Analyse the spatial and temporal pattern of adoption of one or more branded commodities.

“The rich get richer but the poor get poorer as a result of global interactions.” Discuss this statement.

Branded commodities, such as McDonald’s burgers or Apple iPhones, have been adopted in a greater number of places as more time has passed. In addition to the pattern of countries that have become markets, local-scale adoption patterns can be analysed also (eg, urban–rural divides in access to these commodities). Only one example is required. If two examples are used then credit breadth rather than depth of analysis. Answers are likely to include both descriptive and explanatory content in support of the analysis.

Answers that give a variety of explanantions for the success of a branded commodity, yet pay little or no attention to the pattern of adoption, are unlikely to progress far beyond a C/D boundary mark.

Good answers may apply (AO2) a wider range of knowledge and understanding (AO1) in a well-structured way (AO4). One approach might be to analyse any glocalized changes to the product that have accompanied its wider adoption. Another approach might be to analyse the national or local boundaries to adoption, eg an answer may analyse global poverty patterns, or may find anomalies where there is local resistance to product adoption for cultural, political or economic reasons. Good answers may also analyse the way a pattern of product adoption is related to trade bloc/MGO membership (eg, the spread of commodities within the EU).

Other approaches may be equally valid. Marks should be allocated according to the markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).

For band C (4–6), expect some weakly-evidenced outlining of the adoption/spread of a brand/commodity spatially and/or over time (this may be implied).

For band D (7–8), expect a structured, well-evidenced analysis of:

• either ways in which increased adoption has been achieved in more places over time (eg glocalization) for one or more branded commodities
• or the spatial and temporal pattern(s) of adoption (expect an overview, not just isolated examples).

For band E (9–10), expect both band D traits.

Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 3 markbands Part (a) (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).

Credit all content in line with the markbands (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials). Credit unexpected approaches wherever relevant.

The focus here is disparities in wealth (or other interpretations of “rich”, eg happiness index) between people and/or places, which is a concept that can be discussed at varying scales (expect some structured discussion of different scales to be provided in a good answer). The merit of the answer is likely to depend on the variety of different contexts and groups of people that are discussed, and also the variety and sophistication of the counter-arguments.

Possible applied themes (AO2) include knowledge and understanding (AO1) of:

• the global core and periphery [Guide 1]
• financial flows and their beneficiaries, including foreign direct investment and remittances [Guide 3]
• the impacts of global labour flows on the wealth of places [Guide 3]
• information flows and their economic interactions [Guide 3]
• TNCs and consumer culture (and the beneficiaries of this) [Guide 5]
• the economic benefits of multi-governmental organizations (and possible costs for non-members, eg tariffs) [Guide 6]
• the wealth of TNCs compared with nation states [Guide 6]
• isolated non-globalized groups/states and their relative poverty [Guide 7].

Good answers may synthesize (AO3) three or more of these themes in a well-structured (AO4) way.

Good answers may additionally offer a critical evaluation (AO3) of a wider range of place and people contexts to provide some balance of both increasing and decreasing disparities. Good answers might take a more nuanced view when evaluating “the rich get richer”. For example, a handful of billionaires have the same wealth as the poorest half the world’s population. Good answers might counter-argue the statement by discussing poverty alleviation since the 1990s (less than a billion people remain in extreme poverty, far lower than in the past).

Answers that deal only with reasons for the existence of “poor countries” and “rich countries” are unlikely to meet the critical evaluation criteria required for band E.

For band C (5–8), expect weakly-evidenced outlining of two or three relevant themes from the geography guide.

For band D (9–12), expect:

• either a structured synthesis that links together several well-evidenced and well-focused themes from the geography guide
• or a critical conclusion (or ongoing evaluation).

For band E (13–15), expect both of these traits.

Marks should be allocated according to the Paper 3 markbands Part (b) (available under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials).