Final answer:
Outshopping occurs when consumers travel to larger communities to shop due to dissatisfaction with local prices, selections, or services. It contrasts with outsourcing and offshoring, which involve companies moving jobs to lower-cost locations, affecting local employment. These consumer and corporate behaviors are driven by the pursuit of value, with implications for local economies.
Step-by-step explanation:
When residents of a community find that prices are too high, merchandise selection too limited, or services too poor, they will often travel to larger communities to fulfill their shopping needs. This phenomenon is known as outshopping. It happens when local businesses cannot satisfy the consumers' demands, leading consumers to seek alternatives in other areas, often larger cities with more diverse markets and competitive pricing. The main reasons behind outshopping may include not only the search for better prices but also the desire for higher quality goods and more comprehensive services. This consumer behavior impacts local economies and can lead to a chain reaction in the job market, as it may decrease local sales and potentially lead to job losses if it becomes a widespread behavior.
Conversely, the practice of outsourcing is when a company contracts with another company to do a specific job that would otherwise be done by the company's own workers, and offshoring is the movement of some of a company's operations to another country. Both of these practices result in job shifts from developed countries to locations where labor costs may be lower, thus affecting employment opportunities in the originating country.
The growth of consumerism, globalization, and advancements in technology have all contributed to these phenomena, as consumers and businesses alike seek to maximize value, often at the expense of local economic stability. Local retail businesses face increased competition from both domestic big-box stores and international markets due to the Internet, elevating the demand for cost-effective shopping choices, but also challenging the sustainability of local commerce.