Babin and Harris (2014) defined consumer ethnocentrism as “a belief among consumers that their ethnic group is superior to others and that the products that come from their native land are superior to other products” (p. 179). The authors went on to say that people who are very ethnocentric believe that buying products from their own country is the right thing to do (Babin & Harris, 2014, p. 179). For consumers displaying ethnocentrism, the quality of the product may not matter as long as they are showing support for their country; in fact, these consumers have a tendency to view domestic products as having better quality than is truly the case (Shimp & Subhash, 1987, p. 287). Shimp & Subhash (1987) also stated that the perceived risk regarding foreign products …show more content…
3). According to a Wall Street Journal article by B. Casselman and R. Gold (2010, para. 16), BP’s goal at the beginning of the project was to keep to a budget of $96.2 million and a deadline for completion of April 18th. Over the next few months, they would experience several delays, including a gas leak that required them to plug one hole and reroute their drilling (Casselman & Gold, 2010, para. 17). Because they were behind schedule, BP made several costly decisions in the days leading up to the disaster. They ignored the warnings from Halliburton on the need for additional parts that would keep the pipe centered in concrete (Bloomberg L.P., 2013, para. 6). They also failed to circulate the drilling mud long enough to remove gas at the bottom of the well (Casselman & Gold, 2010, para. 32). According to Casselman and Gold (2010, para. 9), at least one employee noted feeling rushed to complete a job that was already past its “due date” during the week the disaster occurred. This haste and negligence eventually led to the explosion that rocked the rig on April 20,
Characteristics of our society reflect in the outcome of purchasing tendencies. How many of us can honestly say we make a valid effort to purchase goods made in our own country? In our face paced world where both parents are in the work force, raising children, social activities and everything else, who has time to make an effort? Most often, consumers only care about marking off the s...
On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, on the Deep water Horizon oil drilling rig which rented by BP. There were 126 workers on board at the time of the explosion. Fifteen of them were injured, and eleven died. Two days later the oil drilling rig sank, the leaving oil spewing into the Gulf. This was the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, the oil had been leaking for almost three months.
British Petroleum (“BP”) is the company that is being blamed for the incident. Employing 80,000 people, BP is an international oil company that puts different technology to use for finding oil and gas under the Earth’s surface. One of the oilrigs, Deepwater Horizon has drilled 35,000 ft. making it to be the deepest drilling of oil and gas (Walsh). Deepwater Horizon was drilling in the Gulf of Mexico about 52 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip. After the explosion, helicopters searched for 11 crewmembers that reported missing. 17 people were injured (BP Internal Investigation Team). A day later, the rig was found upside down (BP Oil Spill Timeline). The cost to clean up the damage is approximately $760 million (Walsh).
Ethnocentrism is the name given to a tendency to interpret or evaluate other cultures in terms of one's own. This tendency has been, perhaps, more prevalent in modern nations than among preliterate tribes. The citizens of a large nation, especially in the past, have been less likely to observe people in another nation or culture than have been members of small tribes who are well acquainted with the ways of their culturally diverse neighbours. Thus, the American tourist could report that Londoners drive "on the wrong side of the street" or an Englishman might find some customs on the Continent "queer" or "boorish," merely because they are different. Members of a Pueblo tribe in the American Southwest, on the other hand, might be well acquainted with cultural differences not only among other Pueblos but also in non-Pueblo tribes such as the Navajo and Apache.
Ethnocentrism will finds its way of making cultures more distant from each other because some cultures judge other cultures by the standards of their own culture. Rather than trying to understand certain values and norm within a culture, ethnocentric cultures will not adapt other’s points of view. This ultimately leads to misunderstanding and sometimes conflicts between cultures.
“On March 23, 2005, at 1:20 pm, the BP Texas City Refinery suffered one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history. Explosions and fires killed 15 people and injured another 180, alarmed the community, and resulted in financial losses exceeding $1.5 billion.” (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, 2007) There are many small and big decisions and oversights that led to the incident. Underneath all the specific actions or inaction is a blatant disregard for addressing safety violations and procedures that had been pointed out to BP even years before this event. The use of outdated equipment and budget cuts also contributed to the circumstances that allowed this accident to happen.
Since 2005, PBS reported of four major incidents involving BP. The first incident was an explosion that killed 15 people at BP’s Texas refinery in Texas City. BP did not replace the old blown-down drums, a safety feature, with safer, modern flares to save money. An investigation commissioned by former Secretary of State James Baker concluded that this incident was preventable and BP failed in putting safety as a priority. In the Alaska incident, 260,000 gallons of oil leaked from a BP oil pipeline on Alaska’s North Slope in March, 2006. Later investigations found that BP hired uncertified inspectors and kept records poorly. BP agreed to re-inspect 10,000 points and corrected their problems. In July of 2005, a BP oil platform, called Thunder Horse, toppled after Hurricane Dennis. After an investigation, BP found that their engineers had incorrectly installed a number of valves that supported the rig. On January 2007, the Minerals Management Service cited this accident was caused by human error (PBS). In 2010, the Deep Water Horizon rig exploded, leading to oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. Again BP is ...
Individual’s consumption pattern and purchase decision are strongly influenced by cultural norms and values of the society he lives in (H. S. Kim & Drolet, 2003; Oyserman, Coon, & Kemmelmeier, 2002; Sun, Horn, & Merritt, 2004). Since individuals in collectivist society pay more attention towards harmony of the gro...
Growing up in an American society, we are surrounded by certain customs and mannerisms. We pay little attention to them, as they have been ingrained into our society and is apart of our everyday lives. It is when a new culture or society gets thrown into the mix that we notice the different customs. Our first reaction is to think their way is wrong or weird, but when you take a step back you realize that it’s not weird at all, in fact it is as natural as breathing. They are from a different country, therefore they have different customs and way of living. To them, our ways are just as strange.
The struggle to balance our many diversities with unity and, at least some tolerance and cooperation, has been one long battle between mankind and itself. Often, it seems almost eternal, a flame that cannot be extinguished unless all its kindling is dunked in some eye-opening truth and acceptance. Today, as much as any other day in history we experience these acts against each other: as impactful as Russia and Ukraine or the conflicts between Israeli and Palestinian people or as silly as Brazil and Argentina’s famous football rivalry. More industrialized countries/societies, particularly western societies, can obtain a certain superiority complex. Ethnocentrism plays a role in this; in a large amount of cases the “inferior cultures” lacked something like stronger military forces and technological advances, or even a disadvantage caused by the local geography that was dubbed weaker than their opponents.
Ethnocentrism is when one culture judge’s another culture by the standard of their own (Health, 2001). Stereotypes, biases, and prejudices against other people are all in a sense a form of ethnocentrism (Astle, Barton, Johnson, & Mill, 2014). It is okay to be proud of your own culture, but you need to remember to do so in such a way, that you are not putting down any other culture (Arnold, 2016).
We get our culture from enculturation. It is passed from one generation of people to the next through communication. Culture can define as actual society with particular practices, such as American, Asian,or African culture. According to Herskovits Melville, J who is known for exploring the cultural continuity states, “There is nothing wrong with such feelings, for "it characterizes the way most individuals feel about their own cultures, whether or not they verbalize their feeling" (Herskovits, p. 21). It is ethnocentrism that gives people their sense of peoplehood, group identity, and place in history-all of which are valuable traits to possess. According to Sumner, Graham, American social scientist, said about Ethnocentrism becomes negative when "one's own group becomes the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it" (Sumner 1979, p. 13) We create bias toward our culture and form an idea that one's own culture is the main standard to evaluate another group leading to view. They make their culture the measuring stick. This means that people believe and feel in the superiority of one's own ethnic culture over other culture. This behavior is known as Ethnocentrism. This concept was created amongst different nations earlier than cultural relativism, which has to be devised to counter ethnocentrism. In
Mooij, M.de. (2004). Consumer Behavior and Culture, Sage Publications, Page 102, Page 119, Page 274, Page 275
Ethnocentrism, as stated above, means the belief that one’s own culture is above and beyond all other cultures. Although this is somewhat of a shallow definition, it still provides an adequate explanation of a very complex issue. We see ethnocentrism every single day, in all aspects of life. The United States of America is a prime example of ethnocentrism is action. The people of this country have a tendency to disregard other cultures, instead believing that American culture is the only way to go. This is not to say that this is how everyone thinks, although most people, at one time or another, have had thoughts along these lines.
BP spent millions of dollars per day to clean up the oil spill. It was estimated that BP was spending “$6 million a day on fixing the mess (Grant, J.K. 2011). In 2005, an explosion at BP’s Texas City oil refinery killed 15 people and injured more than180 people. The accident cost the firm US $2 billion in damages and lawsuits (Murry, B. 2010). According to the OSHA (United States Occupational safety and Health Administration) Citations 760 and 761 BP was responsible for wilful and flagrant violations of safety standards. It happened intentionally and showing indifference to its employees and are yet to pay the fines from Texas City explosion. CSR review BP Green washing Tulane Law review Dodd-Frank act whose role is to evaluate the company fraudulent claims of CSR (Cherry, M. A., & Sneirson, J. F. 2010). An approximated $134 million BP plans spend to address the damage it caused for the Deepwater Horizon Resource Damage Assessment Trustees that include to restore habitats for ospreys and other birds, protect sea turtles and rebuild fish populations ( Thompson, A. 2010). Explosion of BP refinery in Texas that caused 100 injuries and 15 deaths in 2005.Criminal charges due to spread of 270,000 gallons of crude oil in Alaskan tundra in 2006.Toxic spill of 2,000 gallons of methanol in the oil