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Global Marketing

Gasoline Experience

For this blog post, we would like to talk about the international experience of gas stations. This came to mind in our recent travels to Switzerland and was unaware of the customs there. Switzerland is a beautiful country that has amazing natural site seeing. Greenfields, old wooden structures, and the massive alps are some of the first things a person might see when visiting. We visited a mountain called Jungfraujoch which was 5 hours from our lodging. As you might be able to infer, we stopped quite a few times on the way. When we stopped for gas, we noticed that there was no credit card reader at the station. We asked the kiosk and they politely explained to us that we did not owe them any money until the gas was filled. I was in shock to the level of trust Swiss gas stations and the people of Switzerland had.  We went back outside and proceeded to fill our car. We returned to pay, and it was as simple as that. This one experience told me so much about the people of the country and their expectations of their citizens. There are many dynamic habits among the Swiss people and how they raise their children. It is interesting to compare the social structure of Switzerland, U.S.A. and possibly Japan as they are the worlds economic powerhouses. The social structure in the U.S. is definitely different, especially when comparing gas station experiences. For many readers, this may be unheard of and we carried the same sentiment. I like thinking about if the U.S. could get to a level of decency where our experience is the social norm. Gas stations as an international retail experience is something I would usually overlook. These small details are very helpful in analyzing a countries social climate. In the following exhibit, we compare the differences and similarities between the three countries mentioned.