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Consumer Relations: Understanding Stakeholders, Laws, and Rights

This chapter explores the importance of consumers as stakeholders and investigates consumer protection laws. It examines the six consumer rights and discusses the implementation of responsibilities to consumers.

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Consumer Relations: Understanding Stakeholders, Laws, and Rights

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  1. CHAPTER 8 Consumer Relations

  2. Chapter Objectives • To describe customers as stakeholders • To investigate consumer protection laws • To examine six consumer rights • To discuss the implementation of responsibilities to consumers

  3. Consumer Stakeholders • Individuals who purchase, use, and dispose of products for themselves and their homes

  4. Consumer Economic Issues • Consumers are primary stakeholders because their awareness, purchase, use and repurchase of products is vital to a company’s existence. • Consumers and business are connected by an economic relationship. • Consumers exchange money for goods or services. • Consumers expect the products they purchase to perform as guaranteed by the sellers.

  5. Consumer Economic Issues • Consumer fraud results from intentional deception to derive unfair economic advantage from an organization. • Shoplifting • Collusion • Duplicity • Guile • Buyer/seller disagreement can result in fraudulent activities. • Products not meeting expectations • Inventory shrinkage is estimated to cost U.S. businesses more than $40 billion per year.

  6. Consumer Legal Issues • With respect to U.S. consumers, legal issues fallunder the domain of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which enforces federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. • Food & Drug Administration (FDA) monitors foods,drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, veterinary products, and potentially hazardous consumer products. • Consumer Product Safety Commission monitors injuriesresulting from consumer products.

  7. Additional Legal Issues and Relevant Laws • Health and safety • Pure Food and Drug Act • Credit and ownership • Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act • Marketing, advertising, and packaging • Federal Trade Commission Act • Telemarketing and Consumer Fraudand Abuse Prevention Act

  8. Additional Legal Issues and Relevant Laws (cont.) • Sales and warranties • Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act • Product liability- a business’s legal responsibility for the performance of its products • Toy Safety Act • International issues

  9. Ethical Issues • Consumerism • The movement to protect consumers from an imbalance of power with business and to maximize consumer welfare in the marketplace

  10. Ethical Issues • Consumer Bill of Rights • Right to choose • Right to safety • Right to be informed • Right to be heard • Right to seek redress • Right to privacy

  11. Right to Choose • To the extent possible, consumers have the opportunity to select from a variety of products at competitive prices. This right is based on the philosophy of the competitive nature of markets, which should lead to high-quality products at reasonable prices.

  12. Right to Safety • This means that businesses have an obligation not to knowingly market a product that could harm consumers.

  13. Right to Be Informed • Any information, whether communicated in written or verbal format, should be accurate, adequate, and free of deception so that consumers can make a sound decision.

  14. Right to Be Heard • This right relates to opportunities for consumers to communicate or voice their concerns in the public policy process. This implies that governments have the responsibility to listen and take consumer issues into account.

  15. Right to Seek Redress • Consumers have the right to express dissatisfaction and seek restitution from a business when a good or service does notmeet their expectations.

  16. Right to Privacy • Consumers need to be aware of how personal data are collected and used; and firms must protect this information.

  17. Philanthropic Issues • Organizations are increasingly linking philanthropic efforts with consumer interests in order to strengthen ties to consumers.

  18. Strategic Implementation • Include community views in corporate planning • Manage, nurture, and continuously assess community relations and needs • Educate and listen to consumers; run surveys to discover strengths and weaknesses in stakeholder relations; hire consumer affairs professionals; and develop a community relations office

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