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Your December postcard from Norm - Bringing you Christmas traditions from around the world.

11/28/2017

As you read this, I’m 30,000 feet up in the skies, flying from New York to Dubai to Bangkok, and then back to the Philippines. I’m eager to get back “home” to the Philippines in December for Christmas, since it’s the most spirited, vibrant, and colorful season there.

Looking out this little window at the solemn, cold night sky, I’m thinking about all of the countries and the people I’m flying over, and what they do to celebrate Christmas. (Actually, I’m thinking about why I was too cheap to pay for an exit row seat and when the flight attendant is coming back with the drink cart, but the first version sounds better.)

So I decided to research and jot down some fascinating Christmas traditions from around the world, reminding us that through our many differences, we are all really the same.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

(Ohhh…here comes the drink cart!)

The Philippines
Although the Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia, its residents are about 90% Christian and 80% Roman Catholic due to Spanish colonization, so Christmas is a BIG deal. In fact, they celebrate the longest Christmas holiday in the world, spanning from September until well after New Years.

Aside from ubiquitous light shows, malls filled to the brim, and decorated trees, there are many great Christmas traditions in the Philippines.

Many Filipinos practice the tradition of Simbang Gabi, where they attend church service at 4 am for the nine days leading up to Christmas Eve.

On Noche Buena - Christmas Eve - the whole extended family gets together for a feast of lechon, or a roasted pig.

Singing is always popular in the Philippines, but even more so around Christmas, when children go door to door singing carols.

There’s even a Giant Lantern Festival (Ligligan Parul Sampernandu) in the country, held the Saturday before Christmas in the city of San Fernando – the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines.” Local residents, visiting Filipinos, and even foreign travelers gather to witness hundreds of paper lanterns lit and send aloft by candles, or even electric-colored bulbs these days.

But I have my own new Christmas tradition in the Philippines, as I dress up like Santa Claus and visit sick kids with cancer as well as give out food to street kids. It’s damn hot in that suit!

China
The Christians in China, who celebrate Christmas, decorate their homes with ornate paper lanterns, all lit up for the big day. The Chinese version of Santa Claus is called Dun Che Lao Ren.

Turkey
Turkey is now a predominantly Muslim nation, although moderate, and their winter holiday revolves more around New Year's Eve, called The Great Day. But they also hold the distinction of being the historical home of real-life Santa Claus, or Noel Baba in Turkish, a monk named Saint Nicholas that lived in 280 A.D. Some Turkish people and visiting foreigners still visit Saint Nicholas’ ancient home for the Christmas season.

France
In France, Santa is known as Pere Noel and is always attended by Pre Fouettard, who keeps the list of who has been good and bad for him. Pere Noel comes to deliver small gifts to the children on December 6 and then returns with more on Christmas day, but the adults wait until New Years Day to open theirs.

Ghana
Christmas is a huge celebration in this part of Africa, with preparations and festivals for many weeks beforehand. Everyone tries to get home by December 24 to visit their ancestral birthplace. Huge feasts of goat, mangoes, cashew fruits and chicken stew are prepared, and a mango, guava, or cashew tree in the center of the courtyard is decorated with lights and paper ornaments.

Italy
The exchange and opening of presents doesn't happen until the 6th of January, the day believed to be when the Wise Men reached the baby Jesus. Instead of Santa, the Italians have La Befana, a women who gives gifts to those who have been good and punishes bad children, based on the woman who refused to help the Wise Men with food and shelter.

India
In India, they decorate their houses with lights on windowsills, a star hung outside, and strings of mango leaves. The tradition is to make thali, a sweet holiday dessert, and give it to friends and neighbors.

Denmark
Santa Claus is called Julemanden, and his elves are Juul Nisse, but they live in the attic of their homes, not the North Pole. Children leave out rice pudding and saucers of milk for them, not cookies.

Japan
The Japanese are not a Christian nation, but celebrate a form of Christmas with the giving of gifts from a Santa Claus-like figure called Hoteiosha. But an even more colorful Christmas tradition is their affinity for feasting on Kentucky Fried Chicken for the holiday, with special menus, lines around the block, and a Japanese Colonel Sanders wearing a Santa Claus outfit!

Mexico
Mexicans call Christmas, Navidad, celebrated for nine days with Las Pasadas. They follow a tradition of dressing like Mary and Joseph and going door-to-door reenacting events of the Bible, when there was no room, and then celebrating with food, song, and a Pinata for the children. Finally, on the ninth night, they are told yes, there is room for Mary in the stable, and everyone heads to church to celebrate.

Belgium
The children here believe in a Saint Nicholas who delivers their presents, but this one rides a horse. So it’s a tradition to leave hay, carrots, and water outside the house on December 6 for Saint Nic’s horse.

Russia
The Russians used to celebrate Christmas with great glee before the revolution of 1917, carrying sticks with stars on them through the streets, representing the Stars of Bethlehem. After it became the Soviet Union, religion was banned so the traditions went dormant for many decades. But now, they've been reintroduced with slight differences – Saint Nicholas is now known as Grandfather Frost and wears blue, not red, and they decorate a tree and celebrate on New Years Day.

Sweden
Santa Claus is actually called Tomte, who is a gnome that emerges from under the floor of the house or barn, carrying a sack of presents for the kids. Tomte rides a sleigh, but it's pulled by a goat, not reindeer.

The Netherlands
Santa Claus is known as Sinterklaas and rumored to originally come from Sweden by boat, after starting out on December 6th in Spain. Sinterklaas goes house to house on horseback delivering gifts and fills the children's shoes that are put out with candy and nuts by Christmas morning.

Venezuela
The South American country of Venezuela may be in a state of emergency right now, but they still have some serious fun for Christmas. In fact, residents of Caracas, the capital, lace up their roller blades and skate to church for Christmas Eve mass. No one really knows how this started or why, but the rollerblading Christmas celebrators have become so popular that roads are even shut down so they can skate to church safely.

Iceland
For 13 nights leading up to Christmas, the children of Iceland leave their best shoes by the window, hoping that the Yule Lads visit them while they’re sleeping. The boys and girls that have been good receive gifts in their shoes, while the bad ones get rotting potatoes.

South Africa
Since it's sits far in the southern hemisphere, Christmas comes in the middle of their summer, so people enjoy the outdoors with camping, swimming, gathering in parks and for festivals, and other outdoor activities. But they also have many remnants of UK Christmas traditions, like dressing trees, singing carols, and gift giving, called fir. Boxing Day - the day after Christmas - is just as big!

***

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just a great holiday! I'll see you in the New Year!

-Norm :-)

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Why is it so hard to open a bag of potato chips? The secret psychology of consumer engineering that tricks you into buying.

11/16/2017

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Why is it so hard to open a bag of potato chips?

If you’re like most people, you may try to rip, pull, tear, find the little pre-cut slot, and otherwise mutilate the bag of snacks as you grow increasingly frustrated.

The chip companies are well aware of this inconvenience, yet keep putting out these bags despite plenty of simple solutions that make it easier for consumers. So why do they make bags of chips so difficult to tear open?

Research into consumer behavior shows that consumers are forced to work a little harder to get their food, they're more likely to enjoy and perceive it as tasting better.

If you’re feeling a little duped, don’t be too hard on yourself because retailers and brands employ subtle psychological tricks and triggers like this in every inch of their stores and every aspect of their branding.

In fact, your experience as a consumer these days – from first seeing an ad to walking out of the store with a sales receipt – is carefully engineered, whether you realize it or not.

Shapes, displays, packaging, colors, music, smells, temperature, layout, fabrics, dress of employees and even how a woman (but never a man) touches you on the arm or the shoulder are all carefully planned prompts, based on neural psychology with the goal of getting you to do one thing: buy.

Here are some psychological tricks and ploys that are being used on your every time you walk into a store:

If a salesperson asks you which of two items you prefer (even if you haven’t expressed interest in one or both of them), it’s for a good reason. They know that when asked WHICH you want to buy, a consumer’s mind is more likely to skip over the question, SHOULD I buy at all.

Research shows that when a salesperson offers a confusing sales pitch but then immediately clarifies, the likelihood that you’ll buy that item increases.

The layout of stores is also carefully orchestrated. Basically, once you enter a store, you’re like a lab rat in a maze designed by consumer engineers!

For instance, have you ever noticed that when you go into a grocery store just to pick up a few staples, like milk, bread, or eggs, you have to walk all the way to the back and sometimes the furthest back corner of the store? That’s no accident, as the designers know that you'll have to make it through myriad temptations and displays of impulse sales in order to get your items and "escape" to the checkout – and few do without picking up extra items.

Likewise, store designers set pathways and shopping aisles to maximize your time in the store and exposure to signature items that will draw you in. Think about how you have to walk through the expensive Duty-Free shops in the airport on the way to your gate.

They also place “roadblocks” in your way that inhibit the flow and slow you down or make you adjust, forcibly noticing displays and certain items.

Stores also maximize center displays and the end of aisles, which are far more likely to attract and engage shoppers.
But most people don't realize that the highest-grossing items, merchandise for sale, and impulse purchases are also commonly placed on the right-hand side of aisles. They do this because about 90 percent of the population is right-handed, so they'll be drawn to the right and see those items first, and shoppers usually push their carts on the right of aisles similar to driving a car on the road.

What other tactics do consumer engineers use:

Why do retailers position “impulse items” like batteries, gum, magazines, sales items, at the end of aisles and especially in the checkout line?

A reported 6 percent of the U.S. population are compulsive buyers – which is a major shopping addiction – and almost half of all shoppers give in to these impulse prompts to buy. In fact, a reported 20% of all retail sales this holiday season will be due to impulse items and unplanned purchases.

Do you want to resist the impulse sale? If a consumer walks to a store, instead of driving, the chances that you’ll make an impulse purchase drops by 44 percent.

When surveyed, 66 percent of consumers say that they plan on researching gifts online but then go to a physical store or the mall to actually make the purchase.

Like Pavlov’s dog in the famous experiment about classic conditioning, we nearly salivate when presented with the word “Sale.” In fact, more than 75 percent of consumers polled say that a sale would impact their holiday gift purchases.

Is the music playing in the background of stores an afterthought, played just for entertainment value? Not even close. In fact, consumer psychologists carefully plan every aspect of the music, from song choice to volume and more. They understand that if shoppers like the music that’s playing, they’re more likely to enter a store, spend more time there, try on or touch the merchandise, and, ultimately, purchase. So that’s why you’ll hear Christmas music playing in every store!

But why all of the “elevator music” and mellow, slow versions of popular songs? While the familiarity with popular songs helps, research also shows that the slower the tempo of the music, the slower people will walk around the store. But with a fast song, customers will walk through and even make decisions faster, which means less interactive shopping and sales.

One of the most effective psychological tactics to motivate consumers to buy is the phenomenon of “limiting.” By capping purchases with language like “Limit two per customer,” or “Sale ends soon,” or “One-day sale only,” a fire is lit under shoppers to buy now (and for the maximum allowed) or miss out.

Human emotion is directly linked to the sense of touch. Therefore, when consumers pick up and touch items, they’re more likely to make purchases. That’s why retailers always make sure that items are tactile, easy to pick up, try on, and touch.

Retailers and ad execs know that the color red stimulates spending, so you’ll most commonly see red in advertisements and store logos (think red “sale” signs, the Target logo, etc.)

Even smells are carefully researched and orchestrated. It’s no mystery why stores use the smell of holiday candles and roasted chestnuts or offer free samples of freshly baked cookies to Christmas shoppers.

That’s the same reason restaurants or stores offer freshly popped popcorn, which triggers salivary glands and causes consumers to order more food - or even buy more non-food items.

In fact, one study found that pumping the synthetic smell of apple pie into an appliance store immediately increased the sale of ovens and fridges by 23 percent!

Retailers carefully plan psychological triggers that will make you feel more comfortable and eager to buy, even spending far more than you originally planned. They do this with the use of “social proof” that others are buying, too, and “trust signals” like money-back guarantees and indicators that your greatest risk, in fact, is NOT buying and missing out on such great deals.

They even train their store employees very carefully, especially in high-end and luxury stores. For instance, they’re taught not to ever engage in something called “the butt brush,” the psychological reaction that when a customer’s personal space is encroached upon, even slightly, they’re likely to leave the store, even if they were planning on making a purchase.

-Norm :-)
***
Originally written for Nationwide Credit Clearing.

http://ow.ly/m46N30gCwfH

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Working on the night shift with Philippine's call center industry

11/15/2017

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When I first moved to the Philippines only a year ago, I’d never heard of Business Process Outsourcing, or BPO. But I got a quick lesson when I rented an apartment in IT Park in Cebu, an urban utopia that teemed with call center workers, more alive at 3 a.m. than it was mid-day. In the shadow of monolithic buildings adorned with names like Convergys, Qualfon, and JP Morgan Chase, countless Filipinos rushed to and from work, answering customer service calls from around the world.

In fact, while the Philippines may be the 39th largest economy in the world, it leads the entire globe for one thing: the BPO Industry.

Some of the companies that employ the most Filipinos at their call centers here include Citibank, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Capital One, and American Express, as well as Verizon, Convergys, Qualfon, and Genpact. Not just dedicated to picking up the phone for U.S. customers anymore, more and more BPOs are also serving Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and other English-speaking countries.

While Metro Manila was once the crux of the BPO industry here, high operating costs (and traffic!) in the nation’s capital city are pushing employers to look elsewhere. In fact, call centers are now firmly a part of life in Cebu, and rising in Davao. Even “second cities” like Bacolod, Iloilo, and Pampanga are fast emerging as attractive locations for companies.

Even Dumaguete is on the map for the BPO industry with several new call centers springing up, and our highly educated, young, workforce, low costs, and high quality of life sure to attract more.

“Dumaguete's Silliman University now offers a contact center certification program,” says Canadian Jozsef Kiss of My Support Team 63. “Where future call center agents learn how to handle difficult situations in an inbound and outbound environment.”

Youth is an asset in this industry, as the predominantly overnight work saps the constitution and disrupts a semblance of normal life, a lifestyle better suited for the young. And youth is one place where the Philippines excels, with about 90% of our population under 55 (compared to 61% for Japan and 73% for the U.S.).

But the biggest asset for the Philippines is their ability to speak native English, as even India is falling out of favor because of language idiosyncrasies and cultural barriers between those who call and those who pick up the phone.

The BPO phenomenon in this country started with a single call center in 1992, when a man named Frank Holz founded the Accenture Global Resource Center. The growing IT/Contact Center industry received a further boost in 1995, when the Philippines government established the Special Economic Zone Act, providing tax incentives and other sweeteners for foreign companies that set up their contact centers here.

As of 2011, the Philippines surpassed India as the country with the most call centers in the entire world.
In fact, call centers now employ about 1.15 million people in this nation of approximately 110 million.

Right now, call centers in the Philippines make up about 12.6% of the entire global BPO industry. Expected to generate $12.89 billion USD in 2017 alone, it’s the number two source of foreign revenue in the Philippines behind only overseas remittance, and expected to be number one soon.

According to American Kyle Davis, a high-level call center manager in Cebu, “Low operating cost is the primary reason companies outsource to the Philippines. The annual salary for one American agent will be the same as hiring around 4 or 5 agents from the Philippines. That’s important for companies who need to meet their SLA’s (Service Level Agreements), answering 80% of the calls within 60 seconds or less.”

The outlook for the BPO industry in the Philippines is even rosier. It’s expected to grow at a rate of about 9% annually for the next five years, by 2022 comprising 15% of the world’s total BPO industry, employing 7 million Filipinos, and bringing in $40 billion USD!

However, there are several reasons to exercise caution about continued BPO growth. For instance, the Philippines suffers through miserable Internet connectivity and subpar infrastructure. Likewise, international news headlines about Duterte associated with death squads, or Islamic extremists throws cold water on multinational enthusiasm.

But the biggest threat may be the emerging field of Artificial Intelligence, a widespread threat to the prospect of human employees in the BPO and IT industries.

***
Look for more about the human element of call centers – including the health and lifestyle repercussions of working night shifts – in part two of this column.

-Norm :-)

This article was originally written for the Dumaguete MetroPost.

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When the Filipino custom of passalubong turns to pasaluWRONG

11/1/2017

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Right now, I’m in the United States, visiting family before I return to the Philippines soon. I’m sitting here staring at my suitcase. Or, suitcases. Actually, suitcases and two carry-on bags and a backpack.

But before you accuse of being an over-packing diva, I’ll come to my own defense: most of the stuff isn’t mine, but pasalubong.

I first heard this word after I went for a weekend trip in the Philippines, and my friends coyly ask for something called “PASALUBONG” when I got back home. What was that? Something important I’d forgotten? An immigration form? A shot for Dengue Fever? A relative of theirs I was supposed to meet and accompany back? OMG did I leave Lola Pasalubong sitting by herself at the bus station?! Eeeek!

I could never get a good answer from them, only a shy reminder that pasalubong would be appreciated the next time I traveled.

So I looked it up, and the official dictionary definition reads:

Pasa-lu-bong:
(noun)
Of or pertaining to the practice of Filipinos guilting their friends and family into free stuff because they’re jealous they didn’t get to travel, too.

See also: Christmas presents any day.

Ahhh so that’s what it is! I actually like the cultural practice, and since have adopted it wholeheartedly. But mostly because “pasalubong” instantly became the longest and most impressive word in my limited Filipino vocabulary.

It also signaled that I was in on some unspoken cultural tradition; it meant I belonged. I was officially bribing my friends so they’d keep hanging out with me. A perfect arrangement!

So before I left the Philippines, I let it be known that I was open for business. A good deed quickly turned into a flood of despair as my luggage space – and bank account – dropped to crisis levels.

The most common request was for American chocolate. I didn't have the heart to tell them that A) European chocolate is WAY better, and B) You can get American chocolate anywhere. This one saves me from hauling half-melted chocolate bars across the world, as I'll just go to the 7-11 on the Boulevard and buy 20 Hersheys bars.

My American buddy who lives there in Dumaguete, Jake, asked for a football so we could “throw it on the Boulevard.” While this would be a fun way to make new friends as we hit random Filipinos in the face with errant throws, I think the risk of a bus flattening us is too high for me to green-light the operation.

One of my best friends, Ate Faye, has recently taken up jiu-jitsu, so I’m looking for a gi (uniform) to bring back for her.

There are also children’s boxing gloves for a program I want to start training poor barangay kids.

A George Foreman Grill for my friends at Karma Café in Ever Mall. Lugging this metal barbecue across the world will be worth it if they can start making grilled cheese sandwiches.

A Jamaican flag as a gift for Orville at his new Jamrock Café (Shhhh…it’s a surprise so don’t tell him!)

A unicorn. (I found a small stuffed animal).

A puppy (I’m pretty sure you have plenty of those in Dumaguete, but maybe they meant a clean puppy?)

Gummy bears.

John Snow. (Can’t help ya there.)

Sometimes, people got demanding, like when a friend messaged me, “Bring me a bottle of Baileys!” and I had to remind them to say “please.” To teach them a lesson in civility, I’ll just gift wrap a Red Horse for them.

More than one Filipina requested that I bring her unmentionables, which I’m happy to mention here. Apparently, there’s a shortage of bras and sports bras in Dumaguete since I was asked to bring both. One of my friends was nice enough to send me links to the Victoria’s Secret website, where bras cost more than I pay in rent every month.

It got even wilder when a few friends confessed that they urgently need me to bring back B.O.B.s. While I won’t reveal exactly what that stands for, I will tell you that it involves batteries, is mostly used by women who currently don’t have boyfriends, and I’d be more than a little embarrassed if the airport customs officers found them in my luggage.

Pasalubong has quickly turned into PasaluWRONG, but hot damn it’s fun!

But the nicest of all is when I asked someone if they’d like pasalubong and they replied, “No thank you, just bring yourself back safely.”

What a nice sentiment – but I know they secretly want something.

We all do.

-Norm :-)

Originally published in the Dumaguete MetroPost

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Your December postcard from Norm - Bringing you Christmas traditions from around the world.

Why is it so hard to open a bag of potato chips? The secret psychology of consumer engineering that tricks you into buying.

Working on the night shift with Philippine's call center industry

When the Filipino custom of passalubong turns to pasaluWRONG

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