Consumer legislation: A proactive or reactive response to consumerism?

The number and rate of development of new consumer legislation necessitates the evaluation of existing legislation. This paper summarizes and categorizes, in detail, the impact of select pieces of consumer legislation on consumer decision making. It is an implied objective of the paper to provide a perspective for future public policy formulation. The pieces of legislation evaluated in the paper are: (1) unit pricing; (2) product labeling; and (3) disclosure of interest rate provisions for consumer credit. The impact of these pieces of legislation have been minimal, indicating the need for an educational program for consumers.