Patriotic purchasing là gì

REGGIE CHARLES, the chief executive of High Society Freeride, a maker of skis and snowboards based in Colorado, is keen to wrap his firm's products in the Stars and Stripes. He is convinced that American customers will be more willing to buy the company's relatively costly gear when they discover that it is made in America with largely local materials.

Bryan Aldridge is betting that the recession will encourage more bosses to think like Mr Charles. He and a partner have just kicked off a new venture, My American Jobs, which plans to create a certification process to help customers identify products in which most of the materials and labour were sourced in America. The firm's website will list the goods that it certifies, their manufacturers and the retailers that stock them.

Stressing a product's origin to boost its sales is not exactly new. The Federal Trade Commission has long offered a process that allows goods that meet its criteria to carry a Made in America label. But Mr Aldridge reckons economic turmoil has created a chance for private initiatives to drum up much more interest in patriotic purchasingand to profit from it, too.

His firm offers a rating of three, four or five stars for products, depending on the share of American-sourced raw materials used to make them, and whether or not they are assembled in America. The initial cost of certifying an individual product for a year is $2,250-5,500, depending on the company's profits. Norbert Kozar, the boss of an engineering firm based in Silicon Valley that is considering certification, says he is willing to splash out on the process because it will help emphasise just how innovative American manufacturers can be.

My American Jobs Inc

Is that a bit like Fairtrade, then?

My American Jobs claims its sliding scale even reflects the reality of globalisation. To get the three-star rating an applicant need only demonstrate that over half of the materials used in a product are from America; the product itself can be made anywhere in the world. (For five stars, more than 95% of the materials must come from America and the product has to be assembled there.) Yet some of the firm's promotional material smacks of chauvinism. When you purchase a foreign-made hammer you employ 20 foreign workers, trumpets a recent press release. When you buy a hammer made in America with American-made components you employ 20 of your family, friends, neighbours and fellow countrymen.

Nailing down enough manufacturers to make the business worthwhile will be difficult. Many firms will pay for certification only if they are sure that it influences what consumers buy. But My American Jobs has yet to run a marketing campaign to familiarise buyers with its insignia; there is no point, if no such goods are available yet. Moreover, as household budgets are squeezed, Americans may worry more about what things cost than where they come from. A flagging economy may actually hinder efforts to get consumers to buy the flag.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Flying the flag"

SAN FRANCISCO

SAN FRANCISCO

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