Why Ethical Products Are More Common in Some Countries than in Others

mock exam essay

It seems that every day we see things coined as “organic products” from newspaper, TV and magazines. However, we never really show interests in purchasing them after we see the price labels. Whoops! It is costly. According to Tan (2007), in some countries such as Australia and Britain, people spend more on ethical goods than other products. The question arises: why are ethical products more common in some countries than in others? To answer the question, we need to consider four factors which influence people’s preference of goods. They are consumers’ budget, which determines the amount of money consumers are willing to spend; consumers’ rationales, which implies what they want from purchasing a good; educational level, which will raise their eco-awareness; and government policy, which will determine the amount and variety of ethical products within a country’s market.

The most important factor, budget for consumption, affects people’s purchasing power significantly. According to Tan (2007), in some countries, ethical products have already reached the mass in their markets. We can see from that, these countries, such as Britain and Australia, are developed countries with high GDP and GNP. Thus, they can spend more on healthy products than people in developing countries since they won’t result in insufficient budget for other consumptions. The monetary factor leads to a small amount of ethical products consumption simply because of people should consider more of balancing their budget for living, especially in developing countries.

Secondly, from psychological aspect, majority of consumers are rational. That is to say, they put more consideration on what they can get from certain goods rather than what is the cost for environment. For example, people concern more about whether the cosmetic products are organic and healthy to their skin compared to whether the plastic bags they hold will cause pollution when purchasing skin-care products. To some extent, consumers care more about how a product will affect them directly without seeing further cost for the environment.

However, some portion of consumers who show less interests for ethical products are not simply for the reason of being rational. It might due to their educational levels which will determine their recognition of the importance of showing consideration for environment and future consumption. Education is important for every one in order to raise the public awareness of environmental issues. For instance, people will not know why air-transported products will potentially increase global warming to a certain level if they know little about global warming. People might be rich with sufficient purchasing power. However, insufficient knowledge can still lead to low consumption of eco-friendly goods since their lack of eco-awareness.

The last factor is government policy which plays a role of guide of consumption. The influence and power of government can affect public purchasing of ethical products to a certain level. For a government, especially a government of developing country, which ranks economic growth first, it might tend to ignore the environment to achieve its goals. The government might not encourage organic product industry as developed countries’ governments do. Therefore, the domestic market might lack variety and amount of ethical products. People will naturally consume non-ethical because of insufficient choices and high prices of environmental-friendly goods.

In conclusion, budge for consumption, consumers’ rationale, educational level and government policy are four factors which influence people’s purchasing of ethical good crucially and importantly. We hope to see the improvements in some countries in educating people to raise the public awareness of ethical products purchasing accompany with the increase in GDP and GNP. We hope a better world and better lives in the future.

Summary Zhou Enlai(Chou Enlai)

( Paragraghs adapted from someone's blog)
[十里长街送总理 video clip click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jza3OQBPQS0]

Ode to Zhou Enlai - 纪念人民的好总理-周恩来

三十一年前的今天，周总理离开了我们。
三十一年后的今天，我仰望星空，静静地祝周总理的在天之灵安息。
感受着时空与岁月的变迁，体验着生命与世界的爱恋。
周总理，您的心血浇灌了共和国之花，您的汗水换来了中国人之叹--
周总理，人民的好总理。共和国有我们继承，新世纪有我们添彩
请放心。以日月之荣耀，我等愿誓：我为中华之崛起而读书！
The world has witnessed a great loss.
Prime Minister of China, Zhou Enlai passed away in Beijing.
Today is the 31th anniversary of the great loss.Dear friends.
China is what it is today because of him.Let's raise our goblets.
In honor of the greatest politician ever.Be peaceful.
China and the world is stepping firmly into the path of peace and construction.
May your soul be happy above us, bright as sunshine, clear as the azure sky...

Chou Enlai---People's Republic of China
After the Communist victory in 1949, Chou became premier of the People's Republic. He was largely responsible for the creation and guidance of the new governmental bureaucracy and was also foreign minister. After 1949 he was also largely responsible for maintaining relations with the non-Communist political groups that supported the People's Republic.
Early in 1950 Chou negotiated in Moscow a treaty of alliance with the Soviet Union, and in 1952 he again went to Moscow, where he negotiated further agreements. In 1957 he played a significant role in negotiating settlements of issues arising from Polish and Hungarian conflicts with the Soviet Union. After Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, he led the Chinese delegation that walked out of the Twenty-second Congress of the Soviet party in October 1961.
Chou also had to deal with acute crises in Sino-American relations that arose largely as a result of the Korean War. On Oct. 2, 1950, he delivered through the Indian ambassador a warning that China would intervene in the war if American troops crossed the 38th parallel. The American rejection of this warning brought a direct confrontation of American and Chinese troops in Korea. However, on Chou's initiative in 1955, Sino-American ambassadorial talks began in Warsaw.
Chou also was prominent in forming and implementing Chinese policy toward the Afro-Asian nations. He made extensive tours of Asia and Africa. In 1954 he led the Chinese delegation at the Geneva Conference and was instrumental in drawing up terms for the French evacuation of Indo-China. In 1960 he played a leading role in negotiating treaties delimiting Chinese frontiers with Burma, Nepal, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan but failed to resolve the Indian frontier question despite a visit to New Delhi for talks with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Domestically, Chou played an essential role both as head of the administrative system and as peacemaker in the party. He actively supported Mao Tse-tung during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution that developed in 1965, the major objective being to reinfuse revolutionary enthusiasm into Chinese society. At the end of this movement in 1969, Chou was the third-ranking member of the Chinese leadership, and later, after Lin Piao disappeared, the second-ranking member.
In 1975, Chou was dying of cancer, but he continued to serve China. In January, his report to the Fourth National People's Congress justified the Cultural Revolution as a battle against bourgeois tendencies and at the same time proposed the Four Modernizations (of agriculture, industry, national defense and technology). Chou died on January 8, 1976.