity with Gaza have put us before an urgent development question.

Source: 7iber