I very much agree. Social perceptions play the largest part here, and the challenge of accepting change is universal.Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑26 Mar 2024, 10:01am
I think this is as much or more to do with social perceptions than any particular industry or retail. It took Western markets several decades to accept that Japanese cars and electronics were as well made and designed as their European or American counterparts. We then repeated the process, slightly faster maybe, with Korean goods. China has been the workshop of the world for the whole of this century, so far, yet we still disparage these items with terms like "Chinesium" – sometimes justified* but often ignoring the high quality products from China, under Chinese and Western names.
*And that low quality seems to be often driven by marketing rather than manufacture; Western and Chinese marketing, from Amazon to Temu.
With the cycle industry though, this acceptance is further hindered by the byzantine measures previously outlined. It would be like Nissan buying Chrysler in the 1970s, but nobody knowing for over a decade, while the actual production of cars under both brands is taking place 99% in a Nissan factory in Japan. And all the while with the public happy to justify paying more for the American brand (or not even being aware of the Japanese brand). The cycle industry is largely set up this way. Ironically, the likes of Amazon and Temu are ways out of this, precisely because they are outside of industries which tend toward oligopolies.
The cycling industry is very successful in protectionism, both through state action, but also in weaponising the perception of consumers. The endless anti-dumping duties on Chinese bikes and parts have succeeded in reducing market access for all but the cheapest built goods, which affects market perception as a result. But this endless whack-a-mole within a relatively small industry only serves to corrode the industry itself, as it hurts its own suppliers, and prices are shifted upwards. This ultimately affects retail, especially for such highly discretionary products.