I think the main factor that drives brands and manufacturers increase/maintain high product quality before the 1980s, was the lack of marketing opportunities. Mouth-on-mouth marketing was (next to the usual newspaper and billboard advertisements) the only way of communicating your product and brand, therefore the experience people had with the product must have been positive for people to relay that message to other potential customers. With the endless opportunities of digital marketing and 'influencing', the brands are indeed investing more on 'branding' instead of having a high quality product. From my perspective, this creates an environment where customers can manipulated in a way that drives them to show more and more consumerist behavior over time. Great video and very interesting topic to say the least!
I have noticed this big time. Big brands are probably using Chinese suppliers but the brands are selling the same product at the same high prices. The quality is no longer the same and the products break quicker! Win win for the big brand or in my case total rip off 😂!! Brand loyalty just isn’t the same anymore.
Very simple. So much the economy is cartelized that they don't have to make quality products. There's no competition for entire sectors of the economy and a huge barrier to entry. There is no corrective mechanism at play.
