Looks like you took the truth a little too personally. Can you handle the truth? <a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/4127/madeinchinawalmarteh5.png" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a> Means C R A P made in Chinese slave labor camps! <a href="http://imageshack.us"><img src="http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/5743/madeinchinaut1.png" border="0" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us" /></a>
It funny how the simple smell of it seems to attract certain personalities to these boards... kind of like....flies?....lol <img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y97/Danigirl43/Fly-swatter.jpg>
I worked, attended University, and lived in Germany for almost a decade. As usual you folks have a lot of opinions, very little of which is factual. German consumers have a different orientation than US consumers. They are more "like" Scandinavians in terms of world view, social conscience, and perception of value. They are a frugal people saving almost as much of their salaries (as a percentage of annual earnings) as the Japanese, yet they did not accept Walmart. I think it would be difficult to understand the German psyche within the context of a single post here on ET. What I can say, is that I am not surprised. It seems only natural that German people, especially the older German worker, would hesitate to patronize Walmart. It is not only the ethical stance with regard to products and labor, but that Walmart represents a departure from the known, dependable, traditional, world that they grew up in. This is just a small (but significant) part of the problem for the German consumer. Now if someone wants to have a real, and presumably intelligent conversation about this let me know. Steve
I'm not particularly surprised either. I have some good friends in Germany and Switzerland and have some insight into their way of doing things. When Europeans spend money, they usually spend it on an experience (going out to clubs, travelling, etc.) or on fashion items, and not the "stuff" that Americans spend money on. This is why Disney had alot of financial trouble with Eurodisney. Alot of the money they make is from all the crap they sell to visitors. All of Disney's financial models assumed that Europeans would buy as much of this stuff as Americans, but of course the Europeans ended up buying quite a bit less.
You know shit. As far as I know, nowaday German cars are CRAP with the exception of Porsche I guess. Where do you live by the way?
Yes I think that is a very good point. Europeans do see value in the quality of their experience. That is why they are willing to travel long distances on vacation and to spend significant money on nice accomodations. Also they are harder to please when it comes to consumer items like clothing and consumer goods. Again I refer to older adult Europeans (specifically Germans) not the kids. The younger Germans, like young folks everywhere are susceptible to marketing, trends, and fads. As regards durable goods, the German consumer is very picky, often relying on word of mouth to make the decision to buy. They are not adventurous purchasers, and tend to buy the same auto, the same air conditioner, washing machine, dishwasher, refrigerator time after time. Price is important, but not as important as the psychological comfort they take from knowing that they are puchasing a "known quantity".
Could it have anything to do with the "nationalism" thing. If it's not made HERE, by OUR UNION workers, then we're not buying it? Germans are known for that sort of thing aren't they?
How the heck did "non-crap liking Germans" ever manage to get into sh*t like Kaiser Wilhelm and Fuehrer Hitler and their cronies, not mentioning even those Ulbricht and Stasi clowns? ______________________ Deutschland ueber Alles