What Is Consumer Protection in Business Studies

Consumer protection is about treating customers fairly and honestly. Here are the most important things you need to know about your consumer protection responsibilities. Acquire the knowledge and skills to make informed and confident decisions about goods and services, being aware of the fundamental rights and obligations of consumers and how to meet them. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech to the United States Congress in which he praised four fundamental consumer rights – later called the Consumer Bill of Rights. In 1985, these rights were extended to eight by the United Nations. These eight rights are: This right states that companies must always provide consumers with sufficient appropriate information to make intelligent and informed product decisions. Product information provided by a company must always be complete and truthful. This right is intended to ensure protection against misleading information in the areas of financing, advertising, labelling and packaging. A consumer is defined as „someone who purchases goods or services for direct use or goods, rather than for resale or use in production and manufacture.” Before the middle of the twentieth century, consumers had no rights with regard to their interaction with products and producers. Consumers had little reason to defend themselves against defective or defective products or against misleading or deceptive advertising methods.

In the 1950s, a movement called „consumerism” began pushing for more rights and legal protection against malicious business practices. By the end of the decade, legal product liability had been introduced, obliging an aggrieved party to prove only the damage caused by the use of a product, rather than assuming the burden of proof of the company`s negligence. Emulation is also an essential component of 21st century consumerism. As a rule, ordinary consumers try to imitate those who are above them in the social hierarchy. The poor aspire to imitate the rich, and the rich imitate celebrities and other icons. The significant approval of products can be seen as evidence of the invocation of the desire of modern consumers to buy products partially or exclusively to imitate people with higher social status. This buying behavior can coexist in a consumer`s mind with an image of himself as an individualist. In Brazil, consumer protection is governed by the Consumer Protection Act (Código de Defesa do Consumidor)[3], as required by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988. Brazilian law states: „The offer and presentation of products or services must guarantee correct, clear, accurate and visible information in Portuguese about their characteristics, qualities, quantity, composition, price, guarantee, validity and origin, as well as the risks they pose to the health and safety of consumers.

[4] In Brazil, the consumer is not required to provide proof that the defense lawyer is guilty. Instead, the defense must provide proof that they are innocent. [3] In the case of Brazil, they narrowly define what consumers, suppliers, products and services are so that they can protect consumers from international trade laws and protect them from the negligence and misconduct of international suppliers. A consumer is defined as a person who purchases goods or services for direct use or ownership and not for resale or use in production and manufacture. Consumer interests can also serve consumers, in line with economic efficiency, but this issue is addressed in competition law. Consumer protection can also be invoked as consumer activism through non-governmental organisations and individuals. Fundamental consumer rights guarantee a level of consumer protection due by a supplier of goods or services. The assertion of that right is intended to defend consumers against infringements caused by products other than motor vehicles and implies that the products should not cause harm to their users if such use is carried out as prescribed. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) is responsible for thousands of commercial products and has powers to set performance standards, require product testing and warnings, require immediate notification of defective products and, if necessary, force a product recall. Consumers` interests can also be protected by promoting competition in markets, which directly and indirectly serves consumers based on economic efficiency. Consumer protection law or consumer law is considered to be an area of law governing private law relations between individual consumers and the businesses that sell these goods and services. Consumer protection covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to product liability, privacy rights, unfair commercial practices, fraud, misrepresentation, and other consumer/business interactions.

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