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Consumer emancipation and economic development: The case of Thailand
166
Book
Altogether, this book is worth reading, provides an outline of the state-of-the-art concerning the econometric determination of advertising effectiveness, and demonstrates the pain of empirical market modeling. Udo Wagner University of Economics Vienna, Austria
References Bliemel, Friedhelm (1973). Theil’s forecast accuracy coefficient: A clarification. Journal of Marketing Research 10, 444-446. Doran, Howard E. (1981). Omission of an observation from a regression analysis. Journal of Econometrics 16, 367-374.
Hans B. Thorelli, Gerard D. Sentell Consumer emancipation and economic development: The case of Thailand Contemporary studies in economic and financial analysis, Vol. 37 JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, London, 1982, xxxiii + 376 pp Professors Thorelli and Sentell assert that “an incontrovertible conclusion of (their) survey is that the citizen as consumer is the forgotten man in the LDC - less developed countries” (p. xxvii). This is the major refrain which appears as a regular and frequent leitmotiu throughout this longish and excessively repetitive book. Its scope and objectives are nonetheless ambitious. Apart from applying a methodology, survey and statistical techniques which they developed in their studies of consumer orientations, and especially the distinction between IS (information seeker) and AC (average consumer) in what they refer to as the MDCs (more developed countries), to the LDC general framework, and Thailand in particular - this being the subject matter of chapters V to X - they also seek to develop an ideology and a programme for a model of economic development.
reviews
Based on their “pioneering study of the consumer as actor in the marketplace of a less developed country”, they refer to the emerging interest of UN agencies and a few LDC governments “in the plight of the Third World consumer” and contend that “the time is overdue for consumer emancipation - or, why not, ‘consumers’ lib’ - in these countries” (p. xxiii). The main thesis of the book is to establish “the linkage between consumer emancipation and economic development” (p. xxiv), the main focus of ch. XII, though they concede that “our research certainly indicates that a blind transfer of consumer policy measures as applied in the highly industrialized countries of the world would be a mistake” (p. xxiii). Three critical comments of a somewhat general nature can be made at the outset. Firstly, the fieldwork was carried out (1973) almost a decade prior to the publication of the book (1982); given that Thailand is one of the fastest growing regions of the world, it is unfortunate that the book took so long to see the light of day, with the result that some of the information and the bibliographical material are somewhat stale. Secondly, their views of what they refer to as the “orthodox theories of development” (see pp. 249ff) are simplistic, hence the presentation of these ‘ theories’ - batched together in a surely naive and inaccurate fashion - is over-simplified, thereby depriving their own thesis of analytical rigour. Thirdly, while writing with fire in one’s belly, as the authors do, is not without occasional effect and punch, it also leads to a perhaps inevitable missionary zeal, illustrated in statements such as, “ the emancipated consumer is not only the liberated consumer, he is also the motivated development worker” (p. 245) - to which one can only say ‘Amen’. In their analysis of Thai society the authors identify a number of pernicious characteristics commonly found in so-called less developed countries, including the dual economy, significant geographic variations in terms of
Book
income, hygiene and education, gaps between rich and poor and between metropolitans, provincial urbanites and rural dwellers, bureaucratic inefficiency, political corruption, and merchant chicanery, all leading undoubtedly to nefarious consequences for consumers, not only in terms of pricing but also such practices as fraud and adulteration. These are certainly very serious matters and one need only recall the tragic outcome of the olive oil adulteration scandal in Spain in order to agree emphatically with the authors that in terms of priorities between policies geared to consumer protection, consumer education and consumer information (see pp. 255-263), the first needs to be placed very much at the top of the list. Differences in terms of undertaking research in ‘ MDC’ and ‘ LDC’ environments and the difficulties these give rise to (see, especially, chs. II and V) are indicated. In Thailand, they range from Buddhistic fatalism and passivism (but which, the authors insist, are not as pronounced as is often alleged), certain social behavioural norms (such as kreing chai, described as “the desire to be self-effacing, respectful, humble, and extremely considerate. . . ” [p. 411, a fairly common pattern in the East leading a person more often to say what he imagines his listener would like to hear rather than what he may actually think), to the perils in certain districts infested with bandits, terrorists and red-light districts. In spite of these handicaps the authors’ research teams succeeded in accumulating a large quantity of data. A matter of considerable surprise to the author was the much greater prevalence of the IS (information seeker) phenomenon than they had anticipated (see, especially, ch. VI), though the sources of information for ‘LDC’ and ‘MDC’ ISs vary, especially from the more personal in the former (friends, relatives, etc.) to the more impersonal (specialised consumer journals and media advertising) in the latter, and whereas an ‘MDC’ IS is unlikely to be an opinion
reviews
161
leader, such is not the case with the ‘LDC’ IS. This and other considerations, however, lead the authors to recognise that the ‘LDC’ IS may be a somewhat different species from the ‘MCD’ IS and to suggest in their ‘Thoughts on Future Research’ (pp. 282-283) that this is an area worthy of future investigation. Consumer behaviour in developing countries is indeed an interesting field of research, though requiring a greater anthropological dimension, where one would hope banalities, such as the one stating that in Thailand “regular shoppers were more likely to be women between the ages of 25 and 54, married, with children, and with more formal schooling” (p. 129) would be avoided. In their concluding chapter the authors aver that “the multinational corporation is indispensable to world economic and social development” (p. 279). Not necessarily the statement as such - albeit in any case a rather sweeping generalisation - but the fact that it is supported by only 1 and 3/4 pages of text is one illustration of why it is difficult to take the authors’ conclusions seriously. Furthermore, for example, they produce (p. 250) a very neat little paradigm of development strategy according to which an open-market system (a system contrasting to what they refer to as “cryptocapitalism”, a description of which will be found on p. xxviii) leads on the right horizontal axis to “balanced, fast economic growth”, on the left to “consumer emancipation” and on the vertical axis to “ political democracy”. They perceive the open-market system and all that it implies as a “development accelerator”, with “some variant of this strategy (having) been applied in most rapidly growing countries”, noting that “Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore are excellent examples” (p. 251)! While the latter three can hardly be presented as paragons of political democracy, the ignorance which this statement reveals regarding Japan is staggering: it is true that in recent decades Japan has become a society of
168
Book
‘consumer emancipation’, but the model of Japanese development in terms of the actual foundations which were laid, namely an emphasis on the aspects the authors decry, rather than consumption, production infrastructural consolidation, long term at the expense of short term, onerous agricultural taxation to subsidise heavy industry, etc., were the cornerstones of the Meiji policy of (ultimately successful) industrialisation. Indeed Japan provides an antithesis to the model Thorelli and Sentell are groping for. The muddle-headedness of their ‘ policy programme’ is further and finally epitomised by their contention that albeit within a consumer emancipation framework, “government must be expected to play the lead role during the
reviews
major part of the transformation of a nation from an LDC to an MCD” (pp. 255--256), leading, presumably, to a self-contradictory concept of a government-regulated openmarket system! One can sympathise with the Thorelli/Sentell gospel, as indeed one symphathises with people whose hearts are undoubtedly in the right place. But development is more, much more, complex than a paradigm, no matter how alluring in its symmetry it may be! Jean-Pierre LEHMANN INSEAD Euro-Asia Centre Fontainebleau, France
Book
Altogether, this book is worth reading, provides an outline of the state-of-the-art concerning the econometric determination of advertising effectiveness, and demonstrates the pain of empirical market modeling. Udo Wagner University of Economics Vienna, Austria
References Bliemel, Friedhelm (1973). Theil’s forecast accuracy coefficient: A clarification. Journal of Marketing Research 10, 444-446. Doran, Howard E. (1981). Omission of an observation from a regression analysis. Journal of Econometrics 16, 367-374.
Hans B. Thorelli, Gerard D. Sentell Consumer emancipation and economic development: The case of Thailand Contemporary studies in economic and financial analysis, Vol. 37 JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, London, 1982, xxxiii + 376 pp Professors Thorelli and Sentell assert that “an incontrovertible conclusion of (their) survey is that the citizen as consumer is the forgotten man in the LDC - less developed countries” (p. xxvii). This is the major refrain which appears as a regular and frequent leitmotiu throughout this longish and excessively repetitive book. Its scope and objectives are nonetheless ambitious. Apart from applying a methodology, survey and statistical techniques which they developed in their studies of consumer orientations, and especially the distinction between IS (information seeker) and AC (average consumer) in what they refer to as the MDCs (more developed countries), to the LDC general framework, and Thailand in particular - this being the subject matter of chapters V to X - they also seek to develop an ideology and a programme for a model of economic development.
reviews
Based on their “pioneering study of the consumer as actor in the marketplace of a less developed country”, they refer to the emerging interest of UN agencies and a few LDC governments “in the plight of the Third World consumer” and contend that “the time is overdue for consumer emancipation - or, why not, ‘consumers’ lib’ - in these countries” (p. xxiii). The main thesis of the book is to establish “the linkage between consumer emancipation and economic development” (p. xxiv), the main focus of ch. XII, though they concede that “our research certainly indicates that a blind transfer of consumer policy measures as applied in the highly industrialized countries of the world would be a mistake” (p. xxiii). Three critical comments of a somewhat general nature can be made at the outset. Firstly, the fieldwork was carried out (1973) almost a decade prior to the publication of the book (1982); given that Thailand is one of the fastest growing regions of the world, it is unfortunate that the book took so long to see the light of day, with the result that some of the information and the bibliographical material are somewhat stale. Secondly, their views of what they refer to as the “orthodox theories of development” (see pp. 249ff) are simplistic, hence the presentation of these ‘ theories’ - batched together in a surely naive and inaccurate fashion - is over-simplified, thereby depriving their own thesis of analytical rigour. Thirdly, while writing with fire in one’s belly, as the authors do, is not without occasional effect and punch, it also leads to a perhaps inevitable missionary zeal, illustrated in statements such as, “ the emancipated consumer is not only the liberated consumer, he is also the motivated development worker” (p. 245) - to which one can only say ‘Amen’. In their analysis of Thai society the authors identify a number of pernicious characteristics commonly found in so-called less developed countries, including the dual economy, significant geographic variations in terms of
Book
income, hygiene and education, gaps between rich and poor and between metropolitans, provincial urbanites and rural dwellers, bureaucratic inefficiency, political corruption, and merchant chicanery, all leading undoubtedly to nefarious consequences for consumers, not only in terms of pricing but also such practices as fraud and adulteration. These are certainly very serious matters and one need only recall the tragic outcome of the olive oil adulteration scandal in Spain in order to agree emphatically with the authors that in terms of priorities between policies geared to consumer protection, consumer education and consumer information (see pp. 255-263), the first needs to be placed very much at the top of the list. Differences in terms of undertaking research in ‘ MDC’ and ‘ LDC’ environments and the difficulties these give rise to (see, especially, chs. II and V) are indicated. In Thailand, they range from Buddhistic fatalism and passivism (but which, the authors insist, are not as pronounced as is often alleged), certain social behavioural norms (such as kreing chai, described as “the desire to be self-effacing, respectful, humble, and extremely considerate. . . ” [p. 411, a fairly common pattern in the East leading a person more often to say what he imagines his listener would like to hear rather than what he may actually think), to the perils in certain districts infested with bandits, terrorists and red-light districts. In spite of these handicaps the authors’ research teams succeeded in accumulating a large quantity of data. A matter of considerable surprise to the author was the much greater prevalence of the IS (information seeker) phenomenon than they had anticipated (see, especially, ch. VI), though the sources of information for ‘LDC’ and ‘MDC’ ISs vary, especially from the more personal in the former (friends, relatives, etc.) to the more impersonal (specialised consumer journals and media advertising) in the latter, and whereas an ‘MDC’ IS is unlikely to be an opinion
reviews
161
leader, such is not the case with the ‘LDC’ IS. This and other considerations, however, lead the authors to recognise that the ‘LDC’ IS may be a somewhat different species from the ‘MCD’ IS and to suggest in their ‘Thoughts on Future Research’ (pp. 282-283) that this is an area worthy of future investigation. Consumer behaviour in developing countries is indeed an interesting field of research, though requiring a greater anthropological dimension, where one would hope banalities, such as the one stating that in Thailand “regular shoppers were more likely to be women between the ages of 25 and 54, married, with children, and with more formal schooling” (p. 129) would be avoided. In their concluding chapter the authors aver that “the multinational corporation is indispensable to world economic and social development” (p. 279). Not necessarily the statement as such - albeit in any case a rather sweeping generalisation - but the fact that it is supported by only 1 and 3/4 pages of text is one illustration of why it is difficult to take the authors’ conclusions seriously. Furthermore, for example, they produce (p. 250) a very neat little paradigm of development strategy according to which an open-market system (a system contrasting to what they refer to as “cryptocapitalism”, a description of which will be found on p. xxviii) leads on the right horizontal axis to “balanced, fast economic growth”, on the left to “consumer emancipation” and on the vertical axis to “ political democracy”. They perceive the open-market system and all that it implies as a “development accelerator”, with “some variant of this strategy (having) been applied in most rapidly growing countries”, noting that “Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore are excellent examples” (p. 251)! While the latter three can hardly be presented as paragons of political democracy, the ignorance which this statement reveals regarding Japan is staggering: it is true that in recent decades Japan has become a society of
168
Book
‘consumer emancipation’, but the model of Japanese development in terms of the actual foundations which were laid, namely an emphasis on the aspects the authors decry, rather than consumption, production infrastructural consolidation, long term at the expense of short term, onerous agricultural taxation to subsidise heavy industry, etc., were the cornerstones of the Meiji policy of (ultimately successful) industrialisation. Indeed Japan provides an antithesis to the model Thorelli and Sentell are groping for. The muddle-headedness of their ‘ policy programme’ is further and finally epitomised by their contention that albeit within a consumer emancipation framework, “government must be expected to play the lead role during the
reviews
major part of the transformation of a nation from an LDC to an MCD” (pp. 255--256), leading, presumably, to a self-contradictory concept of a government-regulated openmarket system! One can sympathise with the Thorelli/Sentell gospel, as indeed one symphathises with people whose hearts are undoubtedly in the right place. But development is more, much more, complex than a paradigm, no matter how alluring in its symmetry it may be! Jean-Pierre LEHMANN INSEAD Euro-Asia Centre Fontainebleau, France