Chapter-19: Consumerism

Chapter-19: Consumerism

The Roots of Consumerism: The word consumerism has many connotations, depending on who is using the term. Business, government, consumer groups, and academic researchers have each developed. Consumerism is a social movement of citizens and government to enhance the rights and powers of buyers in relation to sellers.

There are numerous underlying roots of consumerism in the USA: (i) Disillusionment with the system. (ii) The performance gap. (iii) The consumer information gap. (iv) Antagonism toward advertising. (v) Impersonal and unresponsive marketing institutions. (vi) Intrusions of privacy. (vii) Declining living standards. (viii) Special problems of disadvantaged. (ix) Different views of the marketplace.

Consumer’s bills of rights: In 1962, President John F. Kennedy presented a message to Congress with the following fundamental rights of the consumer. (i) The right to safety: to be protected against the marketing of goods which are hazardous to health. (ii)  The right to be informed: to be protected against fraudulent, deceitful, or grossly misleading information, advertising, labeling, or other practices, and to be given the facts needed to make an informed choice. (iii) The right to choose: to be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of products and services at competitive prices; and in those industries in which competition is not workable and government regulation is substituted, an assurance of satisfactory quality and service at fair prices. (iv) The right to be heard: to be assured that consumer interest will receive full and sympathetic consideration in the formulation of government policy, and fair and expeditious treatment in its administrative tribunals.

Consumer Information: Consumer rights which regard to information related to the marketer’s provision of adequate information which neither deceives nor misleads. (i) Deception of consumers: If an advertisement (or advertising campaign) leaves the consumer with an impression(s) and/or belief(s) different from what would normally be expected if the consumer had reasonable knowledge, and that impression(s) and/or belief(s) is factually untrue or potentially misleading, then deception is said to exists. In this case the government has also adopted the position of requiring corrective advertising, in which past advertising transgression are corrected. Affirmative disclosure is designed to eliminate the potential for deception in promotional material by providing consumer information on negative attributes of some products and services. Affirmative disclosure specifically requires a company to disclose in its advertising labeling the deficiencies or limitations of its product or service. (ii) Availability of sufficient information: It is felt by many in legislative, regulative, and judicial circle that consumers does not have adequate information on which to base decisions.

Environmental Concerns: A consumer right not enumerated by Kennedy but which should be added is the right to a clean environment: to be assured that the environment the consumer lives in is free from pollution. Widespread and large-scale pollution seems to be a by-product of an economically developed society, but it is also an area of great concern for many consumers. The green movement is growing significantly and marketers are seeking to cash in on an environmental awakening. The world forests are being destroyed at the rate of one football field-sized area each seconds. Plant and animals species are abolishing. People are suffering damaged to their health as a result of poor air quality, ozone depletion, or exposure to hazards materials.

Consumer Privacy: A sixth consumer right related to privacy, information, data banks, and similar emerging issues. Consumer information collected, merged, and exchanged through computer and communication technologies has become the main resource that business and government use to facilitate the millions of daily transactions engaged in by consumers. (i) Only relevant and socially-approved personal information should be collected by private or public organizations to determine people’s access to rights, benefits, and opportunities. (ii) Individual should be informed what information about them is to be collected and how it will be used. (iii) Individuals should have practical procedures for inspecting their records and for raising issues as to the accuracy, completeness, and propriety of information used to make evaluative decisions about them. (iv) Sensitive personal information should be circulated within the collecting organization only to those with a need to see it for legitimate purpose.

Consumers’ Responsibilities: It has been suggested that consumer rights can only be achieved when accompanied by consumer responsibilities. Thus consumers have the obligation to choose wisely, keep informed, sound off, put safety first, and help protect their environment. Consumers must establish an appropriate ethical framework to handle decisions that confront them. It may be surprising to you, but consumers, just as businesspeople face moral dilemmas quite often in the marketplace.

Marketer Responsibilities: Marketers face twofold challenge in dealing with the issue. First, they must increase their level of knowledge of the nature of the issues. Many marketers are not aware of the issues and just how unfavorable situations are perceived to be by some consumers. Second, they must design organizational elements to respond to consumers effectively. The company should realize that the consumer in not a threat but an opportunity to them. In this regard the marketers need to Understanding what consumers experience, establishing a consumer advisory board, listening to consumers and responding effectively, establishing a corporate consumer affairs unit, and educating consumers.