Traditionally, consumer education was defined as the study of prudent shopping habits, family budgeting and ways of avoiding advertisement and credit traps. Today, consumer education covers more diverse areas than it has in the past. It now covers, for example, consumer rights and obligations, personal finance, sustainable consumptions and digital services etc. Consumers today operate in increasingly complex markets, challenged by growing amounts of information and an expanding choice of products. Consumers need wider range of skills and knowledge to make good informed choice and their interests in the marketplace. Consumer education is defined as a process of developing and enhancing skills and knowledge to make informed and well-reasoned choices that take societal values and objective into account. Consumer education is also a vehicle for building the confidence that consumers need to operate in increasingly complex markets.It can help develop critical thinking and raise awareness among the consumers to become more pro-active in the market. The right to consumer education is one of the basic consumer rights. This right to consumer education incorporates the rights to knowledge and skills for taking action to influence factors that affect the final analysis of consumer decision- making. Education can assist consumers in better understanding their rights and responsibilities as consumers, influence their expectations concerning the strengths and weakness of market economies and promote greater knowledge of the laws that have been enacted to protect their interests.
Consumer education helps to open the ‘consumer eye’ of the consumers. The ‘consumer eye’ concept means that an informed consumer looks at a product critically and analytically, first from own point of view as an individual consumer, then with the interest of the community at large in mind. The consumer who has had his ‘consumer eye’ opened, analyses product on several level, like health, economics, product safety, legal and environment considerations, and social costs.
Following are the important aspects to consumer education:
- Informed Choice: Consumers must learn to obtain information on goods and services, discriminate between sources of information, understand the psychology of selling and advertising. They must learn to shop wisely, distinguish between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’, and understand the alternatives of conserving and saving rather than buying and consuming.
- Value Systems: Consumers are not away from rest of the society, they are the part of the society. Consumer education must include the development of a value system. Consumers should be educated in such a way that they have the power to promote value for money, value to people, value to the environment, value to democracy and value to justice.
- Recognition of Responsibilities and rights: In our daily life, we play different distinctive roles, such as producer or seller, consumer and citizen. Sometimes such roles can impinge upon and may be in conflict with one another. So, it is important to articulate and understand our different responsibilities to iron out possible conflicts of roles.
- Wise Decision Making:Consumers need information to make careful and wise informed decisions. Consumer education enables consumers to consider seriously and carefully the environment and social impacts of our economic decisions and the sustainability of the eco-system in supporting life on this planet.There is a need for consumers to wear their ‘thinking caps’ all the time to evaluate, assess and make responsible decisions in their consumption choices and options.
- Catalyst for Action:Consumer education catalyzes action. Through consumer education, consumers become aware of the available avenues of consumer complaint and redress and learn to use them for their benefit. Consumer education helps in developing the intellectual processes of inquiry and problem-solving; motivate participation and social concern in promoting not only value for money but also value for people as human beings.
The level of consumer education among the consumers of Bangladesh is very poor. The right of every citizen to have education on matters regarding consumer protection provided in the Consumer Rights Protection Act of respective countries. The right makes sure that the consumers in the country have informational programs and materials which are easily accessible. Unfortunately, Bangladesh is a state with a shortfall in the provision of consumer education and there is no clear-cut-policy with respect to consumer education. The Provisions of Consumers Right Protection Act (CRPA)-2009 to a major extend is silent in providing a comprehensive and coordinated program among the different government agencies on consumer education among the consumers in Bangladesh, where vast majority of consumers are illiterate. Due to lack of proper consumer education, the status of the consumers of our country is very vulnerable in the marketplace. They are not able to keep their ‘consumer eye’ opened in the increasingly complex marketplace.
A systematic program should be developed in collaboration with relevant agencies and civil society to implement consumer education programs through both formally in schools and higher learning institutions in the school syllabus and informally through consumer clubs and information campaigns around the country targeting rural, illiterate consumers. Adequate provisions should be made available in the annual budgets of the government agencies to ensure institutional mechanisms are provided to conduct trainings for the consumer movement and government officers in charge of consumer affairs on a regular basis. The Government should encourage the mass media to allocate time for consumer information through the broadcast of television and radio shows. Other tools of consumer education materials such as consumer buying guide magazines, pamphlets, pictorials must be made available to raise awareness of all segments of consumers including the illiterate consumers. These may be sponsored by the National Consumer Rights Protection Council as provided for under section 5 of Consumers Right Protection Act (CRPA)-2009 who is responsible for consumer education. The Council should develop milestones for monitoring and assessing the effectiveness of the consumer education programs annually in achieving its target of raising awareness of consumers as well as strengthening the marketplace.
KhalilurRahmanSajal
Executive Director
Voluntary Consumers Training and Awareness Society (VOCTA)
E-mail: sajal.voctabangladesh@gmail.com