It's not all about price
| THE BIG IDEA 60 seconds to change the world |
When consumers are making purchases, they should consider more than just the price.
There is a tendency in this information age to compare prices, and say whichever company will sell me this product at the cheapest price, must be the one that I should purchase.
But people carry this too far, to the point where the competition on price is so severe that there is no margin of error for companies to, for example, innovate with new products or new ways of doing things.
Or more importantly, to put effort into customer service - answering their telephones, or helping to resolve a client's complaint.
 | FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE  |
Or ethical and environmental considerations, such as whether they treat their employees well, or do charitable works for their communities.
I think there is a real sense that everything else has to get pushed out because we are just competing on the basis of price.
Whereas if people consider these other factors - even just a little bit and say OK, maybe we should go for the company with good customer service - then the companies would have to do better. And it would help make the world a better place for all of us.
Jeffrey Rosenthal is the Professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto.
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