Custom Malcolm Gladwell: Big and Bad essay paper sample

The Ford Motor company is at fault in the instance of its reaction to customer’s needs. The company having engineers is well placed to know that the SUV is not safer than other vehicles. The Ford Motor Company however goes ahead to indulge consumers with illusions of safety when it knows they are completely unfounded. Ford was taking advantage of the vulnerability of consumers who tend to think that higher vehicles offer more safety. They use these illusions to make money as engineer Schfaasma admitted. This is evidenced by the fact that they are prepared to do anything in their power to continue production as witnessed during the blizzard when they diverted parts bound for other factories in order not to halt production of the Trailblazer.

The consumer is also not completely without fault. Market forces usually react to market demand and as the consumer had as demand for SUVs, Ford stepped in to satisfy this demand. Consumers have psychological issues which make them to desire elevated positions so that they may feel in control. Consumers tend to consider safety in terms of what is around them rather than what they can do to be safe. Consumers thus like to be elevated as they feel more in control and have a sense of dominance though this is not true as this mentality tends to make them more careless. The culprit then is the shift on the perception of safety from active safety to passive safety.

On a deeper level, when looking at it, neither the consumer nor Ford Motor Company is at fault. For merely comes in to satisfy a demand which any other motor company worth its salt would have done. The consumer on the other hand is not at fault as he is merely responding to base instincts. The culprit of the shift in thinking has to do with the change in perception of the safety. There is a conception of helplessness and inevitability in the motor vehicle industry. Accidents are perceived as inevitable and hence proper measures have to be taken to protect the vehicle’s occupants. This is what has led to the rise of SUVs popularity contrary to evidence that smaller vehicles are safer. SUVs have also led to notions of control by their drivers which increase the risks in driving. Psychological factors are therefore more to blame rather than the consumer and the manufacturer.