Consumer culture promoted
The campaign to encourage Vietnamese people to use domestic goods has a positive impact on the public, helping to build a new consumer culture in society.
According to the Institute for Public Opinion Research, 59 percent of Vietnamese people now choose Vietnamese goods instead of using foreign products of the same kind compared to 23 percent in 2009. More than 50 percent of rural people prefer Vietnamese products to cheaper goods of Chinese origin.
As a result, domestic goods including food and foodstuffs, garments and textiles and household goods account for 80-90 percent of things on sale at supermarkets, trade centres and retail shops.
Revenue from domestic goods sold at Maxi-Mart supermarket in HCM City, previously known as “Paradise of foreign goods”, has now reached 70 percent.
Nguyen Trong Huan from Hanoi says, “Two or three years ago, my family was fond of Chinese garment products but now prefers using domestic products made by Vietnamese garment and textile companies such as Hanosimex, Dong Xuan, Thang Long and Viet Tien. Using good quality domestic products at reasonable prices to support domestic businesses is a consumer right and obligation.”
Thuy from northern Bac Giang province shares with pride, “All goods sold in my shops are Vietnamese products. The “Vietnamese use Vietnamese goods” campaign has received a positive response from the public as the quality of Vietnamese products has improved significantly.
Launched two years ago, the campaign has paid off well, and a new consumer culture is taking shape in society.
At a recent seminar in Hanoi, experts said that the campaign aims to combine the development of consumer culture with that of business culture.
Initial results show that consumers are in favour of Vietnamese products but how to maintain their buying habits depends on businesses’ product quality and services.
Vu Vinh Phu, Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarkets Association says, “Business culture means, in the first place, providing consumers with suitable products of good quality but at reasonable prices. Businesses need to work closely with distributors to protect consumers by providing them with reliable shopping addresses.
According to Nguyen Duy Luong, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union, 50 percent of farmers are not fully aware of the campaign’s virtue that is to promote the use of Vietnamese goods in rural areas where farmers are easily cheated into buying counterfeit and imitation goods.
Businesses need to help farmers avoid getting fake products and feel more confident in the quality of domestic goods which are sold at reasonable prices, Luong says.
Dr Nguyen Minh Phong from the Hanoi Socio-Economic Development Research Institute underscores the need to make consumers fully aware of their economic benefit from using Vietnamese goods rather than imported goods.
In addition, businesses need to pay more attention to their trademark protection and promotion to help consumers make a good choice of different products.
Vu Trong Kim, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee assumes that consumer culture must go hand in hand with business culture imbued with a strong sense of patriotism and national pride. More and more consumers have decided to use Vietnamese products after getting information online.
However, businesses should improve the quality of products, sharpen the competitiveness edge and diversify designs to create prestigious Vietnamese trademarks, and update information to help consumers avoid using fake goods.
In addition, more attention should be paid to improving guarantee and customer care services.
Do Gia Phan, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Standard and Consumer Protection Association, says, “Consumers for their part, give more priority to using Vietnamese goods while managers continue to expand their distribution networks to remote rural areas.