Consumer Education

Identifying the 21st century consumer

In the 21st century, consumers and consumer behaviour are a central focus of economic and political life. Consumer demand creates or secures jobs. Consumers are responsible for the worlds environmental problems. These and similar headlines often feature in the newspapers. The message is clear: Consumption patterns have a great influence on society and economy and, vice-versa, society and economy (labour market) have a great influence on consumption patterns. Thirty years ago people were used to buying their daily goods in small corner shops where they met other people (mostly women). The range of goods available was limited yet non-confusing (instead of 20 different yoghurts there was one or two with different flavours), people could buy in small quantities suited to limited budgets and payment was in cash. Use of convenience foods wasnt that widespread and the high-tech equipment of today didnt exist. A lot of goods were still produced in the home. In some of the new EU Member States the above scenario might still prevail, but nowadays most people have quite different living conditions. In the 21st century the range of goods and services available sometimes seems to be endless. Online shopping, hypermarkets and shopping malls in particular, offer a great variety of goods and services for consumers. Consumers can buy a myriad of convenience foods or highly-packaged products; they can order goods or services via the internet on the global market; and paying cash is no longer necessary. For some families driving to a supermarket to purchase the goods for one week is becoming the norm. Consuming has become work. At the same time, in many - especially young families and households more and more preparation skills are being forgotten and knowledge about the quality of goods gets lost. Consumers value goods which are cheap, convenient and time saving. Mass production serves these expectations. Individual mobility (use of cars), worldwide travelling for holidays and increasing expectations from the normal standard travel package leads to an enormous depletion of non-renewable resources. Consumers have different levels of consumption depending on their available resources and their preferred lifestyles. Differing levels of resources will define what is or is not a substantial purchase. Limited financial resources may restrict the availability of real choice, making the consumers task of matching purchase to need more difficult and potential mistakes more crucial. [ 1]

On the one hand, consumers who have money will be able to use it on the expanding consumer services offered on the market. On the other hand, consumers with less money are possibly unable to meet their daily basic needs. Changing paying habits may cause problems for some people, because they dont understand the meaning of the contracts they sign, or they dont realise the implications of credit and so on. Over-indebtedness because of consumer debts is increasing. Buy now, pay later is a well known slogan all over Europe. Advertising and marketing try to influence consumers everywhere and at all times of day. Advertising can be found in almost all areas of daily life. From an early age, people are exposed to an increasing range of advertising. Children are a particularly vulnerable target, mainly because they are very open to suggestion, easily influenced and gullible. Marketing takes place even in schools, though a monitoring framework is being put in place by the local education authorities with respect to food.

Producers and consumers are both involved in the consumer society. People - workers - are involved in producing or supplying goods and services and in consuming them. Wages and salaries are necessary to get money for spending on essential items, such as food, clothes and housing-related costs. When people earn more money than they need, they can save it or spend it on goods of their choice. The money we earn as a producer we spend as a consumer. [2] How much we earn is generally relative to our skills, knowledge, qualifications and on working conditions. As responsible consumers, people need to understand the way the economy works and how producers and consumers are dependent on each other. Producers want to sell goods so they need consumers who are able and willing to buy these goods. If the prices are too high consumers might not buy goods or pay for services. On the other hand, if a product or a service seems to have limited availability, consumers might be willing tp pay any price to get it. Producers have to continue selling products even when the market is saturated. Therefore, producers often try to persuade consumers to upgrade products they already have. This is done by making products more efficient, or by adding features, or by making them more environment-friendly and so on. Alternatively, the producers try to

persuade consumers that they need more than one of the same item. For example, nowadays many households have more than one television, computer or car.

Consumers and producers are also citizens and they have to take responsibility for their decisions and the impact of these decisions on themselves, their relatives, society and the market. Working conditions in the consumers own country and in other countries (e.g. child labour, sweat shops), waste of non-renewable resources and so on are factors consumers should try to keep in mind when making choices. The concept of consumer citizenship represents how consumers should act responsibly when purchasing goods and services. Consumer citizenship is when the individual, in his/her role as a consumer, actively participates in developing and improving society by considering ethical issues, diversity of perspectives, global processes and future conditions. It involves taking responsibility on a global as well as regional, national and local scale when securing ones own personal needs and well-being. [3] Rights and responsibilities are a key focus of the consumer citizenship concept. Consumers need rights to be protected from unscrupulous and unsafe trading. Simultaneously, they have to accept that they have certain responsibilities, such as keeping contracts, paying bills etc. Many people simply do not know their basic consumer rights, or are hesitant to take action when necessary. Therefore, to be a consumer citizen people need to be educated; they need Consumer Education. We are all consumers. We may not think so of ourselves, but everyone consumes a wide range of products and services every day. And it is not possible in our society not to consume. At least in some areas of our daily lives we are dependent on consumption. Consumers are the key players in the market place. This needs to be acknowledged by all. Consumer behaviour and consumption patterns are changing all the time. The way we consume today is very different from even just 10 years ago. Also consumers values are very different from those of a few years ago. Characteristics of the consumer society in the 21st century [4] Product characteristics
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A wide range of products from all over the world is available. New products and services come onto the market everyday. Many of them disappear very soon; a few stay on for some time. Some products are status symbols because of their luxury value; others become an affordable personal good after some time (e.g. mobile phones). Competition among producers has reduced the price of many products. Yet, when there is a limited supply, this results in a high price and accessibility is dependent on the money available. Continuous availability of goods (e.g. grapes in winter) may spoil consumers appreciation of them and restrict understanding of why some goods are seasonal. Consumer services are expanding hand in hand with the development of new technologies (e.g.

24hour bank services, media shopping, plastic money transactions)

Market characteristics
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Clever advertising and marketing strategies, sophisticated shop presentations and magazines dedicated to specific consumer groups are becoming more and more persuasive. Consumer buying habits can be analysed by improved information technologies. For example, customers loyalty cards encourage consumers to buy at specific shops. This enables tracking of consumer habits which helps suppliers to improve their services and products and to target their advertising. This development often means a loss of privacy for customers. Consumers demand convenience: This ranges from the increase of retail outlets where consumers can buy everything under one roof, to the rapid increase in convenience foods in recent years. With reference to the latter, there is a serious health concern that basic food selection and preparation skills are being forgotten. Perhaps the decline of Home Economics in school curricula is also to blame. Shop till you drop: 24-hour shopping is becoming more prevalent and popular all over Europe. Some people feel their lives have become too commercialised. Shopping today is not only a result of necessities and needs, but also a leisure activity which features high on the list of family entertainment. Most products are highly packaged. Many elements of packaging are not only for hygiene and transport purposes, but also to attract consumers.

Consumption characteristics
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The individual consumer is regularly active on two market fronts: the labour market in order to earn his or her living; the consumer market to purchase goods and services. Individualisation of consumers and greater social mobility: [5] young or old, single or married, unemployed or employer there are often no common characteristics to be identified as was the case a few decades ago. Consumers expectations and consumer habits are becoming increasingly individualised and the old divisions of class and class loyalties have diminished. Population mobility: Vast population movements take place as a result of migration, refugees and tourism, and with the advent of the single market cross border trade is common. Gender roles: stereotypes of masculinity and femininity no longer define closely our own behavioural expectations, or those imposed upon us. Cultural communications: the new information technologies mean that the individual can own individual cultural references and need no longer be part of local or mass cultures. Individual needs, wishes and aspirations are contrasting in households and/or among family members. Many consumers lack time to make informed consumer choices. Consumers are urged to spend a lot of time accessing and identifying information before buying products or services. The informed consumer does not really exist. Todays consumers are amateurs, dealing with highly efficient selling machines. There is a big difference in the consumption knowledge of suppliers and consumers. Changing work patterns, increasing unemployment and short term work-contracts mean that many European households have a reduced income and reduced social security.

People have more leisure time than ever before and some people will spend this time consuming. The leisure business is expanding fast: more people eat out and fitness activities are popular. All these temptations are dangerous for the consumer because the costs for these services are often high. Second-Life virtual communities help to test products/ideas/services virtually, so that risks associated with acquiring new products or services available on the market decrease. Economic characteristics Globalisation, deregulation and multi-nationalism: the growth of multi-national business and marketing has weakened the ability of national states to protect their social and economic interests. Producers are allowed to produce what they want, the market is highly competitive and consumer policy asks for an informed consumer in order to survive within the market. Privatisation of formerly public services requires that consumers make calculations to compare among providers. In many countries, consumers living in rural areas often feel they dont have the same choice as consumers in urban areas and sometimes prices to cover basic needs are higher than in cities. Financial resources are often limited. Because of limited resources, conflicts related to consumer decisions are an unavoidable part of life in social units. Access to money without cash and a buy now, pay later culture makes money management more complex. The wide range of plastic money available may create difficulties and increases the danger of running into debt and over-indebtedness. The cashless society is constantly persuaded to try new products and services. More and more goods and services are offered where consumers not only have to consider the price of the purchase, but also the costs of use.

Assessing your own beliefs and actions

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It is easy to be seduced into buying goods and services: should you care whether you can afford the

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goods or services? Does human happiness consist of high income and the disposal of many consumer goods? What is the need that drives you to buy more, bigger, better? In how many consumer activities are you involved every day? What is the full extent of your consumer activities? What is the impact of your consumer behaviour on society? Where does the product come from? Can you think of things that influence workers pay? Sustainability is on the UN-Agenda from 2005 to 2015. What does this mean for you? What are your consumer responsibilities? What do you understand by the term Consumer Education?

[1] Wells 1997, p.6 [2] Wells 1997, p.8 [3] Thorensen, 2002, p. 22 [4] See Wells, J. (1997): Towards 2000. p 4-7 [5] CEA (2003): Empowering consumers: Educated Choices. Vienna, p. 31-34. European Union - Reproduction of Dolceta is authorised provided the source is acknowledged http://www.dolceta.eu/malta/Mod4/Identifying-the-21st-century.html