▶ Your Answer : Some people think that it is preferable to make use of domestic goods rather than foreign ones without considering the cost. However, in my opinion, there are cases when using products produced outside the country is better than utilizing only domestic ones. This is because quality is what is considered to be the most important for consumers, and it can bring about the dissatisfaction of those who make use of products when using only domestic ones. To begin with, people have their right to choose what to use based on the quality of products. It is evident that quality is one of the most crucial factor in determining what to exploit, because high-quality products ensure that one can use them safely and for a long period. There is no one who is able to neglect such consumers' right by just forcing them to use domestic goods rather than foreign ones with patriotism. For example, a poll was conducted by the Korean Association of Economics with 500 citizens as respondents. The main purpose of the survey was to understand the consensus view about a component they think the most crucial in choosing what to purchase. As a result, the majority of the respondents claimed that the quality of goods is the factor of the greatest importance. In detail, an overwhelming 68 percent of them had replied that nothing can be ranked over quality. This was because they should continue to purchase alternative products with the same function to replace what they bought, if they use low-quality ones. The result of this survey plainly demonstrates that it can be better to use foreign products when the quality of them is higher than that of domestic ones. On top of that, purchasing domestic goods only is able to result in the overall wane of the people's satisfaction. According to the principles of economics, the people's satisfaction of products is improved by competition with other companies, because it serves as a catalyst for enhancing functions and quality. Thus, if competition between domestic products and ones made abroad ceases by enforcing them to buy only goods produced in where they live, the final outcome is nothing but the degraded satisfaction of those who use them. For instance, I would like to take an example of the Korean meat industry. In order to protect the national animal husbandry, the Korean government decided to impose tariff on pork produced overseas. Although the dignitary had thought that this would give rise to positive outcomes, the result was opposite. Not only were the quality of the domestic pork on the wane, citizens could not also be satiated with it, thereby leading to the decrease of pork demand. Consequently, the husbandry failed to make a profit well, and the government had no choice but to apologize for its failure of the policy. As this case reveals, utilizing domestic products solely can give rise to the unfortunate result of all people. To sum up, forcing people to buy only domestic products is able to result in the violation of consumers' right to regard quality as the most important, and the decrease of people’s satisfaction. In this regard, I firmly believe that one should be able to choose what to buy regardless of the nation they were produced. |