Are we discriminatory when we buy?
We’d all like to think we’re not prejudiced, in general terms, and no doubt we work hard to avoid that.
Unfortunately…
The reality is, however hard we try, we are likely to be more cautious with people who seem different. The more different we perceive a person to be, the more cautious we will tend to become.
When it comes to making buying choices, we are likely to act on these biases, whether consciously or not.
In some cases, procurement processes will minimise this effect, but on the whole, it’s the norm.
We are prejudiced buyers. We buy from people who seem like us.
We might prefer to buy from fellow citizens of our country, for example.
In so doing, we might lose out, of course.
When we’re the seller…
The reality is we need to seem familiar to the buyer. If we don’t, the barriers will be hard to overcome.