Are the Big Three failing because their brands don’t match our values?
QUICK! Here are 10 models of cars. Click on COMMENT and tell us what word or phrase you associate with each one.
GO —
PONTIAC
CHEVROLET
CADILLAC
HUMMER
MUSTANG
BUICK
JEEP
COBALT
PRIUS
LEXUS
Please — give me your first reaction in your comment, but let me suggest what we may find in our responses to this list. I bet it’s easier to come up with values association for Prius and Lexus than it was for Chevrolet, Cadillac, or any of the other brands Detroit offers. I submit that the failure of US automakers to connect with our values is a big part of their current woes.
Sure, many other things factor into our decisions. But values are key factors. I introduced this idea in August when I reported on research that documented a strong link between patriotism and what we buy. For example, consumers who love their country favor domestic brands when they could get better value by buying imported products. Patriotic investors invest too much in domestic companies.
Warren Buffett appealed to this patriotism-purchase link when, in a now-famous New York Times op-ed, he urged us to “buy American.” There are now nearly 700,000 Web pages that make reference to Buffett and his “buy American” appeal. He obviously struck a nerve.
Another study shows that global demand for US autos shifts as our basic values change. As people develop a constellation of values we call “self-expression values” (concerns for quality of life, human rights, environment, well-being, etc.), they shift away from American auto brands. For people with these values, brands like Prius and Lexus become more attractive.
Guess who is at the leading edge of the movement toward “self-expression” values? Americans. Thus, it’s not surprising to see the decline of US auto brands in our own country. The Big Three need more than a massive restructuring. They need to make cars that appeal to our basic values.
Tell us, as well: What do you think of this thesis?
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Who cares for whom?
As an adult child I've come to realize that it's my turn to give back what my wonderful, hardworking, giving mother gave of herself for her children. Now it's my turn to look after any and all needs she requires. How we can we turn our backs on the one who loved and nurtured us all of our lives, at least that was the way it was with my Mom. I know it hurts and is hard for her to accept any help we give her since she was the one that always gave. It's your turn to accept Mom....with all my love and thanks.
Sent in via email by Phyllis, who wrote:
My mom depends on we children for emotional support and love. She is 91 and needs us a lot for her daily activities. She gives us money for our special days such as Christmas and birthdays, but is otherwise financially set. In turn, we love and care for her and buy her many things on a regular basis, such as jigsaw puzzles, clothing and little things to make her life more interesting.
Re: Aging in America
Yesterday a 95-year old friend asked me to get her a "Do Not Resuscitate" order to post at her bedside. That led to a deeply spiritual conversation about death and dying. This is a widow who has no children. She is a woman of great faith, but I can't help but wonder how many other frail adults are struggling with faith questions but don't have a faith community to support them. Thanks for putting the spotlight on older adults!
Missy Buchanan
Author, Living with Purpose in a Worn-Out Body: Spiritual Encouragement for Older Adults
www.missybuchanan.com
Sent in via Email from Evie:
When I first heard of the Red Hat Society, I judged them with an internal smirk. I felt these were ‘older’ women who grew up in a repressed era with domineering husbands and no career aspirations. After they had hit the ‘50’ mark, they ‘came out’, blossomed even, and decided to make up for lost time by wearing mismatched outfits and an
‘I-don’t-care-what-you-think’ attitude. Now I’m over 50. And I
also have that attitude.
I just don’t wear the red hat.
If, as I suspect, the new time of aging means accepting that there is a great deal of "letting go" that is necessary, it feels very much as though one needs to focus on central values--if that means becoming increasingly religious, it would seem that to age gracefully, not simply by denial or resistance (all those things we do to preserve the appearance of youth as our idol) does mean at least a measure of increased religious life. I don't mean "formal" religion although that could well be involved. As one wit noted, "Death has a great way of focusing one's attention," and my hunch is that aging brings with it the realization that there are indeed limits which we do not control (to any really great extent) and that the awareness and contemplation of such limits can be understood as "religious" in some sense. A very long-winded way of suggesting "maybe yes, maybe not" I think!
I am not sure that age increases religious faith. I will leave that to others. I question my faith as much as I ever ... perhaps even more than when I was younger, but the questioning is different. I now question how I am living out my faith versus do I believe.
In less than two weeks I will celebrate my 64th birthday anniversary. Do I consider myself old? Not really.
Mentally I feel no different now than I did 30 or 40 years ago. Of course, my body tells me differently. Each morning when I awaken and get out of bed, I do it a bit slower and with a few more creaking joints. My psoriatic arthritis condition shoots me a quick remembrance every once in a while. I'm trying to figure out how to shave in the shower with my eye glasses on. Last week I purchased some hair darkener that promises to take 10 years off my looks. I'm still debating whether or not to use it. I worry that when I finally retire and apply for social security they will tell me that the well has run dry.
All in all I resist calling myself old. Old was when we celebrated by dad's 50th birthday. I was 26 and remember thinking, "Wow, pop is really getting old." Old was watching that same man, who struck fear into me and my siblings with just a certain look, slowly give himself up to a broken heart and Alzheimer's after the passing of my mother. I know if I could have gotten inside his mind I would have found that young kid still running the streets of Beirut 70 years ago. I can't throw a 30 yard pass with a football anymore or sink a 20 foot jumpshot, but I can still vividly recall doing those things. As long as I can hold onto those memories, I will never grow old.
Having arrived at an "old" 68, I suspect that the old saw about being as old as you feel is true. I don't feel 68, yet know that I am accepting physical limitations that prevent 21 year old behavior. On the other hand, the thought of retirement is far from my thoughts--I have an extraordinarily rewarding though frustrating profession, continue to learn new things about it, and enjoy what I am doing. Modern ophthalmology has recovered my sharp eyesight and modern medicine has met the challenge of a heart issue. No, I don't feel old, just that I may be entering a new part of living.
Replying to Posts on "What Unites/Divides Americans?"
Great news about the Supreme Court's decision. It seems to me that this is discrimination in the worst sense and in my mind if it had been upheld, would have had a severe negative affect on motivation of those who passed the test. This process of determining what's good/bad right/wrong after the fact has the effect of lowering the standards of many of our organizations and institutions and in turn has the effect of weakening our country by diluting what it takes to be competitive.
Wayne, like Missy B says below -- You've touched a topic close to the heart of millions.
Here's one big problem to toss out there into the discussion: Ever since America's 300,000 congregations began to realize that they were going to have to "market" themselves, way back in the 1970s--church marketing gurus began telling them they were "too old."
Well, Americans are aging. "Old 'R' Us." I'm very excited by writers like Missy--and also the Iona Community writers like Philip Newell and John Bell--who argue that older people have great spiritual wisdom that we lose if we are in denial about the value of aging.
So, your topic this week is far broader than religion--but this is a huge concern in American religious life.
Old age is: 20 years or more older than you are currently. It's relative.
Replying to Posts on "What Unites/Divides Americans?"
About time the Minnesota Republicans let voice of the people be heard! I think it's obscene to hold up the election because of petty politics.
Yes! Yes!! Aging in America is such an important topic for faith groups to discuss, and yet, we seem to get caught up in the "who is old?" issues that keep us from authentic conversation. Thanks for the great post today!
Missy Buchanan
www.missybuchanan.com
VIA EMAIL, Missy Buchanan, who writes regularly about Aging issues sent in encouragement that people are talking about Aging this week. She also sent a link to her latest column online, a sign that at least some writers out there are pushing for more consideration of this issue ...
Here's a link: http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=5555
Bravo for Pope Benedict that he has the courage to label faith in the free market "a type of idolatry". To have faith in this system is to assume that its agents, investors and bankers have a level of responsibility, accountability, morality and ethics that we have seen they do not exhibit to a high enough degree to avoid being strangled by their own greed. When millions of individual citizens have to sacrafice their basic componets of life such as shelter, income, food and ability to plan for the future to repair the economic damage done by reckless and fearless transactions, then we must take a hard look as to where we dedicate our faith.
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