Role of Consumer in National Economy & Consumer Movement

INTRODUCTION
Human wants are unlimited and therefore people constantly try and satisfy their wants and needs as individual and as a society. Economics is the study of a decision-making process that involves choice-making. The place where the choice making process take place is called the economy and when the people of the entire country buy goods or pay for the services, it may called the economy of the country. In India, the strength of consumer can change their position from receiver of goods and services to one choosers.

A customer is the most important visitor in our premises. He is not dependent on us, we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work, he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider to our business, he is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him, he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so. . . - Mahatma Gandhi

 Consumer consume goods and services to obtain the benefit of enjoyment. Consumer play an important role in national economy. An individuals perform economic functions in their roles as consumer or citizens, has a direct relationship to the total economic activities of the nation. A consumer may be described as the collective power of consumers to take a country forward with respect to awareness, education and development.

 Consumer spends crores of rupee to meet their requirements. Consumer is the biggest spender in the economy. The consumer is the key person who spends money for goods and services. The consumer also pays taxes to the government and the balance money is deposited in financial institutions as savings and investments.

CONSUMER MOVEMENT
The philosophy of the consumer movement centered mainly around the testing of consumer goods and evaluating services offered, and acting both as a source and also as a clearing house of information, promoting the formation and development of new consumer organizations, and providing advice, holding of seminars and rendering practical assistance in consumer protection and consumer education activities.

OBJECTIVES OF CONSUMER EDUCATION

Consumer movement is conceived as a social movement which seeks to enhance the economic well-being and bargaining power of consumers. Consumer in all countries face similar condition of production and consumption. Whether a country is developed or is a developing one, consumer in all countries share the problems related to consumption of goods and services.

THREE MAIN OBJECTIVES

PRODUCT SAFETY: Removing hazardous products, wrong sales practices and consumer exploitation from the market, they affect consumers safety. SOLUTION TO CONSUMER PROBLEM: Consumer Movement also focuses its activities in solving consumer problems by interacting with government to bring about appropriate, new or amended regulations and for ensuring compliance from manufacturers and for imposing penalties and violations.

 PROVIDING CONSUMER INFORMATION: Enacting laws alone cannot solve the consumer problems. The consumer also need to be informed of these laws. Besides such information, there is a need for informing the consumer about products.

CONSUMER MOVEMENT IN INDIA

The first formal consumer movement was started in 1949 by Gandhian in Madras. A consumer protection council was established in Madras. Many voluntary groups start working for the basic rights of the consumers. As a result, such groups started working on it in various part of India in 70s. The consumer movement in India started gaining momentum with the setting up of National Consumer Protection Council.

COUNCILS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Consumer Education and Research Centre, 1979, Ahmedabad Indian Consumer Union, New Delhi, 1977

ACTS FOR CONSUMER RIGHTS

Essential Commodity Act, 1955

Consumer guidance society act, 1956

Voluntary Consumer Organization:

Consumer Coordination Council, April, 1992

Standard of weight and measure act, 1976

Consumer forum
Voluntary health association in India

Federation of India Chamber of Commerce Industry (FICCI)

Consumer Protection Act, 1986

National Consumer Protection Council

Information Technology Act, 2000

The Advertisement Standard Council of India (ASCI)

International organization of consumer union (IOCU)

Indian consumer Protection Program (ICPP), 1995

 CERC was established in 1979 in Ahmedabad. Consumer Education and Research Centre is the leading consumer rights organization in India. CERC is a non profit, non government body, dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer interests. Function: Ensure total consumer safety against unsafe products and services through education, research, awareness campaign and dissemination of the findings of the comparative testing of consumer products and product information.

COUNCIL
Consumer Coordination Council (CCC) was established in March 1993 as a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. A group of consumer activists representing various Consumer Organizations gathered (in April 1992) to work as one body, to raise one voice on issues related to consumer interests and various Government policies and programs affecting the interest of the Consumers. CCC has been actively involved in various consumer-related projects and programs funded by UNICEF, UNDP, Ford Foundation, Consumer Welfare Fund and other funding agencies as also grants from various Ministries of Govt. of India.

CONSUMER FORUM
The Consumers Forum is a voluntary organization. Founded by Lt. Shri Gyan Pandit. The motive of Consumers Forum is that every person is a consumer whenever he or she purchases a product in the market or gets any service against on spot payment in any form, is entitled to get the full satisfaction from the product that are purchased or the services rendered.

VOLUNTARY HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN INDIA

VHAI is a non-profit, registered society formed 1970. VHAI's primary objective is to make health a reality for the people of India by promoting community health, social justice & human rights related to the provision and distribution of health services in India. To ensure social justice , equity and Human Rights in the provision and distribution of health services to all, with emphasis on the less privileged millions.

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INDUSTRY

FICCI established in 1927 on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by GD Birla and Ramkumar Kankrawa, FICCI is the largest and oldest apex business organization in India. A non-government, not-for-profit organization, FICCI is the voice of Indias business and industry.

ADVERTISEMENT STANDARD COUNCIL OF INDIA

ASCI is a self-regulatory voluntary organization, established in 1985 of the advertising. Industry committed to the cause of Self-Regulation in advertising, ensuring the protection of the interests of consumers.

CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL (CI)

Consumers International (CI) is the world federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and authoritative global voice for consumers. It is based in London, England.
Founded on 1 April 1960, currently with over 220 member organizations in 115 countries around the world, the organization continues to build a powerful international movement to empower and protect consumers everywhere.

ESSENTIAL COMMODITY ACT, 1955

The Essential Commodities Act is a law in India which was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which if obstructed owing to hoarding/blackmarketing would affect the normal life of the people. The Essential Commodities Act, 1955 was enacted to ensure easy availability of essential commodities to the consumers and to protect them from exploitation by unscrupulous traders.

STANDARD OF WEIGHT AND MEASURE ACT, 1976

An Act to establish standards of weights and measures, to regulate inter-State trade or commerce in weights, measures and other goods which are sold or distributed by weight, measure or number, and to provide for matters connected there with or incidental there to.

CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986

Consumer Protection Act of 1986 to protect interests of consumers. It makes provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers' matters.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000

IT Act 2000 addressed the legal Recognition of Electronic Documents, legal Recognition of Digital Signatures, offenses and Contraventions, Justice Dispensation Systems for Cybercrimes.

SEMINAR ON HSM-604

TOPIC:-BUYING PRACTICES

INTRODUCTION
Consumers constitute the largest public body in the country. They adopt different practices of buying for different kinds of goods. Consumer purchases everything from daily shopping to occasional purchases. The type and amount of goods sold are primarily the result of consumer preferences.

WHAT DOES THE CONSUMER DESIRE?

Quality goods and services

Safety in the use of goods

After sale services which are prompt and easily available

FACTORS WHICH EFFECT BUYING DECISIONS

Cost Availability Season Demand Environmental influence Habit Hobbies

METHODS OF BUYING
Any method of buying is based on the interaction between the buyer and seller. it involves three stages: Input process output

 Input: involves a stimulus, which is often in the form of a firm's marketing efforts, which are designed to expose their products Process: done through advertising price strategies, distribution networks and other marketing functions. Output: the consumer gets influenced and the product or services are out of sellers custody into the buyers hands in exchange for money.

BUYING PROCESS
The buying process involves a number of steps and depends on the buyers personality, motivation, perception and attitudes. Need Product awareness Interest Evaluation Purchase

Need: a need for a product or service has to be recognized first, before a person is motivated to buy. Product awareness: people have to be aware of the products available for the satisfaction of a particular need. Interest: the buyer must be interested in buying and fulfilling a need. Evaluation: a customer needs to evaluate a product in terms of its quality and price per unit. Purchase: after evaluation purchase is made.

WISE PURCHASE IN THE MARKET

Wise buying takes time. Buying is a complex process and good buying involves finding answers to a number of questions as: What to buy? When to buy? How to buy? How much to buy? Where to buy? How much to pay?

WHAT TO BUY?
This deals with selection of article which will satisfy wants of a family. So, the consumer has three ways by which he can find for himself about the market offering. They are: inspection, testing, and trial.

 Inspection is the careful looking over of the goods in the market to determine as accurately as possible by the appeal they make to the senses. Testing is designed primarily to measure the durability of a commodity. Trial is a valuable aid because it shows the adaptability of goods to the special needs of the consumer. By this trial the consumer knows how well or how poorly the commodity satisfies his needs. He can obtain information from market agencies, advertisements, labels, pamphlets, and catalogues or sales persons etc.

GUIDELINES WHILE DECIDING WHAT TO BUY

Determine what you need. Decide on the quantity. Go to the relevant store. Evaluate the products suggested by the seller. Buy perishable foods only if they are seasonal. Products with quality certified marks should be preferred as they certify acceptable quality.

CONSUMER SHOULD BE WARY OF THE FOLLOWING

Sellers may misguide them with a view to achieve greater profits. Sometimes a wrong price sticker is put to hide the M.R.P. Consumers should not pay more than M.R.P. Sometimes they do not display prices clearly

WHEN TO BUY?
A consumer has to decide whether to buy when it is most convenient for him to make the purchase . A buyer can safely opt for buying goods as and when he needs in the following cases: The buyer is not sure about the future, The market facilities are adequate and convenient, The buyer gets the satisfaction of buying goods at his own convenience rather than saving money

BUYING GOODS IN ADVANCE IS USEFUL WHEN:

The future needs are determined, There is tendency for a rise in prices, There is adequate space for storage, There is offer of reduced prices, There is possibility of increased expenditure in the future than in the present

HOW TO BUY?
There are a number of ways in which one can buy goods or services: Cash purchases Credit purchases Credit cards Installment buying Mortgage purchase Mail buying Telemarketing and on-line marketing Black-marketing

HOW MUCH TO BUY?

This may give answers for the following questions also: How much the family needs? How much money the family can afford to make bulk purchases? How long will the commodity last? How much can the family save by buying in bulk?

BUYING IN BULK IS ADVANTAGEOUS IF:

Savings in prices justify the storage costs involved, It gives a fair return on capital investment on the goods, It will cover possible loses from spoilage.

WHERE TO BUY?
The wide variety of options that we have before us are: a)Whole sale shops b)Consumer coops c)Manufacturers showroom d)Authorised dealers.

 While selecting a store in which to buy a consumer must decide whether he wants to save time, energy or money. Selection of a store depends not only on the place where the desired quality goods are available, but also on the services that accompany the purchased goods. The whole sale market proves to be the best of all but the only disadvantage is that one cannot pick and choose as the selling is in bulk.

HOW MUCH TO PAY?

In the cost analysis, the price the consumer should pay depends upon: How much the article is worth to him, The extent of satisfaction he can obtain from the article, The less acceptable qualities in similar use articles, Number of uses the article can be put to,

In some ways this is the most difficult problem facing the consumer as to what price he should pay for each of the great variety of goods. He also finds that some stores offer special discounts to stimulate or attract business on dull days.

CONCLUSION
It is highly important therefore that the consumer tries to learn all about the prices. The more informed he is ,the more he knows bout the reasons for such high priceswhether it is due to better quality or extra services etc., In todays world of specialization ,the consumer too needs to become a specialist in making choices. It is time for enlightened consumers to start influencing the production quality