CONSUMER PROTECTION

WHY AND HOW?

Consumer Protection is a term given to a practice wherein we need to protect the consumer
from the unfair practice, educating them about their rights and responsibilities and also
redressing their grievances.

What is the Consumer Protection Act?

The Consumer Protection Act, implemented in 1986, gives easy and fast compensation to
consumer grievances. It safeguards and encourages consumers to speak against
insufficiency and flaws in goods and services. If traders and manufacturers practice any
illegal trade, this act protects their rights as a consumer. The primary motivation of this
forum is to bestow aid to both the parties and eliminate lengthy lawsuits.
This Protection Act covers all goods and services of all public, private, or cooperative
sectors, except those exempted by the central government. The act provides a platform for
a consumer where they can file their complaint, and the forum takes action against the
concerned supplier and compensation is granted to the consumer for the hassle he/she has
encountered.

Importance of Consumer Protection

I. Importance from Consumer Point of View

 Consumer Ignorance: Consumer Ignorance needs to be taken care of they should know
how to exercise their rights and how to seek reliefs.
 Unorganized Consumer: We need a Consumer Organization which can unify the
consumers and help them seek relief with their consumer issues.
 Widespread Exploitation of Consumer: Consumer is been exploited through the ways
of adulteration, false practice, fake weights, incomplete information on packaged
products, Misleading Advertisements. For instance, there are many products that claim
to make you fair or reduce your weight but when you use the products it does not
provide what is promised.
II. Importance from Business Point of View

Do business really need to consider consumer protection, is there a way which can benefit

them as well? Let us have a look at some of the points which provide us with some insight:

 Long-Term Interest of Business: If one wants to increase their customer base in long-
term then they need to make a satisfied customer. A satisfied customer with their word
of mouth would make more customer and increase the consumer base.
 Business uses society’s Resources: Business should not hamper consumer confidence
as most of the resources taken from the society. In turn, business keeps in mind public
interest and provide products accordingly.
 Social Responsibility: Business have responsibilities towards the consumer,
government bodies and society and they should work in a way which should be
beneficial to them and the business as in return it will flourish their business.
 Moral Justice: Business has a moral duty to the society and consumer and they should
take steps which should not hamper the society or consumer. They should prevent any
sort of exploitation like adulteration, unfair practices, defective product, fair price and
weight.
 Government Intervention: To avoid the situation of government intervention in the
business which could be a hectic task. For that business should design their trade
practice in such a way which would be in the interest of the consumer.
ponsible business enterprise reflects its level of development and quality of life in the
local,
but also in a wider community, through active participation of the enterprise in
solving problems of its
employees, economy, energy and environmental problems at the community level.
Environmental
protection is one of the primary concerns of an enterprise in its business on the market. By
making efforts to
preserve the natural environment businesses can reduce the negative impact on the
environment on a
possible minimal extent
Socially responsible business enterprise reflects its level of development and quality of
life in the local,
but also in a wider community, through active participation of the enterprise in
solving problems of its
employees, economy, energy and environmental problems at the community level.
Environmental
protection is one of the primary concerns of an enterprise in its business on the market. By
making efforts to
preserve the natural environment businesses can reduce the negative impact on the
environment on a
possible minimal extent
Social Responsibility of Marketing
The effects of Marketing clearly extended beyond the company and the customer to
society as a whole. Marketers must carefully consider their role in broader terms,
and the ethical, environmental, legal and social context of their activities. We can
see a fundamental change in the way consumers buy their products and services.
Consumers now commonly engage in a cultural audit of providers. People want to
know your value and ethics demonstrated by how you treat employees, the
community in which you operate, the implication of marketers is to strike.
The balance between profitability and social consciousness and sensitivity. It is not
a program or a quarterly promotion, but rather a way of life. You have to integrate
this level of social responsibility into ones operation. This realization calls for a
 new term that enlarges the marketing concept, called as “Societal marketing
concept” “the societal marketing concept holds that the organizations task is to
determine the needs, wants and interests of target markets and to deliver the
desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way
that preserves or enhances the consumers and society’s long term well-being.
Sustainability has become a major corporate concern in the face of challenging
environmental forces. Firms such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) have introduced
recyclable computers and Printers and reduced greenhouse emission. McDonald’s
strives for a “Socially responsible Supply System.” Encompassing everything from
healthy fisheries to redesigned packaging.
The societal marketing concept calls upon marketers to build social and ethical
considerations into their marketing practices. They must balance and juggle the
often conflicting criteria of company profits, consumer want satisfaction and public
interest. As goods became more commoditized and as consumers grow more
socially conscious, some companies including the Body shop, timer land, and
Patagonia, are adding social responsibility as a way to differentiate themselves
from competitors. Build consumer preference and achieve notable sales and profit
gain. They believe customers will increasingly look for signs of good corporate
citizenship.
The internal marketing must be matched by a strong sense of ethics values and
social responsibility raising customer expectations, evolving employee goals and
ambitions, higher government legislation and pressure, developing investor interest
in social criteria, relentless media scrutiny and changing business procurement
practices.

LIST OF COMPANIES RECEIVING HIGH MARKS FOR SOCIAL RESPONS

IBILITY:
1. Microsoft
2. Johnson & Johnson
3. 3 M
4. Google
5. Coca-Cola
6. General Mills
7. UPS
8. Sony
9. Toyota Motor
10. Procter and Gamble
11. Amazon Com.
12. Whole foods Market
13. Walt Disney
14. Honda Motor
15. Fed Ex
 Business actions Toward Sustainable Marketing
Sustainable Marketing Principles
1. Consumer-Oriented Marketing
 The philosophy of sustainable marketing that holds that the company should
view and organize its marketing activities from the consumer’s point of
view
 Should work hard to sense, serve and satisfy the needs of a defined group of
customer
2. Customer-Value Marketing
 A principle of sustainable marketing that holds a company should put most of its
resources into customer-value-building marketing investments
 Actual improvements in the product’s quality, features or convenience add value
 By creating value FOR customers, company can capture value FROM customers in
return
3. Innovative Marketing
 A principle of sustainable marketing that requires that a company seek real product
and marketing improvements
4. Sense-of-Mission Marketing
 Holds that a company should define its mission in broad social terms rather than
narrow product terms
 Brands linked with broader missions can serve the best long-run interests of both
the brand and the consumers
5. Societal Marketing
Holds that a company should make marketing decision by considering consumers’
wants the company’s requirements, consumers’ long run interests and society’s long
run interests Deficient products: Products that have neither immediate appeal nor
long-run benefits
Ex: bad tasting and ineffective medicine
Pleasing products: products that have high immediate satisfaction but may hurt
consumers in the long run ex: cigarettes and junk food
Salutary products-products that have low appeal but may benefit consumers in the
long run Ex: Bicycle helmets and insurance products
Desirable products-products that give both high immediate satisfaction and high
long-run benefits ex: tasty AND nutritious breakfast foods
Company should turn all their products into desirable products
Marketing Ethics
 In the long run, unethical marketing harms customers and society as a whole
 Eventually, it damages company’s reputation and effectiveness and
jeopardizes the company’s very survival
 Conscientious marketers face many moral dilemmas
 Companies should develop corporate marketing ethics policies – broad
guidelines that everyone in the organization must follow
 These policies should cover distributor relations, advertising standards,
customer services, pricing, product development and general ethical
standards

The Sustainable Company

 Companies that fail to meet customer needs or that intentionally or

unintentionally harm customers, others in society or future generations
will decline
 Companies that fulfill the needs and wants of customers will thrive
 Sustainable marketing goes beyond caring for the needs and wants of
today’s customers
 Means having concern for tomorrow’s customers in assuring the survival
and success of the business, shareholders, employees and the broader
world in which they all lives