Globalized Sri Lankan Consumer

Globalized Sri Lankan Consumer

Every Sri Lankan consumer experiencing globalization regardless of where they live (it doesn’t matter whether urban or rural).Because after the imposing of open economy in Sri Lanka many multinational companies arrived to the country & many global brands were flown to the Lankan economy. Many global brands are available in the Sri Lankan market. From automobile industry to FMCG goods we can see global brands more than the local brands. So it’s clear that every Sri Lankan consumer is a globalized consumer to a certain extent. When transforming an ordinary consumer to a globalized consumer technology plays a vital role. Internet is the key feature of that technology which opens door for Sri Lankan consumer to globalized consumer society. I would like to discuss few examples below, which indicates the behavior of Sri Lankan globalized consumer.

According to the Alexa web rankings, in Sri Lanka Amazon.com and ebay.com which are considered as global auctions or virtual markets holds 11^th and 12^th positions respectively while local auction website called ikman.lk holds 9^th place. bAsed oN tHat we can realize the growing tendency of Sri Lankans to find and buy goods through the internet as globalized consumers. Now many Sri Lankans before make a purchase decision find information about the product or service via internet (e.g. :- before buying a mobile phone check prices and features). Some automobile traders in Sri Lanka now offer their customers, facilities to order vehicles from the Japanese auctions through the internet and even to customize it as they want. Web 2.0 provides platform for users to become more interactive & knowledgeable. There are some blogs maintained by Sri Lankans containing tutorials about how to use internet auctions and to learn secure payment methods like PayPal. There is a thread on Elakiri.com called “ebay gadgets” this thread is daily updating about the goods that people received from ebay. They share their ebay experience with others by using this thread. That shows the encouragement of Sri Lankan globalized consumers. (Especially youth people).As well as some educational institutes in Sri Lanka provide distance learning lecture facilities(live lectures conducting at foreign universities) for students through the Internet. This can be treated as a consumption of a globalized service. In the previous year many international artistes arrived in Sri Lanka because Lankan music fans now requesting entertainments which comply with international standards. This shows Sri Lankan consumer is globalized even in their entertainment preferences.

But as a globalized consumer benefits and opportunities experienced by an urban consumer different from a rural consumer. This means Majority of Urban & semi urban consumers enjoying far more superior benefits & opportunities more than the rural consumers as globalized consumers. Major reason for this difference is Technology that they use. Urban & semi urban people have more updated technology to reach global markets and for improve their knowledge as global consumers. They are enjoying benefits of high speed internet connections, smart phones, tab pcs & such devices to accesses global markets while majority of the rural people get awareness on global brands via TV or newspapers.

Now Sri Lanka having wider globalized consumer society due to following reasons. High speed internet connections (eg: 4.5g, LTE), Easy online payment methods (eg:sampath web card) , Global advertising & promotional campaigns(eg:red bull events) , Satellite TV services , development of country’s infrastructure. There are some advantages that consumers can gain from this globalization, this improve consumers overall living standards but the negative side is this will encourage consumers to buy unwanted goods and forex problems to the country. Finally in more practical sense, majority of the Lankans prefer to buy global brands more than the local brands. So above facts prove that how Sri Lankan consumers are globalized.