Indonesia and United State are different
country. They are located in two different continents. Indonesia is in Asia,
while United State is in America. Thus, their cultures and behaviors are
different. Each of them has their own uniqueness. However, they are not totally
different. We can find some similarities between them, especially in consumers’
preferences. There are four things that Indonesian and American consumers like
in choosing things. They are comfort, cleanliness, novelty, and convenient.
First of all, Indonesian and American
like comfort. It is maybe influenced by the ancestors’ life, whose life was difficult
and was not comfortable, so their descents are motivated to create a better
life. For that reason, they are aware of comfort as their consideration in
choosing things. For instance, if they are going to buy new clothes, they will
examine the fabric of the clothes, whether the fabric is comfortable or not. However,
Indonesians also consider the price of the thing they are going to buy. They
prefer cheap things to expensive ones. When they find a suitable and comfort
thing, they will check the price tag. If the price is too expensive, the will
change their mind to buy it. Some Indonesians also like buying unoriginal
things, like DVDs. We can easily find it anywhere. The reason why they buy
unoriginal DVDs is because it is cheaper to watch DVD than going to cinema to
watch movie. They also can watch the movie like a hundred times. The quality of
unoriginal DVDs is quite good. It is forbidden, but the government seems not
serious to prevent it.
The second similarity of Indonesian and
American is cleanliness. American’s cleanliness is perhaps influenced by the
Puritans heritage. They believe that everyone must cleanse their body from the
dirt and evil. They do not only keep their bodies, but also their stuff,
houses, and even pets. They also love cleanliness for the sake of beauty and
healthy, and so do Indonesian. However, in my opinion, cleanliness in Indonesia
and America is not the same. American is cleaner than Indonesia. It shown from
the public places in Indonesia, where garbage, such as plastics, mineral water
bottles, papers, tissues, are spread everywhere. Indonesians seem do not care
about the cleanliness, because they like to throw rubbish carelessly, instead
of throwing the rubbish to a trash can. Furthermore, many public places do not
provide trash cans.
The third similarity is novelty. Both of
Indonesian and American like something new and different. They think that brand
new things can increase their pride. If they do not have enough money to buy
new things, maybe because the price is very expensive, they can buy it with
using credit. There are many shops offering credit for their customers. In
addition, they like improving old things, for example, they like improving old
cars by changing the color of the cars, or adding some features in it, like
GPS–Global Positioning System, a satellite navigation system that provides
location and time information anywhere. Many Indonesians also like recycling.
They recycle garbage like plastics or plastics bottles to become new things,
such as bags, indoor ornaments, etc. Recycling does not only help them to save
their money, but also to save the world.
The last similarity is convenience. Electronics
are one sample of convenience thing. Not only American and Indonesian like
using electronics, but also people around the world like using electronics to
help them to do activities. Washing machines, microwave ovens, food processors,
etc. are electronics that help them to reduce their time spent on housework. They
also like fast-food restaurants, like McDonald’s, KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken),
Pizza Hut, Hoka Hoka Bento, etc. Those restaurants serve foods like fried
chickens, salads, burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, spaghettis, less than fifteen
minutes. Besides, the restaurants also offer ‘take-away service’, which the
customers order the foods and they can bring it to their homes.
In conclusion, both American and
Indonesian like comfort, cleanliness, novelty, and convenient. However, in my
opinion, American is better than Indonesian. American like buying original
stuff because they appreciate the producers and their government firmly bans
it. In the view of cleanliness, America is cleaner than Indonesia. Indonesian
seem ignoring their environment. That is why, flood is usual disaster that
happens in Indonesia because of the ignorance of Indonesians to keep their environment.
References:
(2008, August). Retrieved October 25, 2012, from
Yahoo! Answers:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090120141721AAkCO44
Datesman, M. K. American
Ways, An Introduction to American Culture. Longman.
Global Positioning
System. (2012, October 25). Retrieved
October 2012, 25, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
Stuff That The
Indonesian always Like. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 25, 2012, from Indonesian Prefer:
http://indoprefers.blogspot.com/2009/08/stuffs-that-indonesian-always-love.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment