2023-11-30 16:50:02
A counter economy. Marked by monopolies and a high level of imports, New Caledonia today has all the characteristics. A Competition Authority has only existed there since 2018, and the succession of its first president, who reached the end of her mandate on December 31, 2022, took 4 months.
In a speech given in Nouméa on July 26, 2023, President Macron returned to the economic difficulties of New Caledonia. On a social level, he highlighted the inequalities which fragment the island, despite a level of GDP per capita comparable to France. He also deplored the island’s dependence on imports which account for more than 80% of its consumption: a real weak point in times of crisis.
It is the New Caledonian consumer who bears the brunt of the consequences of dependence on imports,irregularity of goods arrivals by boat and low competition. Two distributors share nearly 80% of the market.
As the underlines the Overseas Emission Institute (IEOM), the French public establishment responsible for monetary issuance in the French overseas communities of the Pacific (in Pacific Francs), the resumption of global maritime traffic following the health crisis has generated a bottleneck in global maritime freight, leading to an increase in prices and a lack of space in containers, overloaded boats, and congested ports. This is also what the President of the IMF recently recalled during a interview with the newspaper The world : supply chains are broken by successive crises.
In this context, the overseas consumer pays significantly more than in France for everyday consumer products. Prices in New Caledonia are almost a higher thirds. The archipelago is, with French Polynesia, the territory where the difference in consumer price levels with mainland France was the largest in 2022. In addition, the stock shortages of many everyday consumer goods or durable are much more numerous. The sometimes empty shelves of supermarkets in Nouméa or the discussions on consumers’ social networks bear witness to the extent and recent increase of the phenomenon.
Beyond posts on social networks, how does the consumer react to this situation? Are the French people of New Caledonia adopting the same adaptation strategies in the face of stock shortages and shortages of consumer products as those in France, 17,000 km away?
Stock shortages poorly accepted in France
A series of interviews conducted in both hemispheres allowed us to note differences in attitude and behavior between the two populations. Consumers use three adaptation strategies depending on the urgency of their purchase. If one of them is common to all, the other two diverge widely.
Consumers in France have a significant supply available in Europe. Faced with an out-of-stock situation, they do not hesitate to bring supply and demand into play by looking for “something else”:
“When I made my choice, it was for immediately; if it’s not available, I’ll move on! »
If looking for an alternative is their first strategy, the second is to wait, but only on the condition that the store provides a specific date of return in stock. The third is pure and simple abandonment. Metropolitan consumers actually have difficulty accepting uncertainty linked to lack of stock. They prefer immediate solutions that they seek individually.
In New Caledonia, resourcefulness above all
New Caledonian consumers, more accustomed to shortages, feel less frustrated. Or at least they show a form of resignation. Their first strategy consists of playing down and joking regarding the situation:
“Anyone who gets on edge because of the equipment, he must not come to New Caledonia! »
The second strategy, specific to New Caledonian consumers, consists of planning their purchases according to the cost of a local purchase or in France:
“Customs taxes are a big obstacle, if I have the opportunity to go to France, I prefer to buy it there. »
The third strategy, finally, consists of calling on their network: they use digital platforms to be informed of deliveries or find opportunities for donations or second-hand sales:
“We are alerted to opportunities and when there is one, we go for it! »
This resourcefulness makes it possible to avoid the market by using parallel circuits:
“We know people and people, when they clear out their closet, they put it on Facebook. »
A Facebook group bringing together more than 11,000 people is called “Do you know where…? ” ” “Do you know where… ?” is a Caledonian group where everyone shares their information and their best contacts on “where to find what”! »
Distrust of the market?
Metropolitan consumers continue to have confidence in market regulation mechanisms and in the law of supply and demand. They use them fully: comparisons of offers, negotiation of shipping costs. They operate in an open market, Europe, with very few monopolies, and know how to leverage competition. They have no doubt regarding the effectiveness of interactions between buyer and seller.
New Caledonian consumers harbor a certain distrust towards the market economy:
“Sometimes we have the impression that we are like children who are forced to consume certain products and deprived of others. »
The example of Nestlé shows this well. The company subcontracted the production of Nestlé dessert and Crunch products on the island until March, guaranteeing their availability on site. After the group decided to no longer produce locally, these products are now arriving in trickles, because they are subject to import quotas. Consumers comment with bitter derision:
“But say, the dictatorship is going well in New Caledonia? »
A comment gets annoyed:
“It’s slowly starting to tire us out with all these stories… ???? and tax here, tax there… quotas, etc. Already life is becoming more expensive day by day, we no longer even have the choice of what we want to eat…”
Many implement strategies to avoid the market economy. They create their own parallel circuits:
“You have to go to the Women’s Market every last Sunday at the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Center”
It is a “Consumer to Consumer (C to C)” logic.
The long term and the collective
In addition to differently accepted uncertainty, our research highlights notable cultural differences between metropolitan and New Caledonian consumers. They concern in particular the relationship with time, well studied by the anthropologist Edward T. Hall. This defines two opposing models: polychronic and monochronic. In a polychronic culture like that of New Caledonia, time is experienced as a continuum. Caledonians have more tolerance for delays. They often say this joke to overly impatient metropolitans:
“You have the watch; We have time! »
The individualism of metropolitan consumers is also opposed to the collectivism of Caledonians. Metropolitan residents value freedom and free trade while Caledonians demonstrate a collective spirit and adhere to values of solidarity, like their motto:
“Land of speech, Land of sharing”
In conclusion they are Nouméa speech of July 26, 2023, President Macron recalled the motto that unites all citizens of the French Republic “liberty, equality, fraternity”, and invited the population to build together a fairer social and economic model, with fewer blatant inequalities for residents from New Caledonia. But can this call be heard by Caledonians who have a flexible time perspective and more collectivist values? Can the strength of the Caledonian collective compensate for the difficulties arising from the remoteness of these Pacific islands?
1701369115
#Shortages #face #crisis #contrasting #strategies #inhabitants #Caledonia #France
