CONSUMER EDUCATION IN CONSUMERIST SOCIETY

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CONSUMER EDUCATION IN CONSUMERIST SOCIETY

• The characteristics of consumerist society
• A wealthy society, therefore its members are able
  to spend more money on gods, leisure, holidays
  etc.
• A society within which the time budget of work is
  decreasing and of leisure is increasing
• A society in which individual identity is built
  equally subject to the works, consumption and
  leisure. Often even more subject to consumption
  and leisure
• A society in which the life is being more
  dependent on aesthetics and the members of which
  are more likely to built original lifestyles.
  Moreover the consumption patterns are determined
  by certain imaginary models
• A society in which consumption, lifestyle,
  certain goods purchases are more and more
  becoming the indicators of a social position.
  Individuals buy goods in order to demonstrate
  their membership in particular groups
• A society in which individuals are stratifying
  accordingly to their consumption patterns
• A society to the members of which consumption is
  rendering power. Economic position of a consumer
  in certain perspectives alters political rights
  and duties. A consumer is replacing a citizen.

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Factors influencing consumption

• Distinction of the product when comparing it with
  similar goods, using trade mark (novelty of a
  product or its improvement, clear conception of
  a product)
• Price (it is formed so that it represents the
  value attributed to it by the buyer which is
  imposed or created the price equals the amount
  of money and satisfaction (amount of services,
  quality, payment conditions, delivery terms and
  conditions)
• Distribution channels location of selling
  places (more or less prestigious, reachable
  etc.), agents selection, comfortable physical
  placement of the product in selling places,
  amount suitable for the consumer availability
• Support (lotteries, discounts, demonstrations,
  possibility to return, free goods etc.) and
  advertising (also direct information)
• Other means designed to stimulate buying
• Personal contact with the buyer (sellers
  abilities to communicate)
• Package of the goods (good package sign of good
  quality)
• Warranty (the same product without warranty is
  less valuable)
• After sales service (increases the value of the
  product or the service for the client).

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Consumption models and consumer types

• Practical consumer type
• Reads the information on the package
• Tests the product if this is possible
• Gives priority to the functional qualities of the
  product
• Gives priority to the warranties for the quality
  of the product
• Gives priority to practicality and convenience of
  the package.
• Ecologically orientated consumer types
• Healthful consumer type
• Priority for the ecological aspect of the goods
  of mass production
• Priority for contents and supplement of the
  product
• Priority to the ecological aspects of food
  products
• Frequent buying of ecological products
• Efforts to buy food products not containing
  synthetic supplements
• Interest in healthy lifestyle.

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Consumption models and consumer types

• Favourable to ecological production consumer
  type
• Prone to buy when the producer is using clean
  technologies
• Prone to buy when the package consists of less
  material
• Prone to buy when the goods are produced from
  recycled material.
• Balanced consumer type
• Reads the information on the package
• Tests the products if there is such a
  possibility
• Gives priority to ecological aspects of the
  production of the goods
• Gives priority to the contents and supplements of
  the product
• Gives priority to the ecological aspects of food
  products
• Prone to buy when the goods are produced using
  clean technologies
• Prone to buy when the package contains less
  material
• Prone to buy when the goods are produced from
  recycled material
• Is more likely to buy ecological products.

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Consumption models and consumer types

• Risk taking consumer type
• Gives priority to the functional qualities of the
  products
• Gives priority to the warranties of the quality
• Gives priority to lower price
• Gives priority to the contents and the
  supplements of the product
• Gives priority to ecological aspects of food
  products.
• Three categories of each of the mentioned
  consumer types might be identified least
  typical, medium typical and most typical
  consumers.

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Consumerist society problems in Lithuania

• These are the four most important reasons that
  limit consumers freedom and aggravate the
  decisions they take in buying a product or
  service
• Growth in mass production
• Acceleration in technical advancement
• Increase of buying power
• Markets expansion.
• Types of consumer perceived risks
• Functional risk this is a risk to choose a
  product that will not operate properly
• Physical risk the risk to choose a product that
  might have negative consequences on consumer or
  the environment
• Financial risk the risk to choose a product
  that is not worth its price
• Social risk the risk to choose invaluable
  product that might become the source of social
  inconvenience
• Psychological risk the risk to choose miserable
  product that will diminish consumers ego
• Time risk the risk that the time will be
  squandered if the product does not operate
  properly.

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Consumer behaviour conception

• Consumer behaviour it is the actions of people
  who seek to satisfy their needs and desires
  through buying goods and services.
• Features of consumer behaviour
• Consumer behaviour is motivated
• It includes a lot of factors (social, cultural,
  personal, psychological)
• It is complex and dependent on time
• Includes different roles
• Consumer behaviour is affected by external
  factors
• Consumer behaviour depends on personal
  characteristics
• It also depends on the situation
• Everyone of these features is important and
  altogether they appropriately characterize the
  patterns of consumer behaviour and compose the
  structural basis of consumer behaviour science.

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ADULT CONSUMER EDUCATION NECESSITY, POSSIBILITIES
AND BENEFITS

• The essence of consumer education
• The mission of consumer education is to provide
  the learners with the knowledge that will help
  them to be conscious, critical and responsible
  consumers. This activity is based on actions that
  will enable the learners to choose from the
  information available, to take correct decisions
  regarding consumption, to identify and to
  evaluate the consequences of consumption, to
  evaluate the effects of advertising and marketing
  organizations.
• Consumer education is a permanent process the aim
  of which is to provide the consumer (spirally and
  coherently accordingly to his/her education
  level) with a lot of cognitive elements and
  procedures, activities skills that would help to
  raise consciousness, critical and civil attitude,
  a sensation that gives satisfaction when
  consuming responsibly.
• The idea is to provide the consumers with the
  conceptions, procedures and attitudes that will
  facilitate the creation of more legitimate,
  responsible society that is able to improve the
  quality of its citizens lives without causing
  any damage for the surrounding environment.

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ADULT CONSUMER EDUCATION NECESSITY, POSSIBILITIES
AND BENEFITS

• Consumer education must
• Provide a possibility to raise clear general
  understanding about consumers personal position,
  rights and duties about the functioning of
  consumerist society, about the mechanisms
  allowing behaving as informed and responsible
  consumers.
• To provide with activities directions so the
  surrounding environment might be explored,
  consumption reality critically evaluated,
  appropriate goods and services offered by the
  market using methods, benefits and satisfaction
  gained are explained, problem solving is
  facilitated and independency when choosing is
  increased.
• To encourage such attitudes as positive ones
  towards the education and information level of a
  person as a consumer, critical attitudes towards
  improper consumption and negative surrounding
  events, responsibility for their actions as
  consumers and their duties to other consumers by
  evaluating the importance of common efforts,
  respect for the laws, that determine sustainable
  consumers cohabitation.

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Consumer education goals and tasks

• The list of consumer education goals that was
  proposed by Fernando G. Lucini allows us to
  generalize consumer education aims presumptively
• To give priority to the value of being and not
  having in seeking improve the quality of
  personal and communal life. Based on this the
  consumption patterns should be replaced to more
  balanced, sustainable and more responsible.
• To know and to evaluate the main natural
  recourses necessary in order to survive, to
  perceive their uneven distribution and in most of
  the cases lack of absolute disappearance. To
  form the attitudes and understanding that these
  resources must be preserved and taken care of.
• To actively participate in the environment
  protection activities, to take up such
  responsible actions as waste recycling and
  secondary using, non polluting the environment
  and economization of the main resources the
  shortage of which is evident or that are close to
  extinction limit.
• To identify, analyze and evaluate the processes
  of consumed goods production and distribution
  and to recognize the human factors in them, such
  as the work performed in favour of the consumer,
  efforts applied, importance and value.

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Consumer education goals and tasks

• To identify and to perceive even the slightest
  own and the others needs in order to take
  motivated, harmonious and responsible decisions
  regarding consumption. To ensure the
  responsibility in the actions of the citizens
  seeking sustainable development of the society
  and balanced consumption.
• To learn using goods that are purchased or
  consumed disregarding how simple or everyday they
  might be and to acknowledge their real benefits
  in life and the value of their function.
• To recognize and to analyze the mechanisms of the
  consumerist society the strategies structure,
  production and distribution, consumers actions
  and their behaviour.
• To know when, where and how the sales strategies
  and commercial persuasion are faced, to able to
  understand and critically evaluate them
  (especially advertising messages or their verbal
  or symbolic components) in order to able to
  distinguish the real aims of the advertising and
  to act freely.
• To show interest in the problems of other people
  those suffer that lack of the most important
  goods necessary for survival.
• To show sincere attention personally and through
  collaboration with organizations and institutions
  providing humanitarian aid to the most needy
  social groups.

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Consumer education goals and tasks

• Two main groups of consumer education aims might
  be separated
• Economic educated (informed) consumer is able
  to ensure fair and honest consumption and this
  way fair and just competition is conditioned. In
  this aspect consumer education is a safety
  mechanism that helps to ensure the stability of
  the market and consumer protection from various
  risks.
• Social consumer education used as a tool for
  creating good morals, health, ecological balance
  and preservation of national identity in the
  democratic society.
• Consumer education might be analyzed based on
  several aspects
• Political this aspect includes these areas of
  analysis governmental consumer policy formation,
  creation of legal acts related to consumer
  education programmes and their implementation,
  publishing works, international collaboration in
  the area of consumer rights protection,
  collaboration of administrational structures,
  elaboration of better dispute resolution
  mechanisms, the limits of responsibility of
  governmental institutions and nongovernmental
  organizations activities.
• Academic. Academic aspect explores the contents
  and methods of consumer education strategies and
  the aspects of various consumer education
  programmes composition, preparation of learning
  means, educational channels selection, learning
  programmes integration into general education
  systems.
• Legal. This aspect includes consumer rights to
  information and education and legal
  implementation of consumer education and
  esurience of its existence.

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Consumer education in Lithuania

• Began to form in 1994 after the adoption of
  Consumer rights protection law of Lithuanian
  Republic
• In 2001 Consumer rights protection council by the
  Ministry of justice was established
• 12 December 2007 the Adjustment of Consumer
  rights protection law was adopted
• Nongovernmental organizations play a substantial
  role in consumer education
• 11 November 2003 the National consumer rights
  protection strategy and Lithuanian National
  consumer education programme were ratified.
• In the Lithuanian National consumer education
  programme education, information and consultation
  of consumers are emphasised
• Consumer education the consumer is taught to
  understand own rights, to take deliberate
  decisions and to consider and to understand
  information.
• Consumer information consumer can access the
  necessary information that will help his/her to
  understand own rights as a consumer
• Consumer consultation consumer is able to
  receive theoretical and practical help in
  protections of own consumer rights.

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Consumer education in Lithuania

• Consumer education

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Consumer education benefits

• First, individual consumer benefit is defined by
  facts that consumer education
• Encourages critical thinking that helps the
  consumer to act rationally and efficiently within
  the market
• Introduces consumption skills which ensure the
  success in everyday life
• Encourages consumer self confidence and
  independency
• Fosters generally accepted values (e.g.
  responsibility, prudence, deliberation,
  purposefulness, cultural traditions, morality
  etc.)
• Improves the quality of life (e.g. health
  consumption of healthy products improves general
  health).

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Consumer education benefits

• Second benefit for the society is an extensive
  expression of individual benefit although the
  actions of separate social groups are often
  different than those individual actions that
  compose them. This benefit manifests through
• Decrease of apathy (consumer education prepares
  active, conscientious, and not afraid to express
  their opinion citizens)
• Consumer sovereignty (consumer education allows
  to change the conditions of destroying markets
  (creation of monopolies) so that these formations
  are avoided)
• Social stability (consumer education programmes
  are the potential to increase the satisfaction in
  the present economic situation because in such
  case consumers are aware not only about its
  operation ways but also about how to satisfy
  their needs within it).
• The third befit for the business is defined
  through
• Satisfied consumer (western business companies
  acknowledge the fact that collaboration with
  informed consumers has a lot of advantages. Each
  organization seeks that consumers are satisfied.
  And informed consumer will always try to take
  informed decision that allows to expect to be
  satisfied with the good or service. Moreover good
  consumer opinion is one of the fundamental goals
  of producers and businessmen, which, if present,
  is disseminated from mouth to mouth. And on top
  of that such advertising campaign does not cost a
  penny).

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Adult consumer education e manual necessity,
possibilities and benefits

• Consumers e education is becoming a tool after
  using which consumers will be able to take
  rational decisions and to take up responsibility
  for the representation of their interests.
  Empowered and informed consumers might more
  easily change their lifestyle and consumption
  patterns and this way positively influencing the
  process of their interests representation.
• E Education is a qualitatively new, advanced
  method, independent studies in the internet the
  main aim of which is to provide the consumers
  with new possibilities to improve their knowledge
  by using information technologies.
• THE ADVANTAGES OF E MANUAL
• It does not require a lot of time nor resources
• It is possible to adjust the speed of learning
  according to personal characteristics, at a time
  and place preferred
• The gained knowledge is practically applicable in
  everyday activities.

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The benefits of E manual for adult consumers

• E Education is directed towards the
  satisfaction of consumer education needs. The
  convenience and availability of this kind of
  education services are maximal. The consumer is
  provided with the system of information and
  concepts. When gaining the information in the
  electronic format the consumer is provided with
  wide adaptation for certain conditions
  possibilities and optimal relation between time
  and finances consumption and learning efficiency
• The aim of e Education is not only the
  rendering of consumers with knowledge and skills
  but also is directed towards successful own
  consumer interests representation by rendering
  with the most important things. Structured
  critical thinking, analysis and decision taking
  are the main aims
• The information perceived enables to integrate
  theoretical knowledge and practical consumer
  experience
• An active method allowing to use an adult
  consumers time more efficiently is applied
• Creative skills are raised, abilities to take
  decisions in complex situations are fostered
• Not only theoretical learning is encouraged,
  analysis and application of the knowledge in
  practise as well as constant improvement in
  intellectual skills are employed
• Optimal relation between the consumption of time
  and financial resources and learning efficiency
  is guaranteed
• It is ascertained that consumer gain not only
  knowledge and skills but also other things
  important in successful consumer interests
  representation.

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Thank you for your attention!