Aconsumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchasedgoods, products, orservices primarily for personal,social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. The term most commonly refers to a person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
"Consumers, by definition, include us all", said PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, offering his definition to theUnited States Congress on March 15, 1962. This speech became the basis for the creation of World Consumer Rights Day, now celebrated on March 15. In his speech, John Fitzgerald Kennedy outlined the integral responsibility to consumers from their respective governments to help exercise consumers' rights, including:[1]
The right to safety: To be protected against the marketing of goods that are hazardous to health or life.
The right to be informed: To be protected against fraudulent, deceitful, or grossly misleading information, advertising, labeling, or other practices, and to be given the facts he needs to make an informed choice.
The right to choose: To be assured, wherever possible, access to a variety of products and services at competitive prices; and in those industries in which competition is not workable and Government regulation is substituted, an assurance of satisfactory quality and service at fair prices.
The right to seek redressal: Consumers have the right to seek redressal against unfair trade practices and exploitation. If any damage is done to a consumer, he has the right to get compensation depending on the degree of damage.[2]
The right to represent: Thus, the Act has enabled us as consumers to have the right to represent in the consumer courts.[3]
In aneconomy, a consumer buys goods or services primarily for consumption and not for resale or for commercial purposes. Consumers pay some amount of money (or equivalent) for goods or services.[4]) then consume (use up). As such, consumers play a vital role in theeconomic system of acapitalist system[5]and form a fundamental part of any economy.[6][7][8]
Without consumerdemand,producers would lack one of the key motivations to produce:to sell to consumers. The consumer also forms one end of the chain ofdistribution.
The law primarily uses a notion of the consumer in relation toconsumer protection laws, and the definition of consumer is often restricted to living persons (not corporations or businesses) and excludes commercial users.[13] A typical legal rationale for protecting the consumer is based on the notion of policingmarket failures and inefficiencies, such as inequalities of bargaining power between a consumer and a business.[14] As all potential voters are also consumers, consumer protection has a clear political significance.
Concern over the interests of consumers has spawnedconsumer activism, where organized activists do research, education and advocacy to improve the offer of products and services.[15]Consumer education has been incorporated into some school curricula.[16] There are also various non-profit publications, such asWhich?,Consumer Reports andChoice magazine, dedicated to assist in consumer education and decision making.
In India,the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 differentiates the consumption of a commodity or service for personal use or to earn a livelihood. Only consumers are protected per this act and any person, entity or organization purchasing a commodity for commercial reasons are exempted from any benefits of this act.[17]
^Henderson, Fred (5 December 2014) [1936].Capitalism and the Consumer. Routledge Library Editions: Consumer Behaviour. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge (published 2014). p. 38.ISBN9781317565109. Retrieved14 October 2021.[...] the completion of the producing process by the use and consumption which carries the goods-production into human life itself [...].
^Consumers play a pivotal part in economics, which Krugman and Wells define as the study of production, distribution and consumption.Krugman, Paul;Wells, Robin (29 May 2022).Economics (3 ed.). Worth Publishers (published 2012). p. 2.ISBN9781464128738.
^Note for exampleAlexander Chayanov's analysis of peasant economies, and compareconsumer goods in the Soviet Union. At a fundamental level, economic agents (individuals, groups and states) work/hunt/gather/trade so that they and their dependants can eat.
^"Consumer vs Customer". Consumerdaddy.com. Archived fromthe original on 2010-04-06. Retrieved2010-03-10.The consumer protection act 1986 of India, is a little more generous with the word 'Consumer'. According to this law, a consumer is not only a person who uses the product for domestic personal use, but also one who uses the product to earn his daily livelihood.
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