Updating The Un Guidelines For Consumer Protection For The Digital Age

The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection are an influential declaration of best practices in consumer protection law and policy. But as they were last amended in 1999, they are now overdue for an update - not least in areas where advances in technology have affected consumers, such as access to knowledge, Internet and telecommunications services, e-commerce, and digital products and services. Consumers International (CI), as the global campaigning voice for consumers, is well placed to make recommendations about what amendments should be made to address these new and emerging areas of consumer rights. This publication - which is a companion volume to a broader set of amendments developed by CI - explains our reasoning behind those proposed amendments that particularly affect consumers in the digital age. A focus of this volume - and of the Guidelines themselves - is on how effective consumer laws and policies can benefit consumers in developing and emerging economies. As such, in-depth analysis is provided of how the proposed amendments relate to consumers in India, Brazil and South Africa, either by reflecting existing best practices in those countries, or by shining light on problem areas that the proposed amendments could help address.

This book examines the institutions that are producing consumer law at the international level, the substantive issues enshrined in these laws, and the enforcement mechanisms meant to ensure effective protection. The majority of existing research is devoted to the comparative perspective, between countries or between the US and the EU. This book investigates the forceful activities of international and regional organizations, and shifts the focus of research to the internationalization of consumer law, which is largely neglected in particular in the Western-centered political and legal debate. Much of what constitutes consumer law today is focused on banking and finance, and more broadly the financialization and digitalization of the global economy, and society has created a shift in international consumer law production. This book investigates the role that international organizations have on the creation and enforcement of consumer law, and will be of interest to consumer lawyers, practitioners, and officials in organizations such as the United Nations, European Union, and World Bank.

This book reflects the current thinking and research on how consumers’ perception of product risks and benefits affects their behavior. It provides the scientific, regulatory and industrial research community with a conceptual and methodological reference point for studies on consumer behavior and marketing. The contributions address various aspects of consumer psychology and behavior, risk perception and communication, marketing research strategies, as well as consumer product regulation. The book is divided into 4 parts: Product risks; Perception of product risks and benefits; Consumer behavior; Regulation and responsibility.

This book focuses on the role of social media as the next major game-changer. Social media has emerged as the defining trend in the last decade and continues to restructure communication and interactions between individuals, communities, governments and businesses. Researchers and marketers are still struggling with the profound impact of rapidly evolving social media on viral user-generated content, its ability to shape consumer perceptions, and the constantly changing landscape for developing business cases to proactively engage with stakeholders. The growing opportunities to “hear” about customer priorities and concerns on company managed channels as well as third-party review sites, including social media pages, across the digital space are accompanied by the challenges of responding to these conversations in real-time, which calls for a massive shift in the way marketing functions engage in dialogue with customers. As leading users of social media in emerging markets, Indians are increasingly logging into their Facebook and Twitter accounts, with the country recording the highest growth in social networking. This book begins by discussing the impact of social media on marketing, from brand building, communications, and advertising to customization and customer engagement. The book approaches the subject matter systematically, identifying broad trends, concepts and frameworks in the first few chapters. It then goes on to address the varied application of social media in marketing for different sectors. Primarily focusing on understanding digital consumers, the book integrates social media with marketing and the outcome. It also presents new, selected cases of successful digital companies in emerging markets never before considered. Researchers and managers alike will find this book to be a handy reference guide to social media in emerging markets.

Praise for the first edition: ‘An excellent text for exploring marketing communications in the 21st century.’ - Ann Torres, Lecturer in Marketing, National University of Ireland, Galway ‘First rate and comprehensive. This book has got it just right: a rich blend of academic underpinning and practical examples in a very readable style.’ - Martin Evans, Senior Teaching in Marketing, Cardiff Business School, University of Cardiff This book introduces the core components and concepts of marketing communications for those studying at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It covers essential topics such as advertising, direct marketing, corporate communications, public relations, product placement, sales promotion, social media, sponsorship and many more. The author provides a set of managerial frameworks that include analysis, planning and implementation to help prepare those who go on to strategically create and effectively manage marketing communications campaigns. Every chapter includes Snapshots that help you to apply theory to engaging real-world examples. These include: BMW, Harrods, Levi’s, Lynx, Tesco, Tencent, United Colors of Benetton and Wonga. Additionally, Stop Points encourage you to pause and critically reflect upon the topic for deeper learning and higher grades. The Assignment boxes invite you to test your knowledge in the form of a task based on what you have just read to also help push yourself further. The Companion Website includes longer case studies, video feeds and other useful web links, a larger glossary of key terms, and links to SAGE journal articles. Password-protected resources are also available to lecturers, including: PowerPoint slides, a tutor manual, activities for the classroom and indicative responses to the assignments and discussion questions provided in each chapter.

The subject of this book explains the social framework of consumer rights and legal framework of protecting consumer rights that has evolved in India over the last three decades. It also explains the momentous changes in Indian consumer markets over this period as a result of economic liberalisation and provides an understanding of the problems consumers face in markets and the consumer detriment there from. It analyses the buying behavior of consumers as well as the phenomena of consumer complaints and the processes and systems to address them. The development of the consumer jurisprudence in settling consumer disputes in consumer courts under the Consumers Protection Act of 1986 and 2019 is examined in detail. Leading cases are used to explain important concepts. It also addresses the role played by quality and standardization in the market place and the roles of different agencies in establishing product and service standards. The student should be able to comprehend the business firms’ interface with consumers and the consumer related regulatory and business environment for major consumer industries of India.