BUY LOCAL – A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

Conceptually, socially and economically Buy Local represents a process to build a sustainable future for the next generation. The Proudly South African Campaign, which champions Buy Local focuses on three strategies tailored specifically to address current social and economic challenges:

• Strategy to change consumer purchase behaviour – Buy Local activism
• Strategy to promote global competitiveness in the context of the global economic meltdown – i.t.o. the Campaign criteria
• Strategy to contribute to promotion of social cohesion and national pride

Together, all the elements of Buy Local represent a virtuous circle, which may be defined as a -

“Self-propagating advantageous situation in which a successful solutions leads to more of a desired result or another success which generates still more desired results or successes…” (http://www.businessdictionary.com)

How this self-sustaining mechanism works:

• At the core we find the uplifting and empowering criteria and values that good corporate citizens (including Campaign members) commit to – basically it represents a “promise” of compliance with ethical practices that are essential for any business to become sustainable and grow – the Proudly South African logo is the signifier which makes it easy for consumers to identify those products/services/companies that meet the “promise”.


• By strengthening the core (through continuous improvement and stimulating increased consumer demand, especially through local support) local businesses become more competitive and sustainable. They are better able to penetrate domestic and global markets and when they grow this increases their capacity to employ more people, generate FDI or contribute to our country’s GDP growth. The Campaign assists in this process through optimising linkages with its strategic stakeholders and the four constituencies (organised labour, organised business, community organisations, all spheres of government, together with their development/specialist agencies).


• The elements in the blue-shaded area indicate the broader societal and economic spin-offs


• The elements in the outermost, yellow circle are the external factors that are critical to the success of the virtuous circle – Buy Local, Procure Local – the desired consumer purchase behaviour, with the Campaign fulfilling its Buy Local activism role.