Ok, YES! The Internet has influenced many significant developments since it’s inception in the 80s but for the MSNBC article to say that the Internet is now partially responsible for low car sales in the U.S. is a real stretch. What next, the Internet helps to cause Global Warming and Crop Circles?
Does the concept of unemployment, job-loss and fear of job loss together with a halt on consumer spending not resonate with anyone as the main culprit? Who would be the people with the purchasing power for teens? Not parents? And if these parents are pinching pennies or simply don’t have the dinero then I would think this would be the greater influencer contributing to low car sales. And 20-somethings? Besides also being subjected to unemployment or lower paying entry-level jobs, they simply don’t have the access to credit lines as their counterparts had in the 80s and 90s.
Here’s the reason cited why the Internet’s to blame: Gen Y is opting to stay home to engage in social media on the Internet. NEWS FLASH!! Internet is mobile! You don’t have to stay at home as though you’re chained to an old-fashioned, dial-up Internet connection. Texting, Tweeting, Facebook status updating, IMing, Skyping, etc. can all be done from a smart phone, laptop or iPad. Who stays home to do these things? No one I know -- unless of course you’re a gamer or vampire in Second Life who loses time in a virtual reality world but that’s completely different. Young people are more mobile and technology is moving with them. Least of all groups Gen Y would be grounded at home to plug into social media.
Gen Y – otherwise known as Echo Boomers, Millennials or Net Generation -- is probably less concerned about purchasing a car as a symbol of who they are or want to be perceived to be, but show me young person who doesn’t desire the independence, mobility and freedom that their own vehicle gives. Gen Yer’s are described as “more tech-savvy, family-centric, flexible, non-conforming and attention-getting than their parents.” They’re profiled as very “brand conscious but dollar savvy with adult buying habits and sophisticated tastes in clothing, dining and recreation” (for more, see “Only on the Web”). With this in mind, don’t you think they would buy a car if they simply could afford one?
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It was a big stretch for the author of that article to so easily blame the internet for lax car sales. She basically took two bits of information, and without much further evidence, concluded that it can be blamed on the internet! Maybe she should have looked to some of the more obvious contributors, like the economy, as I have no doubt that played a larger role in the slumping sales of cars than the internet.
ReplyDeleteNick, I agree with you to an extend that she took two bits of information and try to make a connection. But can you make a connection between what happened in the Music Industry and how the internet killed the CD industry? I don't think the internet will kill the sales of cars, what it may do is delay it's purchase for when the need arises.
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