Global Effects of Innovation and Technology

Abstract

Globalization promotes transformation in the business environment and consumer culture along the dimensions of economic geography, which can be evidenced by the growth in urban areas, shorter travel distances as businesses migrate closer to denser centers of population, and as they generate competition between firms to take advantage of scale and trade in specialized products. Firms prepare for going global by providing convenience to consumers as they search for products, buying through technology platforms, and settling payments online. Such firms also aim to boost available knowledge on products and services, and trigger the impulse to shop. The chapter demonstrates that multinational firms have been slow to understand consumers in the developing world and, as a result, they have been vulnerable to local competitors that know how their shoppers think, what they crave, and how they buy. The discussion also addresses issues relating to knowledge-sharing and building customer loyalty.