Consumer education and the OECD electronic commerce consumer protection guidelines

This paper explores the implications of e‐commerce transactions and the lack of consumer protection regulation on consumer educators and curricula. The discussion is divided into five sections: conceptualizing e‐commerce; the juggernaut of e‐commerce; consumer education defined, especially consumer protection in the electronic market‐place; the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) 1998 Ottawa conference on electronic commerce; and the implications of this fluid market and policy context on consumer educators. Empowerment of the consumer, the ultimate objective of consumer education, is a total challenge in the global electronic market‐place, but a challenge that must be embraced by staying informed, becoming a consumer advocate, as well as educator, and remaining ever vigilant as curricula are developed for the domestic consumer transacting in an electronic global market.     

Low literacy,policy and consumer vulnerability: Are we really doing enough?

A perennial issue in transformative consumer research and public policy is the plight of low‐literate vulnerable consumers. Low‐literate consumers have been observed misinterpreting labels, misusing products and purchasing the wrong item, which leads to devastating outcomes as they continue to make poor decisions out of ignorance. Based on a thorough review of past studies on consumer literacy and vulnerability, we explore how stigma and attribution operate as underlying mechanisms for influencing how low‐literate consumers behave in the marketplace. This paper problematises blanket statements that all low‐literate consumers are vulnerable and addresses the possibility that universal policy actions may inadvertently create further marginalization for those it is meant to protect. Our paper contributes by introducing a new typology of low‐literate consumer vulnerability to challenge conventional understandings of who the vulnerable consumers are in relation to their literacy level and actual marketplace behaviour. From a policy standpoint, the insights gained from our review speak to the need for differentiating low‐literate consumers in terms of their status of vulnerability, which inform public policy initiatives and effective consumer education for their empowerment and protection.     

‘Better safe than sorry’: consumer perceptions of and deliberations on nanotechnologies

Although nanotechnologies are considered key technologies that can drive growth‐generating innovations in well‐saturated markets, worldwide investment in nanotechnologies has to date focused largely on technology‐related development programmes and little effort has been expended to research associated risks. As a result, even though prior discourses have sensitized western consumers to potential health‐related dangers, solid knowledge on, for example, the toxicological and eco‐toxicological risks and unintended side effects of nanotechnology are scarce. This paper therefore presents an overview of the current evidence on consumer knowledge and perceptions of nanotechnology and public engagement with it, with a focus on the US, the UK and Germany. Overall, even though survey data suggest that awareness of the term ‘nanotechnology’ has risen slightly, today's consumers are generally ill informed about its nature and its applications in consumer‐related products. Hence, based on our analysis of these data, we argue that early political engagement in the nanotechnology issue – for example, consumer policy options that support consumer interest in the marketing of ‘nanos’– would facilitate objective public discourse.     

Consumer involvement and acceptance of biotechnology in the European Union: a specific focus on Spain and the UK

Biotechnology stands out as a clear‐cut example of an industry where legislation on new technologies has been shown to be linked with public attitudes. Indeed, consumer consultation has played a leading role in the acceptance of genetically modified (GM) food as well as in government policy and legislation. This paper examines the issue of consumer consultation by analysing how public opinion has conditioned the acceptance of GM food in the European Union in general and specifically in Spain and the UK. We draw upon the evidence of two Eurobarometer surveys (46.1 and 52.1) to argue that consumer decision making on new technologies is an information‐dependent factor explaining consumer rejection to non‐transparent introduction of GM food. Individuals feel ill‐prepared to make decisions and rely on trusted information advisors such as consumer organizations. Findings suggest significant information dependency as well as widespread heterogeneity in attitudes towards the applications of biotechnology. Finally, the role played by information channels indicates that consumer participation should precede the adoption of communication policies, as they might need to adapt to the specific cultural characteristics of each country.     

The future impact of Trans‐Pacific Partnership’s rule‐making achievements: The case study of e‐commerce

While policymakers and scholars often emphasise the significance of the rule‐making aspect when they discuss the benefits of negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs), we know little about the ways in which rules are actually made. We need impartial assessment of the status of rule‐making to draw any concrete policy implications. Moreover, “how international economic rules develop” in terms of enforceability has been a neglected but important research question for students of international economics and laws. International economic rules evolve through a series of FTAs that are signed by a different set of countries. By using the case study of e‐commerce chapters, this paper will specifically examine: (1) how earlier FTAs paved the way to the Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP) e‐commerce negotiations; (2) whether rule‐making achievements of TPP are substantial compared against earlier FTAs; and (3) whether rule‐making achievements of TPP, if any, are likely to have some impact on post‐TPP FTAs.     

Bringing complexity and convergence governance to consumer policy

Consumer policy is already being shaped by a combination of governance models. This position paper argues that complexity‐oriented convergence models are a timely addition. Modern day consumer policy is characterized as interactive and integrative, replete with shifting boundaries and coalitions and evolving roles for each of state, market and society. This paper focused on governance in the consumer policy arena, arguing that this process needs to acknowledge and reconcile complexity. After describing the basic tenets of complexity theory, two characteristics of contemporary tri‐sector interaction (i.e., sector blurring and sector distortion) were discussed. These boundary characteristics necessitate the need for approaches that can accommodate complexity during consumer policy governance. Three examples of the latter were profiled: sector convergence, network governance and cross‐sector governance. These conceptualizations accommodate the dynamics, complexity and emergence of contemporary consumer policy governance.     

Consumer involvement in health research: a UK scoping and survey

Consumer involvement or patient and public involvement (PPI) in health research is a UK policy imperative and a prerequisite for many funders. PPI in research is defined as research carried out with or being carried out by the public (or service users), rather than research on patients and public as subjects or participants. Despite the clear policy driver, there is relatively little empirical evidence on the extent, processes and impact of user involvement in research. This paper aims to add to the international evidence base on PPI in research by providing a key overview of current trends and impacts. In order to understand the current extent and variation of PPI in research, a scoping exercise and survey were carried out on selected UK studies. Six research topic areas (cystic fibrosis, diabetes, arthritis, dementia, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and public health) were selected to ensure a range of designs, study populations and histories of PPI in research. A total of 838 studies (non‐commercial studies and not older than 2 years) were contacted. The response rate for the scoping was 38% and the survey 28%. In the scoping, 51% of studies had some evidence of PPI and in the survey 79%. The most common PPI activity was steering committee membership and reviewing patient information leaflets. There appeared to be some blurred roles with patients participating as research subjects as well as carrying out patient involvement roles. A major finding was the limited amount of available information about PPI in publicly accessible research documents. We suggest that the invisibility of this type of involvement and the lack of routinely collected information about PPI results in a lack of shared understanding of what optimal PPI in a study should look like, with important implications for practice. Furthermore, without a framework to review PPI it is difficult to know if different approaches to PPI have a different impact on key outcomes of the research.     

Consumer education and empowerment in Europe: recent developments in policy and practice

This article develops the findings of an evaluation of European Commission consumer education, information and capacity building actions conducted in 2011, with an examination of action taken by 2016 to address the recommendations. Based on empirical research of documents, in‐depth interviews, focus groups and semi‐structured surveys of Directorate General for Health and Consumers and Directorate General for Education and Culture policy networks, it discusses the journey taken to improve consumer education and empowerment throughout Europe. Implementation of the recommendations aims to transform consumer education and empowerment in Europe, with integrated and updated resources for the maximum number of teachers across the European Union, where teachers can focus the resources on consumer education activities relevant for their learners. A key focus of the new developments is to deliver higher European Union (pan‐European) added‐value, better coordination and synergies with national activities.     

The roles of trust and experience in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce: a cross‐cultural comparison between France and Germany

Based on the Eurobarometer survey data, this study examined the roles of experience and cultural propensity to trust in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce. Compared with consumers in a low‐trust culture (France), consumers from a high‐trust society (West Germany) exhibit more confidence in conducting e‐commerce. This cultural difference is only evident among consumers with no prior e‐commerce experience but disappears among consumers with prior e‐commerce experience. There is no interaction effect of culture and experience. While consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce declines with age within each culture, consumers of the same age groups tend to have higher confidence in conducting e‐commerce in West Germany than in France. Academic and practical implications were provided.     

Consumers’ subjective and objective consumerism knowledge and subsequent complaint behaviour concerning consumer electronics: a South African perspective

Although there is immense international support for consumer protection, the notion exists that consumer protection can only exist in developed countries with ample fiscal resources and expertise to properly act in the interest of consumers. This conception leaves consumers in emerging and transitional economies in a difficult position as these economies indeed generally lack sufficient funding and the required capacity to educate consumers on their rights. With the South African Consumer Protection Act that came into effect in 2011, South African consumers can now claim to be among the best protected consumers in the world. However, many consumers are still not aware of their consumer rights, and do not have the necessary knowledge to pursue redress when they are dissatisfied. The objective of this research was therefore to explore and describe the relationship between consumers’ knowledge of consumerism (consumer protection) and their consumer complaint behaviour (CCB) concerning their dissatisfaction with a technologically advanced product, in this case, a consumer electronic product. This study attempts to differentiate between subjective consumerism knowledge and objective consumerism knowledge and by extension the measures used. In addition, we explored and described the relationship between demographic variables and levels of subjective and objective consumerism knowledge as well as the combined effect of the two types of knowledge on CCB. The findings revealed that the respondents had a reasonable level of subjective consumerism knowledge relative to a low level of objective consumerism knowledge. No significant relationship was found between subjective consumerism knowledge and demographic variables. However, the factors of race, gender and level of income were related to objective knowledge. A higher level of subjective knowledge could be associated with public action. Respondents with reasonable levels of objective knowledge were also better equipped to take private and public action. CHAID (Chi‐Square Automatic Interaction Detection) analysis highlighted that a combination of subjective and objective knowledge was the best predictor of taking public action only and of taking both private and public complaint action. The study has implications for policy makers, consumer protection organisations, retailers and the individual consumer. Our approach to measuring knowledge of consumerism could possibly be applied in other emerging contexts where consumers generally lack awareness of consumer protection.     

Assessing the Impact of Price Promotions on Consumer Response to Online Stockouts

The recent growth of e‐commerce technologies has disrupted the traditional retail environment, leading to more consumers shopping online. While the manner in which consumers shop is changing rapidly, our understanding of how changing consumer behaviors affect retail supply chain management is lacking. In particular, our understanding of how consumers react to stockouts in an online shopping environment remains unclear. Making the challenge even more difficult is the fact that price promotions are heavily used to attract consumers in an online retail environment where consumer switching costs are low. This research develops a theoretical framework, based on expectation‐disconfirmation theory, to explain the effect of price promotions on consumer expectations of product availability and their reactions to stockouts in an online retail environment. Surprisingly, our findings suggest that consumers are actually less dissatisfied with a stockout of a price promoted item than a nonprice promoted product and are less likely to switch to another retailer's website. These findings may suggest that price promotions actually create a type of switching cost in the online retail environment, leading to interesting implications for researchers and supply chain managers.     

The influence of consumer decision‐making styles on online apparel consumption by college students

Apparel purchases now constitute one of the fastest‐growing segments of e‐commerce. Thus, there are strong theoretical and managerial reasons to better understand consumer characteristics associated with buying apparel online. This paper investigates motivations for online apparel consumption using the Consumer Styles Inventory. Data from a sample of 357 US college students showed that quality consciousness, brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, hedonistic shopping, impulsiveness and brand loyalty were positively correlated with online apparel shopping. Price sensitivity was negatively correlated with online spending.     

Mobile Commerce Website Success: Antecedents of Consumer Satisfaction and Purchase Intention

With the rapid development of apparel mobile commerce in the United States, more companies view mobile commerce as a new source of competitive advantage. Despite the importance of apparel mobile website quality and its effect on consumer satisfaction and future purchase stimulus, extant research has paid little attention to these topics. This study proposes a website quality–consumer satisfaction–purchase intention research model based on the self-regulatory process theory. Six dimensions of apparel mobile website quality—website visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, brand trust, website information quality, website response time, and website security—were investigated. In all, 293 eligible responses were collected via an online survey. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test the proposed relationships. Results reveal that website information quality, website visual appeal, apparel visual appeal, and website security positively affect consumer satisfaction toward apparel mobile commerce websites, while website response time and brand trust show insignificant impacts on consumer satisfaction. With higher satisfaction on an apparel mobile commerce website, consumers are more likely to purchase apparel through the website.     

In search of well-being: Factors influencing the movement toward and away from maladaptive consumption

Common consumption behaviors may become harmful to consumers. Maladaptive consumption is the result of an increase in frequency or amount of everyday, normal consumption (adaptive) behaviors, which may cause significant harm to consumers and society. The authors explore maladaptive behavior and investigate how important insights about maladaptive consumption may lie at the intersection of harm. Consequently, the discussion focuses on how marketers and policymakers, through their strategic approach, can both encourage and mitigate maladaptive behavior. Understanding the transition from adaptive to maladaptive behaviors, and the return to adaptive consumption patterns, is critical for marketers, consumer advocates, and policy researchers, focused on dampening overconsumption with its corresponding harm. A discussion of the implications of maladaptive consumption on consumer health and well-being sets the foundation for rethinking marketing practice and public policy. Finally, a set of research propositions are offered for future research.     

Optimal timing to invest in e‐commerce

The timing of investment in e‐commerce remains hotly debated in both the academic and investment communities. This study develops a framework for analyzing the optimal timing for a company to invest in e‐commerce for conducting its business‐to‐business (B2B) or business‐to‐consumer (B2C) transactions. This study applies a real option theory to assess a new risk–reward dynamic for investing in e‐commerce. The numerical results demonstrate that the optimal timing of investment in e‐commerce depends on uncertainties regarding future cash flows and the opportunity costs associated with e‐commerce. Implications with regard to the behavior of Internet companies from a financial perspective are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

电子商务中消费者的权益保护研究

电子商务改变了传统商务手段,开拓了新的市场,产生了巨大的效应,同时也为消费者的权益保护带来了新的挑战。本文旨在对这些问题进行分析并提出相应的对策,以保护消费者在电子商务环境下的合法权益。     

The concept of consumer vulnerability: Scale development and validation

Although studies of nonrational consumer behaviour in the fields of psychology and marketing are widespread, few scholars have discussed this issue from the integrated perspective of individual characteristics and consumer welfare. Extant research has introduced the concept of consumer vulnerability to deepen the study of nonrational behaviour. The present research defines consumer vulnerability as an individual characteristic, that is, a tendency to be influenced by an external stimulation or temptation that leads to decisions harmful to the person's own welfare. To operationalize this concept, this study develops a consumer vulnerability scale. Results from exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis reveal the following seven dimensions of consumer vulnerability: product knowledge, product promotion, marketing and emotional stress, social pressure, purchasing power, refunds policy and discrimination ability. After verifying the scale's reliability and validity, this study confirms that it can be applied to measure the degree to which consumer welfare has been harmed and predict nonrational decision‐making behaviour. Limitations and future research directions also are discussed.     

‘I send the wife to the doctor’– Men's behaviour as health consumers

This paper explores men's behaviour and attitudes in relation to health matters. While there has been some practical and research progress in engaging with users of health services, there is less development in the area of engaging non‐users. In effect, all members of the society can be the consumers/users of health promotion, though not all are. This paper reports on the first stage of a wider project aimed at increasing the effectiveness of skin cancer awareness messages aimed at men. The project focuses on men over 50 from an area of socio‐economic disadvantage, since these men tend to have the lowest life expectancies in general, and the highest incidences of mortality for skin cancer both at a national and international level. The research was conducted through community‐based focus groups and while the sample was relatively, small it produced some interesting outcomes in terms of how this cohort audited and responded to public health promotion campaigns; how they perceive cancer and health issues in general; how they respond to health issues; and how they view both the public health service in Ireland and the ways health professionals relate to them. It confirms many theories about how men view their health and how they respond to health promotion campaigns. Among other points, it raises questions about the possible mixed benefits of testimonial‐based advertising. It also indicates that there may be further layers of complexity connected to identity, fatalism, problem solving and respectful treatment that have not been sufficiently articulated in the literature. It points to the need for greater engagement by service planners and providers with the needs of their target audience, which may require a more encompassing definition of service user.     

Interview: United Parcel Service's Director of Electronic Commerce,Alan Amling,on the opportunities and challenges of global electronic commerce

The development of global electronic commerce presents many opportunities as well as challenges for companies worldwide. Alan Amling, director of electronic commerce for United Parcel Service (UPS), discusses various aspects of electronic commerce, its global implications, and UPS's effort in enabling its global development. Mr. Amling emphasizes that the key success factor for e‐commerce is building relationships with customers and suppliers. For companies engaging in global e‐commerce, he suggests the importance of “Thinking Global, Acting Local.” Furthermore, Mr. Amling provides critical insights as to why UPS has been able to stay at the forefront in the development of e‐commerce and how UPS is positioning itself to enhance global e‐commerce's growth. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Does Alibaba's Magic Work Outside China?

Alibaba was an established e‐commerce giant in the Chinese online retail industry. In 2014, it recorded the world's largest initial public offering (IPO), raising a total of $25 billion. Alibaba's groundbreaking IPO and continuous growth in China had raised speculation on its imminent and potential expansions into other countries including the United States. On the other hand, Amazon and eBay had been leaders in the e‐commerce industry of the United States, arguably the world. This case seeks to weigh the potential success of Alibaba should it choose to expand outside its home country, China, including the United States. This case also helps understand how the Chinese business environment influenced the success of Alibaba, relative to other countries. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.