消费学领域的创新拓展——评尹世杰教授的新作《闲暇消费论》

尹世杰教授的新作<闲暇消费论>已由中国财政经济出版社出版.这是他继<消费经济学>、<消费力经济学>和<消费文化学>等开拓性著作之后的又一理论创新.我认真拜读了这本书,感到它有许多特点.     

略论尹世杰消费经济思想的升华——读尹世杰教授2000年以来的三本著作

2000年以后,尹世杰教授陆续出版了<消费力经济学>、<消费文化学>和<闲暇消费论>三部重要著作,对消费力理论,消文化理论和闲暇消费理论进行了全面的论述,阐明了许多新问题,提出了许多新的理论观点.这是对消费经济理论的重大拓展,是消费经济理论的重大创新,是继续解放思想的理论力作.     

尹世杰教授新作《消费文化学》出版

我国著名消费经济学家尹世杰教授的新作<消费文化学>,已于2002年6月由湖北人民出版社出版.这是尹世杰教授又一开拓创新之作,是消费经济理论的又一创新成果.近十年来,尹世杰教授根据世界经济文化一体化的大趋势,站在现代新文化的前沿,对消费经济理论进行了创新性的研究,在学术界首次响亮地提出应该建立一门"消费文化学"新学科的主张.他曾经多次通过<消费经济>杂志组织研究消费文化学的学术活动,并在全国许多重要学术刊物上发表了大量新的研究成果,引起了社会的广泛关注,也得到了理论界的普遍赞同.经过他的不懈努力和潜心研究,终于完成了这一理论新作,成为理论园地中的一朵鲜艳奇芭.     

论尹世杰教授的消费文化思想——兼评《消费文化学》

去年六月，尹世杰教授的新著《消费文化学》由湖北人民出版社出版发行，这标志着尹世杰教授多年所倡导的消费文化学体系框架基本形成，在尹老诞辰八十周年暨从事理论研究六十周年前夕，这一重大理论成果的完成，是对尹世杰消费经济思想体系的补充和完善，是消费经济研究的一个新的起点。这对引导我国的消费文化研究，推动积极、健康、     

与时俱进的消费经济研究创新

十年前,在尹世杰教授从事学术研究和高等教育50周年之际,我曾撰文<试论尹世杰消费经济研究的特色>,文中认为"敢于创新、勇于开拓是尹世杰教授研究消费经济学的显著特色"."尹世杰教授是新旧体制、新旧观念转换过程中思想解放、勇于创新的佼佼者之一","有了这种创新、开拓的精神也才能超越年龄、经历的限制".实践充分证明,尹世杰教授从70高龄到80高龄,又一次靠与时俱进的理论创新品质和科学精神,创造了十一届三中全会以来的第二个"学术青春期",超越了年龄的限制.     

研究消费文化的一部力作——对《消费文化学》一书的评价

经济文化一体化是当代社会发展的大趋势，面对这个大趋势，学术界一些有远见卓识的人士试图把经济发展和文化发展结合在一起进行研究，以探索其中一些带规律性的东西。尹世杰教授的新作《消费文化学》一书就是这种探索的丰硕成果。通读此书认为它有以下四个方面的特点：     

尹世杰消费需要思想及其现实意义

消费需要思想在尹世杰消费经济思想中占有极其重要的地位，因为他把消费需要作为经济研究的起点，把消费需要及其满足程度不断提高作为整个消费经济学体系的主线和消费领域的主要规律。尹世杰消费需要思想是不断发展的，1993年出版的《消费需要论》系统地、充分地展现了其消费需要思想，后随着市场经济的发展和经济环境的变化，他又提出了一些新的观点与看法，其消费需要思想日趋完善。     

尹世杰消费经济思想评介蒐集与梳理

在拜读尹世杰教授一本又一本消费经济大作的过程中,受益匪浅,有许多学习、研究的心得体会,信手写成评介文章.全国第六次消费经济理论与实践研讨会有一议题是:"尹世杰消费经济思想研究",我便把这些评介文章当作自己学习、研究尹世杰消费经济思想的成果墓集起来,计有:     

消费经济研究的新拓展--评尹世杰的《消费文化学》

我正在承担主持一项宁夏区级社科重点课题--<消费文化与现代人生活方式的变迁>,十分需要消费文化方面的专著、资料.在我到处搜寻之时,犹如雪中送炭,收到尹教授的<消费文化学>(湖北人民出版社,2002年6月出版)这本新作.我如酷暑得甘露,一口气读了一遍.读后深受教益,感受颇多.     

论尹世杰教授的消费文化恩想——兼评《消费文化学》

去年六月,尹世杰教授的新著《消费文化学》由湖北人民出版社出版发行,这标志着尹世杰教授多年所倡导的消费文化学体系框架基本形成,在尹老诞辰八十周年暨从事理论研究六十周年前夕,这一重大理论成果的完成,是对尹世杰消费经济思想体系的补充和完善,是消费经济研究的一个新的起点.     

消费信用与消费者破产研究

消费信用与消费者破产之间存在密切的联系。进入消费者破产程序的消费者必然有无法偿还的债务,而消费者只有接受了消费信用,才可能成为债务人,因此,消费信用是消费者破产的根本原因。消费信用越容易获得,消费者过度负债的可能性就越高,相应地,消费者对宽松的消费者破产制度的需求就越强烈。从消费市场的繁荣程度和消费者破产数量的关系来看,二者是成正比关系的。消费者破产制度作为消费信用的回收制度将影响消费信用的供给与需求,促进信用体系的建设。消费信用在我国进入快速发展时代,从控制社会危机的角度来看,消费者破产制度的建立已经迫在眉睫。     

Consumer Acumen: Augmenting Consumer Literacy

Appreciating that some consumer scholars are expressing frustration with the limitations of consumer literacy, this article offers the additional construct of consumer acumen (i.e., an astute, penetrating mind and intellect). After discussing consumer confidence in a global recession and emergent post‐recession consumer segments (reflecting the recession's psychological toll), consumer acumen, modeled after the emergent literature on business acumen, is defined, including six proposed dimensions. Consumer acumen augments consumer literacy with keen, penetrating consumer intelligence that informs quick perception and discernment of changing economic contexts. Consumer acumen is a foundational competency for the future, enabling people to better function in the post‐recession economy.     

Consumer aliteracy

A large and growing segment of global society is comprised of capable but unwilling readers. Despite the proliferation of aliteracy and extant research on illiterate consumers, the topic of consumer aliteracy is unexplored. To address the issue, an eight‐item unidimensional measure of the construct is developed and validated. This consumer aliteracy scale captures reading attitudes and behaviors across a variety of written marketing materials. Results indicate that consumer aliteracy is predictive of how consumers approach written versus visual marketing information and the amount of time devoted to these information formats in a choice setting. Understanding the phenomenon of consumer aliteracy is essential for researchers studying consumer responses to a wide variety of written marketing materials. In addition, consideration of consumer aliteracy may help research that employs written marketing messages as stimuli to better detect other processing effects.     

Consumer spirituality

ABSTRACT

Consumers increasingly turn to the marketplace in search of spiritual well-being. In this introduction to the special issue, we unpack the concept of consumer spirituality. We define consumer spirituality as the interrelated practices and processes engaged in when consuming market offerings (products, services, places) that yield 'spiritual utility'. The market offerings are purposely designed to quench consumers’ thirst for meaningful encounters with one’s inner self or a higher external power. We identify three vehicles – materiality, embodiment, and technology – that consumers engage with to access consumer spirituality. By unpacking the concept of consumer spirituality along three themes - (1) shaping markets for consumer spirituality, (2) the means for accessing consumer spirituality, and (3) making sense of and researching consumer spirituality - we provide a future research agenda to advance scholarly explorations of consumer spirituality and to facilitate a systematic development of this nascent body of literature in marketing and consumer research.     

Consumer insurance

This report sets out the legal requirements which the European Consumer Law Group believes ought to be incorporated into consumer insurance contracts.The opening sections deal primarily with the law and practice governing pre-contractual negotiations. Subject areas covered include: (I) the need for accurate information about the cost of insurance and the extent of cover; (II) the use of consumer protection devices such as the cooling-off period and/or the offre préalable; (III) whether there should be a right to insurance per se; (IV) the unfairness of the law governing declarations of risk and non-disclosure.The next section of the paper analyses the terms of the insurance contract by commenting upon: (V) the wording form and language of contracts; (VI) the law governing warranties and Obliegenheiten; (VII) the legal effect of false replies to questionnaires and basis of the contract clauses; (VIII) whether the terms of insurance contracts should be subject to general consumer legislation.The penultimate section of the paper is concerned with (IX) the duration and (X) the termination of insurance contracts. The paper concludes by addressing itself to (XI) a number of miscellaneous matters and by (XII) stressing the need for effective redress procedures in the insurance field. The recommendations contained therein are then annexed in summary form.

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Verbraucher und Versicherung

Zusammenfassung Die European Consumer Law Group, eine Vereinigung von Rechtslehrern und Rechtspraktikern des Verbraucherrechts in Europa, macht in ihrem hier veröffentlichten Bericht eine Reihe von Vorschlägen über die grundlegenden Anforderungen, die aus der Sicht des Verbrauchers an die Gestaltung von Versicherungsverträgen zu richten sind. Dabei wird bewußt versucht, unter Absehen von den außerordentlichen regulatorischen Unterschieden innerhalb der Mitgliedstaaten der EG und der anderen europäischen Staaten ein auf Verbraucher zugeschnittenes Versicherungsvertragsmodell zu entwickeln. Zuerst geht es dabei um die Phase der Vertragsverhandlungen. Der Verbraucher benötigt exakte Informationen über die Kosten der Versicherung und den Deckungsumfang (I). Vorgesehen ist die Verankerung von verbraucherschützenden Regeln Über ein Widerrufsrecht und/oder die Verpflichtung des Versicherungsunternehmens zur Abgabe eines bindenden Angebots (Grundsatz der offre préalable) mit vorläufigem Deckungsschutz (II). Erörtert wird weiterhin die Frage eines Kontrahierungszwanges des Versicherungsunternehmens, wie sie im Schwedischen Verbraucherversicherungsgesetz vorgesehen ist (III). Die Angabepflichten des Versicherungsnehmers bezüglich des versicherten Risikos sind klar zu gestalten und hinsichtlich der Rechtsfolgen bei Verstoß vor unnötigen Härten freizuhalten (IV).Der nächste Teil des Papieres geht auf die Versicherungsbedingungen im einzelnen ein. Dazu gehören Sprache und Gestaltung des Vertrages (V), Regeln über Obliegenheiten und sogenannte warranties (Zusicherungen des Versicherungsnehmers bezüglich des versicherten Risikos) (VI), Rechtsfolgen bei Verstoß gegen Vertragsbestimmungen (VII) und Notwendigkeit der Anwendung allgemeiner verbraucherschützender Regeln, etwa über allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen, auch auf Versicherungsverträge (VIII).Danach wendet sich das Papier der Dauer (IX) und der Beendigung (X) von Versicherungsverträgen zu. Zum Schluß werden eine Reihe sonstiger Fragen des Versicherungsvertrages behandelt (XI), um schließlich die Notwendigkeit effektiver Beschwerde- und Rechtsdurchsetzungsmechanismen (XII) hervorzuheben. Ein Annex faßt die konkreten rechtspolitischen Empfehlungen zusammen.

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The European Consumer Law Group (E.C.L.G) is a group of lawyers and law scholars in the EEC, concerned with legal aspects of consumer protection. Correspondence regarding this paper should be directed to: Mr. Alex Schuster, Lecturer in Law, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.     

Consumer goods

Japanese company kicks off regional retail operations in HK
Japanese hosiery company, NAIGAI Co., Ltd, on September 9 announced the opening of its first independent retail outlet in Hong Kong. NAIGAI＇s new retail outlet in Hong Kong will offer an array of high-quality and trendy hosiery consisting of both the comnany＇s signature labels as well as a few licensed international brands.     

Economics of Consumer Protection: Contributions and Challenges in Estimating Consumer Injury and Evaluating Consumer Protection Policy

Journal of Consumer Policy - The author examines the role of economics in consumer protection, drawing from her experience at the U. S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has a dual mandate to...     

Price Intransparency,Consumer Decision Making and European Consumer Law

Price comparison is a basic element of competition. For comparison to work, at least prices need to be transparent. Moreover, price is usually a focal point in consumer thinking and deciding on transactions. Hence, obfuscating prices can be detrimental to consumers. Therefore, it is vital for policymakers to know how transparent pricing is in reality. Commercial practices involving price intransparency can be detrimental to consumer decision making and may be associated with market failure. So, legislative intervention to ensure price transparency is sometimes warranted. Suppliers may disclose and frame pricing information in such ways as to influence consumers. For some suppliers, advantages may be gained by obfuscating price—through practices ranging from the outright hiding of price terms in the small print to subtle ways of throwing in gifts or adding charges during the vending process. Do consumers appreciate the implications of the fact that by framing price in different ways suppliers actually try to influence their demand for products? And how does the law broadly speaking respond to problems of price intransparency? In this article, behavioural science insights are combined with a legal analysis of European consumer law in order to chart some of the detrimental influences of price intransparency on the consumer decision-making process and to answer whether and to what extent European consumer law addresses these issues. In doing so, this article first reviews research from consumer psychology, marketing, and behavioural law, and economics regarding the influence of presentation, framing, and transparency of price on the consumer decision-making process. Subsequently, it describes and evaluates the legal framework offered by European consumer law and how this framework responds to practices of price intransparency. Particular problematic pricing techniques are identified and discussed. In conclusion, attention is drawn to the disadvantages of the increasing full harmonization character of European consumer law for combating price intransparency at Member State level.     

Consumer Law and the Environment: From Consumer to Citizen

This paper addresses the question of the relationship between consumer law and the protection of the environment. In contradiction to those who see the goals of consumer protection and environmental protection as being close to each other, this paper presents the relationship as one of conflict rather than one of harmony. Consumer law as an expression of the consumer society promotes goals which sometimes run counter to the environmental interest. This clearly comes to the fore when analysing the main consumer rights and their relationship to environmental issues. However, despite this basic incompatibility, the book of consumer law also contains some small stories of environmentally constructive behaviour. The telling of these good stories would require us to transcend the boundaries of traditional consumer law and to replace "the consumer" by "the citizen" who is interested not only in his own consumption but in all aspects of social life. In support of this development certain consumer law measures can be used to raise the awareness of consumers regarding environmental issues.