Introduction
In all well-organized societies, the government is supposed to exert some control in the business environment. However, the social control of the business environment has a lot of influence on consumer protectionism and consumer choice. As the American culture matures, there have been conflicts between consumer freedom of choice and consumer protectionism. It is critical that all the legislation that are intended to resolve the conflicts should protect the consumer but should not limit their freedom of choice. Consumer freedom can be described as the rights of parents and adults to choose their lifestyles, what they consume, how the manage their income, and the methods of enjoyment ( Hobbs & Kerr, 2006) . On the other hand, consumer protectionism encourages the need for control because of the deceit and dishonesty by the business community that may injury the consumers. The paper will seek to analyze consumer protectionism and consumer choice.
Significance of Consumer Protection and Consumer choice
I believe that consumer protectionism should not stand in the way of consumer choice. In fact, consumer protectionism should facilitate the correct decisions by consumers. A consumer should have the right to make a decision regarding the type of product that they can consume. However, the product should be properly identified and described by the relevant authorities and government. However, the role of consumer protection cannot be ignored. It is evident that the consumer is king in a free market. All businesses should produce goods while respecting and considering the needs of customers. Nevertheless, some business people are involved in malpractices such as the supply of poor or substandard goods, or even adulteration. Therefore, there is a need for consumer protection but not at the expense of consumer choice (Shaw, 2010). Consumer protection should focus on protecting the customer by ensuring that they receive full disclosure of the products they are consuming.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Consumer protection is a very wide concept. It involves the responsibilities, rights, and solutions that are offered to customers. It is an important concept not only to consumers but also businesspeople. Consumer protection offers the required information to consumers who may be ignorant of the solutions and rights that have been made available. It increases the awareness so that all consumers are aware of the available protection agencies that they can approach to protect their consumer interests. For instance, when cigarettes were initially introduced to the market, consumers had little knowledge of the health impact of cigarettes (Shaw, 2010). Cigarettes contain tar and nicotine that leads to addiction. However, the cigarette companies portrayed smoking as beneficial and fashionable. However, consumer protection allows the consumer to receive full disclosure f the negative impact of smoking so that the consumer can make the right choices.
In some states or countries, the consumers may be poorly organized regarding their protection. There may be few organizations that work to protect the rights of consumers. Also, the available consumer protection agencies may be inefficient or unable to address consumer issues. Consumer protection enhances the development of a larger number of consumer protection agencies ( Hobbs & Kerr, 2006) . It also gives the authority to the agencies to go to court on behalf of their customers. Consumer protection also aims at protecting the consumer from exploitation. When there is little protection, they can be exploited in various ways such as hoarding of goods, sale of unsafe services or goods, inferior quality products, using the wrong weights, and unfair charges ( Wright, 2015) . Consumer protection offers the mechanisms that will offer protection to consumers. However, consumer protection should encourage full and correct disclosure of product information. Nothing should be hidden from the customers so that it does not hinder their freedom of choice.
Consumer protection assists in educating consumers about their freedoms and rights. Consumer protection agencies can organize seminars or workshops so that the can educate consumers while giving them the confidence to sue companies that have defaulted from protecting their consumers. The seminars and workshops are important in the redressal of complaints. Consumer protection is crucial in the presentation of consumer complaints to the necessary consumer courts and ensures that there is justice. In most cases, the consumers feel disadvantaged because the producers are often big and have enough wealth to hire the best lawyers against the consumers ( Smith, 2012) . They may feel that if the matter was taken to court, they would lose. However, consumer protection ensures that they receive all the required support to take the matter to court. They victims also receive a lot of support from other consumers who may have had similar experiences. The cases may also deter other companies from making similar mistakes by ensuring they give the correct information that allows the consumer to make their own decision after analyzing all the necessary information.
Consumer protection agencies often issue periodicals or journals that give broad publicity to the unfair trade practices that are evident in business organizations. Some of the malpractices may be wrong weights. For instance, the can of soda may state that its weight is 500ml, but when weighed, the actual value is 400ml. consumer protection also encourages the development of honest businessmen. Through the periodicals and journals, consumer protection agencies can give credit to honest practices and business that satisfy consumers ( Wright, 2015) . Due to these reasons, businesses will fear the publicity that accompanies malpractices and they will ensure they give adequate information to consumers to allow them to make the appropriate choice when purchasing products.
Consumer protection also aims at fostering unity among all consumers of different products so that they can collectively fight against malpractices by business organizations. It assists in shunning business organizations that take part in unfair trade activities that may be harmful to consumers. It encourages various consumers to form groups that would focus on offering adequate services to its members instead of earning profit at the expense of consumers. It also improves the quality of life of the consumers by ensuring they do not consume substandard or harmful products. Consumer protection acts as a link between consumers and business organizations ( Smith, 2012) . Consumer protection ensures that businesses are aware of all healthy business practices while consumers know their responsibilities and rights towards a healthy lifestyle. Consumer protection urges all businesses to ensure that their products are well labeled and that the information on the packages or labels is correct so that it can encourage the correct decision making.
Consumer protection is an ethical obligation of all businesses. Ethics play a critical role in the success of any organization. It is ethical to protect consumer interests from the publishing of false advertisement, black marketing, use of wrong measures and weights, profiteering, and the creation of artificial shortages. It is ethical for businesses to take part in activities that do not harm consumers ( Wright, 2015) . It is critical that consumer protection plays an ethical role that does not isolate the business community in the formulation of policies that protect customers. Banks and financial institutions offer loans and finances to these businesses while the government offers incentives and support. On the other hand, employees provide their labor, time and skills. Ultimately, the consumers pay for the value. They are all interconnected and play a critical role in the satisfaction of consumers. The key players should pressurize businesses and encourage them to avoid unfair trade practices.
Role of Consumer Freedom of Choice
It does not require professional skills to become a consumer; it requires the little effort of selecting the good or service that you intend to consume. Every consumer whether unconsciously or consciously determines the fate of products that are available in the market every time they make a choice to purchase one product instead of the other. A single penny that is spent on a product is equivalent to a vote in favor of a specific product against its competitors ( Hobbs & Kerr, 2006) . Therefore, every consumer and their choices are critical. Ultimately, the product that receives more votes will be successful while the product that receives minimal votes will either improve or fail in the market. Due to the critical nature of the freedom of choice, a consumer should be offered the chance to make a decision whether it is right or wrong because the existence of a free market is dependent on the freedom of choice.
The human mind is the greatest asset when making choices. In the absence of the ability to reason and think, a person has little benefit to the society. A man should be active in thinking by making various choices. The ability to make a choice is dependent on the knowledge that is possessed by the individual. It is also influenced by what they see and hear. Hence, the information that is provided regarding products and the forms of communication influence the choices that are made by individuals. For a country to remain free and capitalistic, the freedom of the media and press such as television, newspapers, and radio is crucial ( Smith, 2012) . The information that is offered through the media and press should be adequate to allow every consumer to make the appropriate choice. However, if such knowledge is not given to the citizens, the country is no longer a free market.
Nevertheless, consumers have a responsibility to make the correct choice. In a free market, the government often assumes that the businesses are wrong while the consumer is correct. The existence of a free market is dependent on the choices of consumers. The consumer should be in control and has an obligation to consume the right products. Also, the freedom of choice is inversely proportional to government intervention. An increase in government intervention tends to lower the freedom of choice (Shaw, 2010). The government should not prevent consumers from accessing products but should encourage consumers to make the correct choices. Consumer protection is a very crucial segment of our society, but legislation should not be used to limit the freedom of choice of consumers. Consumer protection should aim at ensuring that consumers receive all the required information so that they can make their own decisions.
Summary
The paper has analyzed consumer protectionism and consumer choice. Consumer freedom can be described as the rights of parents and adults to choose their lifestyles, what they consume, how the manage their income, and the methods of enjoyment. On the other hand, consumer protectionism encourages the need for control because of the deceit and dishonesty by the business community that may injury the consumers. Consumer protectionism should not stand in the way of consumer choice. In fact, consumer protectionism should facilitate the correct decisions by consumers. A consumer should have the right to make a decision regarding the type of product that they can consume. It is ethical for businesses to produce the correct product and to allow consumers to make the correct choice after receiving adequate knowledge. The government should not prevent consumers from accessing products but should encourage consumers to make the correct choices ( Wright, 2015) .
References
Hobbs, J. E., & Kerr, W. A. (2006). Consumer information, labeling and international trade in agri-food products. Food Policy , 31 (1), 78-89.
Shaw, W. (2010). Business Ethics, seventh edition, Thomson Wadsworth Publishing.
Smith, D. H. (2012). Consumer Protection of Veiled Protectionism-An Overview of Recent Challenges to State Restrictions on E-Commerce. Loy. Consumer L. Rev. , 15 , 359.
Wright, P. (2015). Consumer choice strategies: Simplifying vs. optimizing. Journal of Marketing Research , 60-67.
