With the United States economy struggling and the unemployment rate holding at nine percent, businesses are trying to appeal to the American people by focusing on their domestic production. Car manufacturers in particular have focused on this in the past few weeks. Many of them have begun ad campaigns discussing how their cars are made in America. While some car companies like Chrysler and GM are American based, others like Toyota and Honda are also pushing their role in the United State economy.
Roland Rust, a Distinguished University Professor and the David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing, says that it is crucial that car companies push their domestic jobs creation.
“America really cares about jobs right now. Companies that look like American companies and produce American jobs are likely to have a warm, fuzzy feeling associated with them,” said Rust.
Chrysler has actually turned their entire marketing strategy into this ‘buy American’ feeling, with their new slogan ‘Imported from Detroit,’ which Rust says is “very clever.”
However, Rust points out that these companies may make part of the car here, but not necessarily the whole thing.
“It’s all really misleading because cars are made everywhere. There are pieces coming from everywhere, all around the world. Basically it’s the cheapest place they can make it,” said Rust.
But until the economy turns around, Rust says we can continue to expect more ‘Buy American’ commercials.
While many products are put together with parts that come from all over the world, some buyers believe that better quality products are made in the U.S.
For Danielle Smith, a freshman majoring in physiology, it is her confidence in products made in the U.S. that pushes her towards purchasing them.
“I guess we tend to trust things that are made on our home area more so than things that are shipped to us,” said Smith.
While manufacturers can take advantage of an American push in advertising, most service sectors are already based in the United States.
“This is more a manufacturing issue because many services are here, I mean they are here pretty much completely,” said Rust on these non-exportable service businesses.