consumer advocacy

Introduction

also called  consumerism 

      movement or policies aimed at regulating the products, services, methods, and standards of manufacturers, sellers, and advertisers in the interests of the buyer. Such regulation may be institutional, statutory, or embodied in a voluntary code accepted by a particular industry, or it may result more indirectly from the influence of consumer organizations.

Consumer representation

      Consumer protection organizations in one form or another are scattered throughout the world, from the industrial countries to developing countries. Governments often establish formal regulatory agencies to insure consumer protection. For example, in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), established in 1914, is authorized to prevent deceptive practices in commerce and to regulate the package labeling of consumer products; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), established as the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration in the Agriculture Department in 1927, administers consumer protection of foods, cosmetics, and other substances; and the National Highway Traffic Administration, established in 1970, is concerned with all aspects of automobile safety. At least one government division or office dealing with consumer affairs has been set up in each of the 50 states. A leading individual consumer advocate during the mid-20th century was Ralph Nader, who criticized the safety engineering of U.S. automobiles in the book Unsafe at Any Speed (1965).

      Consumers International (formerly the International Organization of Consumers Unions) is a worldwide association of consumer groups. Some members—especially in Asia—operate only in a single city, whereas others, such as the Consumers' Association of Canada, are nationwide networks of organizations.

      One of the best protections for consumers is the availability of information. The Internet has become an important forum for information and opinions on products, businesses, and services. Consumer Reports, long considered an unbiased and up-to-date source of reviews and information on a wide range of products and services, publishes the findings of Consumers Union, an independent, nonprofit testing and information organization established in the United States in 1936.

Laws, regulations, and standards

      Laws have long provided certain safeguards to buyers. Among these safeguards (exemplified in England's Sale of Goods Act of 1893) is the one that states that whenever a buyer, expressly or by implication, makes known to the seller the particular purpose for which the goods are required, thus relying on the seller's skill or judgment, there is an implied condition that the goods sold shall be reasonably fit for such a purpose.

      Other early legislation dealt mainly with adulteration of food and drugs. This was true, for example, of the Adulteration of Food and Drugs Act of 1872 (England) and similar, cumulative measures of 1848, 1890, and 1906 in the United States. The scope of such acts has been enlarged from time to time to include, for example, goods such as electrical products and automobiles, which could endanger the safety of the consumer if certain standards are not met. The provisions of such legislation are necessarily complex and vary from country to country, as well as, in the United States, from state to state. Various nonstatutory controls, such as standards laid down by national-standards institutions, also interact with statutory controls. In the following survey both the statutory and non-statutory aspects of this subject are considered together.

Controls on manufacturing and design

      Of all industries, food and drugs are the most controlled by legislation. Other products in general are controlled by standards institutions, which lay down basic minimum standards for many different kinds of products. Legislative controls applying to food and drug manufacturers prohibit them from adding or removing anything from the product they sell that would make it injurious to health. Although this might appear to afford absolute protection for the consumer, manufacturers sometimes unwittingly add ingredients that are subsequently found to be harmful—e.g., cyclamates, which were used for some years as an artificial sweetener. The frequency of such occurrences will clearly depend on the rigour of the standards of the official testing agencies concerned and the stringency with which such standards are applied.

      For nonfood products, legislation is less easily devised and far less easily enforced. Most countries, nevertheless, have developed minimum applicable standards. National-standards institutions were, in many instances, set up more for the benefit of manufacturers than for that of the ordinary, domestic consumer. In addition, government bodies were often formed to better control government purchasing. In the United States, for example, the General Services Administration laid down specifications and quality standards that had to be satisfied before the federal government would buy supplies. Other standards bodies, such as the British Standards Institute, started in 1901, were set up for the convenience of manufacturers so that one manufacturer's goods could be used in conjunction with another's, as in the standardization of electrical fittings.

      By the 1950s, standards organizations had become far more aware of the needs of the ordinary consumer, but their legal status, for the most part, remained unaltered. Most recommendations are devised with the cooperation of industry, government departments, and consumers. The standards themselves are not usually legally enforceable but remain voluntary. They usually do not reflect the quality of the product as a whole but deal only with a specific aspect of it. The mark of a standards institution, for example, may well indicate that a hair dryer is sufficiently insulated against electrical-shock hazards, but not that it dries hair satisfactorily.

      Although the standards institutions have assisted in raising the quality of many consumer products, their grip is weak. Most standards result from decisions of committees in which manufacturers usually have the final say. The recommended standard is thus more often a reflection of the industry's conscience than of the standard that would be required to provide satisfaction for the consumer. The standards laid down by manufacturers for a product can be so low that the consumer benefits little, if at all. Further, almost all standards refer to the safety of a product and not to its efficiency; and, with only a few exceptions, the recommendations of standards agencies are voluntary. The decision whether to adopt the standard is up to the company that markets the product, and such a decision necessarily involves an assessment of possible costs and returns. It is unfortunate that, in many countries, the selling power of the standards symbol is less substantial than that of a good promotion campaign. Consumers, it would appear, are not sufficiently aware of the presence and significance of these symbols, perhaps because they tend to be little publicized by the manufacturers.

      Apart from the formulation of standards, testing by various bodies occasionally results in the redesigning of certain products. Such testing has been most apparent in the automobile industry, in which cars have been recalled by their manufacturers so that alterations and improvements could be made.

Controls on advertising

      Of all the criticisms levelled at manufacturers, those against their advertising probably have been the most vociferous. Advertising is necessarily vulnerable to these attacks: it is experienced by everybody, its products are on show for a long time, and its purposes are materialistic. Although the major purpose of company advertising, which is to attract members of the public toward buying a particular product, is fairly straightforward, the methods employed in this process have become increasingly complex. As business has become more competitive, so has the advertising that sells its products. Coupled with this increased competition has been the development of more powerful media—the most important of these being television.

      From the consumer's point of view, the basic criticism of advertising is that it leads him to purchase goods that he has no wish to purchase by presenting misleading and untruthful statements or by creating wants, needs, and desires in his mind that might not otherwise exist. In the first instance it is accepted that the consumer, of his own volition, has a need that is filled by the description of the advertised product (but not necessarily by the product itself), whereas in the second the need is artificial and is stimulated entirely by the media.

      From an economic viewpoint, critics of advertising point to the enormous amount of money involved—money that, they state, does not benefit the consumer although he is compelled to pay it. A second criticism is that advertising restricts competition because only large companies can afford expensive, nationwide campaigns, thus limiting freedom of entry of new firms into an established market.

      A definitive answer to these questions is obviously impossible. Regarding the first, it might be fair to say that economic growth and the creation of wealth might come about far more slowly without the aid of advertising. The development of national rather than regional brands—and the economies of scale implicit in this development—might be retarded. For all its drawbacks, advertising informs the consumer and enables him to make not only a choice between products but also a choice between the stores at which he can buy those products. For the manufacturer it justifies a heavy investment in capital and manpower in that it assures (to some degree at least) the quick development of sales.

      Regarding the second major criticism—that advertising encourages the concentration of industry—there is no doubt that this is true. But not everyone agrees that industrial concentration necessarily acts against the interests of the consumer, particularly in the absence of outright monopolies (monopoly and competition) or cartels. In some countries, such as the United States and Great Britain, anti-trust or monopoly laws act to restrain the more flagrant abuses of industrial power. Other countries, especially some in western Europe, have established monopolies boards, which monitor or oversee activities of large corporations in the field of takeovers and mergers.

      The advertising industry has for many years been aware of the various criticisms and has accepted the need for some control over advertising methods in addition to the provisions of statutory regulations that exist in many countries. The country with the most stringent advertising standards is usually thought to be Great Britain (United Kingdom), where, for example, all advertising on independent radio and television is controlled by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the commercial counterpart to the British Broadcasting Corporation. The IBA lays down controls on advertising, banning the use, for instance, of subliminal advertising (methods by which the listener or viewer might be influenced without his becoming aware of it) and of advertising that plays on fear and on the minds of the superstitious.

      The IBA has a further list of unacceptable products and services. Advertising is not allowed, for example, on behalf of cigarettes or betting, and political or religious advertising is prohibited. Other regulations involve methods of reproduction, the wording and advertising of guarantees, and the enforcement of prices and other offers; furthermore, special conditions exist in specific cases—the listening or viewing child, the employment of children in advertisements, and the advertising of certain products such as medicines and drugs and also financial services. Advertising time is sold by production companies appointed by the IBA, but advertisers may not sponsor programs.

      The general character of governmental and private controls over the claims and methods of advertisers may be said to be one of considerable laxity. It seems likely that this situation will be changed not so much by the introduction of more stringent codes as by challenges to particular advertisers by consumer interest groups within the framework of existing legislation regarding truth in advertising.

Labeling standards

      Labeling can be used either to inform or to deceive the consumer, and manufacturers, in their sales efforts, are often tempted by the latter expedient. Minimum standards of labeling exist for some products, but, as with controls on manufacturing quality, legislation tends to concentrate on food and drugs. Usually, every container carries a statement of contents, but, apart from food and drugs, content identification is not usually required. If it is provided, however, it must not misrepresent. In general, this means that labeling, when it is present at all, tends to be accurate.

      Consumer movements and official bodies have, in many countries, seen the need for better systems of product labeling. Price labels are of further importance to the consumer; the need for goods to be priced correctly is essential. Vendors, however, are under no legal obligation to indicate prices, and a major criticism by consumer groups has been that, even when prices are indicated, it is often difficult to make price comparisons because of the lack of standardization of the weights or volumes of packages in which a product is sold.

Controls on sales methods

      Generalizations cannot be made concerning statutory controls on sales methods because they vary from place to place. Sales practices have been controlled for over a century; early regulations were largely concerned with peddlers and hawkers. Legal progress has, in general, imposed a stricter control of selling methods to reduce the incidence of deception.

      Particularly difficult to control is door-to-door selling, a method that for many years has drawn criticism from the general public, even though the majority of door-to-door salespeople are fair and reputable. Vacuum cleaners, floor polishers, sewing machines, cosmetics, household-cleaning products, vitamins, and encyclopaedias have been sold by this method, some by salespeople who have exploited the purchasers' vulnerability. To persuade people to enter into a heavy financial commitment, these salespeople have been known to misstate the terms of payment or the trade-in allowance, to conceal figures on the order form or agreement, and to resort to other deceptive practices.

      Another technique used in direct sales is that of switch selling, or “bait and switch.” The salesperson attracts buyers by placing an advertisement offering a domestic article at a remarkably low price; this is known as the bait. Inquirers are personally visited by a salesperson, who, from the outset, makes no attempt to sell them the product advertised. Having convinced the inquirer that the model is not worth buying, the salesperson goes on to offer the customer another model (the switch) that he happens to have with him at, of course, a higher price. Although this and similar methods often are in violation of statutes governing the sale of goods, enforcement is difficult. Extra protection is provided by legislation in some countries, and, in others, non-statutory regulations protect the consumer.

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