Ls312 Unit 9 Seminar Assignment
LS312: Ethics and the Legal Environment
Unit 9 – Alternative Seminar Assignment
Radica Jagan
Are consumers really protected?
According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), they “Empowers consumers with free information to help them exercise their rights and spot and avoid fraud and deception”. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/. Consumer protection policies can’t be designed based only on what policymakers think consumers need. They must be grounded in the reality of consumers’ lives, based on solid research that shows how people really act and interact with their financial services, and which provides insights into their vulnerabilities. For example, recent research in behavioral economics has revealed that all types of consumers can behave in certain irrational ways, impacting consumers’ ability to make sound financial decisions. These behavioral biases therefore have important consequences for consumer protection, pointing to the need for first-hand consumer research to measure these patterns and test the effectiveness of consumer protection tools, such as disclosure forms, in their presence.
How much protection should consumers have?
Consumer protection is to protect buyer from the seller. Everyday of our lives we consume, use, or simply come into contact with countless different products. We should be able to assume that those products are safe. Not absolutely safe - that remains unattainable. The goods we buy have become increasingly more complex. Modern technology and mass-marketing techniques combined with high-pressure salesmanship and sharp advertising can confuse the consumer. It isn't always possible or practical to examine or test things before buying. This is a pre-packed, ready-processed age where the gap between producer and purchaser has widened enormously. Very few traders actually manufacture, pack, distribute and sell their own goods as there is usually a chain of other people involved
Unit 9 – Alternative Seminar Assignment
Radica Jagan
Are consumers really protected?
According to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), they “Empowers consumers with free information to help them exercise their rights and spot and avoid fraud and deception”. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/. Consumer protection policies can’t be designed based only on what policymakers think consumers need. They must be grounded in the reality of consumers’ lives, based on solid research that shows how people really act and interact with their financial services, and which provides insights into their vulnerabilities. For example, recent research in behavioral economics has revealed that all types of consumers can behave in certain irrational ways, impacting consumers’ ability to make sound financial decisions. These behavioral biases therefore have important consequences for consumer protection, pointing to the need for first-hand consumer research to measure these patterns and test the effectiveness of consumer protection tools, such as disclosure forms, in their presence.
How much protection should consumers have?
Consumer protection is to protect buyer from the seller. Everyday of our lives we consume, use, or simply come into contact with countless different products. We should be able to assume that those products are safe. Not absolutely safe - that remains unattainable. The goods we buy have become increasingly more complex. Modern technology and mass-marketing techniques combined with high-pressure salesmanship and sharp advertising can confuse the consumer. It isn't always possible or practical to examine or test things before buying. This is a pre-packed, ready-processed age where the gap between producer and purchaser has widened enormously. Very few traders actually manufacture, pack, distribute and sell their own goods as there is usually a chain of other people involved