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Universal Journal of Industrial and Business Management 4(4): 97-103, 2016 http://www.hrpub.org
DOI: 10.13189/ujibm.2016.040401
Consumer Protection Awareness- Role of Education
P. Uma Maheswari Devi1,*, B. Sankara Rao2
1Department of Management Studies, Adikavi Nannaya University, India
2Department of Mathematics, Adikavi Nannaya University, India
Copyright©2016 by authors, all rights reserved. Authors agree that this article remains permanently open access under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License
Abstract With the advancement in technology,
education and the impact of globalization, consumers are
enjoying high privileges. They have access to everything at
the click of a button; they are using more electronic gadgets
and are dependent on online purchases. On the other side it is
unfortunate to know that consumers are becoming the main
target of exploitation. They are the worst victims of unfair
trade practices. Government has implemented new laws and
measures to protect the consumers. In spite of government’s
efforts the consumers are still being exploited mainly
because of lack of awareness of Consumer rights. In this
scenario an attempt was made to understand the level of
awareness among educated and uneducated consumers about
Consumer rights. A Sample of 1000 consumers from Andhra
Pradesh was selected through purposive sampling method.
SPSS 20.0 was used. Exploratory factor analysis, correlation
and regression tests were applied. The study found that
education did not create much difference in the level of
awareness, majority of consumers do not have knowledge of
Consumer Rights and laws. A positive correlation was found
between Consumer Perceptions, buying Practices and
Problems. The study identified three critical factors of
Consumer Protection namely Government Initiatives,
Consumer Awareness and Accessibility.
Keywords Consumer Protection, Consumer Forum,
Consumer Exploitation, Perceptions
1. Introduction
Customer is the central point for all the business activities
and also the only person subjected to all types of exploitation.
With the advancement of technology and changing
expectations of Consumers the business man are adopting
various strategies to earn their profits at the cost of the
customer in order to meet the increasing competition. In spite
of the best Consumer Laws and serious measures of the
government to protect the interests of the Consumers,
exploitation is increasing day by day. The major reason
contributing to this situation is lack of awareness among the
Consumers about their rights and protection measures.. The
Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is a compassionate social
legislation that provides for protection of rights of the
consumers and redressal of consumer disputes. CPA has
provided for three tier quasi-judicial consumer dispute
redressal mechanism at district, state and national level. The
Act applies to all goods and services, excluding goods for
resale or for commercial purpose, services rendered free of
charge and under a contract for personal service. In spite of
these Consumer Protection Acts and measures consumers are
still being exploited and the main reason is lack of awareness.
In this scenario an attempt is made in this paper to study the
awareness level of consumers about Consumer Protection,
their buying, practices and perceptions of consumers about
their rights.
2. Literature Review
This section examines and reviews the literature
pertaining to consumer behavior their rights, awareness
levels and problems.
The consumerism in our country has not yet reached the
take off stage. A large number of Indian consumers are poor,
illiterate, ignorant, ill-informed and unorganized. In order to
check this unhappy state of affairs, it is very important to
educate the consumers about their rights. Akram[1] .Ashok
Patil (2011) [2] explained various reviews and critiques
regarding consumer laws and measures. The Researchers
concluded that not a day passes without a consumer being
cheated in the market place. World over the consumer is
mercilessly exploited by not one, but by several agencies.
This worldwide tendency of consumer exploitation, which
has turned from an endemic to epidemic stage, needs to be
halted. The solutions for the problem of consumer
exploitation lies with every individual, be it a common man
or king. Bhamy V. Shenoy [3] concluded that even after forty
five years of political freedom, economic freedom remains a
mirage, as, both the rich and the poor are unable to exercise
their consumer rights. Dr. J. K Raju & Mr. Asifulla [4],
explored about the issues and challenges associated with the
consumer protection act, 1986. They identified few possible
98 Consumer Protection Awareness-Role of Education
suggestions/recommendations in order to avoid and reduce
unfair trade practices made by the various companies in
India. Rebello [5] cautioned that unless the consumers
continue being alert and interested in protecting their
interests, businessmen, traders and advertisers would once
again become immersed in themselves and forget their
consumers. Lizzy (1993)[6] identified that the literacy levels
are correlated to the filing of complaints in the Consumer
Forums. It is evident from the study that the complaints
received by redressal agencies are high where the literacy
rate is high or almost equal to state average literacy rate of
89.91 percent, is high. It is pertinent to mention that
consumer education cannot be neglected for effective
Consumer Protection. Spillman (1976) [7] opined that the
important principle for consumers is found in the expression
"Let the buyer beware", a warning, which means that the
consumers are literally on their own. He emphasized that
Consumerism will not change the basic need for consumers
to make their intelligence to use caution in any transaction. It
is resourceful in solving problems. Most of the consumers in
India are illiterate and may not understand their rights.
Nageshwar Rao [8] stated that consumer education makes
the consumers as responsible citizens and demand value for
the money paid, quality, service and satisfaction. It
safeguards people against exploitation. According to Rama
Rao [9], the consumer himself is partly responsible for
exploitation, since he is unaware of his rights. Majority of the
Indian Consumers have remained unprotected because they
are being apathetic ignorant non-price conscious, irrational
found of bargaining without information about product
quality etc., have remained unprotected. The main reason for
such a state of affairs is lack of education and rational
thinking among consumers. C. S. Rayudu [10] stated that the
consumer should have knowledge on wide fields of
mercantile practices like legal protection available,
exaggerated advertisements, price variations, substitutes, fair
and unfair practices, short weights and measures and price
policies of Government. But the percentage of literacy is
very low in our country. He opined that consumer
co-operative societies are an effective instrument of
consumer resistance against the exploitation.
Narayanaswamy [12] concludes in his study that once
consumers become more knowledgeable they can easily
resist any anti-consumer move besides being wise and
prudent in their money management. William and Ferreil [13]
concluded in their study that consumer education
programmes teach such things as the major factors that
should be considered when buying specific products ,the
provisions of certain consumer protection laws, so that
students can become well-informed consumers. Virendar Pal
Singh, et al. [14] conducted a study to know awareness about
CPA (Consumer Protection Act) and medical negligence
among medical and surgical specialists working in Private
and Govt. Medical Colleges It was found that the awareness
about CPA and medical negligence among the medical as
well as surgical specialists was unsatisfactory. Zend and
Murali (1994[15]) studied Consumer awareness towards
fraudulent practices used by the sellers of household
appliances among 119 consumers from different localities of
Parbhani Town. For the purpose of knowing awareness, he
selected the independent variables of gender, age, literacy
and occupation. The study revealed that 30 to 49 percent of
consumers experienced various fraudulent practices in the
hands of manufacturers and at retail level. Number of
fraudulent practices experienced by the consumers was more
at the retail seller’s level as compared to that of
manufacturer’s level. A large proportion of consumers
(89.04 percent) were highly conscious towards the
fraudulent practices in the market. Low and medium level of
awareness was noticed among women and educated
consumers respectively.
3. Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study was to examine the extent
of awareness among consumers of their consumer
rights .The other objectives are as follows.
To understand the level of consumer awareness
among educated and uneducated consumers.
To study the perceptions of consumers about
Consumer Protection.
To examine their Buying Behavior and the problems
faced by them.
4. Materials and Methods
The data is collected from both primary and secondary
sources. The primary data was collected through a survey.
The Questionnaire contained questions for testing their
awareness about Consumer Rights and Measures and the
opinion of consumers about the existing measures and
buying practices. Sample of 1000 consumers from Andhra
Pradesh were selected through purposive sampling method.
Among the sample- five hundred students from Universities
of Andhra Pradesh mostly Post graduates and research
scholars belonging to both arts and science streams from
both genders in equal proportion were selected. The
remaining five hundred constituted the uneducated. Focused
group discussions were also held with students and it took
almost four months’ time to collect the data. The research is
descriptive and analytical in nature. We used SPSS 20.0 for
data analysis. Exploratory factor analysis, correlation and
regression tests were applied.
5. Analysis & Discussion
1. Awareness of Consumers about Consumer Protection:
There are about thirty laws pertaining to every aspect of
Universal Journal of Industrial and Business Management 4(4): 97-103, 2016 99
consumer life which can protect him from the clutches of
middlemen who indulge in malpractice. Renu Arora[11]
expressed that “the consumers are confronted with numerous
problems due to lack of knowledge or awareness of their
rights and enactment’s of the Government. He does not
exercise his rights as a consumer. To eradicate such
ignorance and make the consumer a better buyer and
safeguard his interest from the malpractice of businessmen,
no measure can be more effective than consumer education.
He opined that it is the first right and the duty of the
consumers of every citizen as much as consumer protection
is his fundamental right.”
To understand the level of Consumers Awareness the
respondents were questioned on various aspects relating to
Consumer Protection. The results of the Study(Fig:1)
revealed that about 54 percent of educated respondents and
84 percent of uneducated are unaware of Consumer Rights,
and almost 68 percent of educated respondents and 83
percent of uneducated do not have any idea about Consumer
fora. It is surprising to know that more than 70 percent of
respondents did not have any idea about copra (Consumer
Protection Act), provisions for protecting consumers and
about the Consumer Rights Day. AGMARK is the symbol
for quality and only few know about AGMARK and
difference between warranty /guarantee. Overall from this
study it is understood that most of the consumers both
educated and uneducated are not aware about Consumer
Laws and Rights.
2. Opinion of Consumers about Consumer Protection
Measures
The consumers were asked certain questions in order to
understand their opinion about Consumer Protection
Measures
Figure 1. Awareness of Consumers about Consumer Protection
Figure 2. Opinion of Consumers about consumer Protection Measures
100 Consumer Protection Awareness-Role of Education
From the survey(Fig:2) it was found that only a few
respondents (i.e. 13 percent) of uneducated agreed that
Consumers in India are well protected by Consumer Laws
while about 32percent of educated consumers agreed that
government has no measures to protect the interests of
consumers. Only 18 percent of uneducated consumers
agreed that the schemes introduced by the government to
protect the interests of the consumers are well implemented.
Among the educated 43 percent said that business ethics are
deteriorating day by day while only 11.4 percent of
uneducated agreed with the statement that consumers enjoy
the same level of choices, Services and benefits like their
global counterparts. Only 31 percent of educated agreed that
Government is taking appropriate action against errant
sellers. Almost 71 percent of the uneducated agreed that
Consumer Exploitation is primarily due to unawareness on
the part of the consumers. Only 42 percent of the educated
felt that Product labeling gives all desired information on
Products, while 73.4 percent agreed that an alert consumer is
the need of the hour and 14 percent agreed that Consumers
have access to Consumer Rights in our country. The over
analysis reveals that most of the consumers both educated
and uneducated do not have positive opinion about
Consumer Protection measures
3. Buying Behavior of the Consumers
Consumer awareness is very closely associated with
buying behavior so an attempt has been made to study the
buying practices and various problems that are experienced
while purchasing the goods.
Quality of Packing: In today’s competitive environment,
quality is playing a vital role in business transactions. Most
of the consumers generally prefer to buy packed items, as the
quality of those products will be sustained for a longer period
of time. To know their concern with quality and hygiene they
were questioned on these dimensions. The Survey revealed
that almost 92 percent of the uneducated consumers do not
examine the quality of Packing , label and other information
while purchasing the goods and among them only 74
percent examine the packing regularly
Respondents insisting Cash Memo: From the study it was
found that almost 93 percent of uneducated consumers do
not insist cash memo and among those who insist for receipt
almost majority do not retain the receipt. Hence it can be
concluded that consumers are not realizing the importance of
the bill for the items purchased.
Figure 3. Buying Practices of Consumers
Figure 4. Problems of Consumers
Universal Journal of Industrial and Business Management 4(4): 97-103, 2016 101
4. Problems faced by Consumers
To understand the difficulties of students and the various
forms of exploitation adopted by businessmen they were
asked about the problems faced by them while purchasing
the goods.
The survey revealed that about 32 percent are having the
problem with poor quality while 23 percent complained
about the high price and duplication of the goods. It can be
thus concluded that nature of problems are varying and
degree of intensity is linked with the awareness levels of
individual respondents.
5. Factors effecting Consumer Protection
To better understand the critical factors relating to
consumer protection, exploratory factor analysis was
conducted. The KMO value is 0.739 which indicates the
measure of Sampling Adequacy, from the Rotated
Component Matrix three factors were extracted namely
government Initiatives, Consumer Awareness and
Accessibility. The total variance explained by all these three
factors is 55.933. (Table1,2,3)
Tab le 1. KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
Sampling Adequacy
.739
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx.Chi-Square 838.181
df 28
Sig. .000
Tab le 2. Total Variance Explained
Initial Eigenvalues Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings
components
Total % of Variance
Cumulative
%
Total % of Variance
Cumulative
%
Total % of Variance
Cumulative
%
1 2.298 28.73 28.73 2.29 28.73 28.73 2.13 26.68 26.68
2 1.172 14.65 43.38 1.17 14.66 43.38 1.28 16.00 42.68
3 1.004 12.55 55.93 1.00 12.56 55.93 1.06 13.25 55.93
4 .875 10.94 66.87
5 .788 9.85 76.72
6 .726 9.08 85.79
7 .637 7.96 93.75
8 .500 6.248 100.0
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Tab le 3. Rotated component matrix
Initiatives Awareness Accessibility
Government is taking appropriate action against errant sellers
(Op6)
.786
Indian Consumers enjoy the same level of choices, Services
and benefits like their global counterparts (Op5)
.726
All people have access to Consumer Rights in our country
(Op10)
.620
An alert consumer is the need of the hour (Op9) .559
Consumers in India are well protected by the Consumer Laws
(Op1)
.500
Consumer Exploitation is primarily due to unawareness on the
part of the consumers( op7)
.757
Business ethics are deteriorating day by day( op4) .712
The government has no measures to protect the interests of the
Consumers( op2)
.922
102 Consumer Protection Awareness-Role of Education
6. Relation between Consumer Perceptions, buying
Practices and Problems of Consumers
To know the relation between consumer perceptions
towards their rights and buying practices and problems a
correlation test was conducted it was found that at 0.05
significant level there is a positive correlation between
Consumer Perceptions, buying Practices and Problems of
Consumers.
Tab l e 4. Correlations
Problems
Faced By
Consumers
Perceptions Practices
Problems
Faced By
Consumers
Pearson
Correlation
1 .152 .101
Sig.
(2-tailed)
.000 .001
N
1000
1000
1000
Perceptions
Pearson
Correlation
.152 1 .548
Sig.
(2-tailed)
.000 .000
N
1000
1000
1000
Practices
Pearson
Correlation
.101 .548 1
Sig.
(2-tailed)
.001 .000
N
1000
1000
1000
7. Relation between Satisfaction and Perceptions about
Consumer Protection
To know the impact of Perceptions and consumer
satisfaction multiple regression tests were conducted. The
dependent variable is consumer satisfaction and independent
variables are the critical factors relating to consumer
Protection namely Government Initiatives, Consumer
Awareness and Accessibility. It is observed that the R Square
value is 0.553 (acceptable standard is.50) which indicates
that around 50 percent of the dependent variable (Consumer
Satisfaction) variation was explained by all the independent
variables and the ANOVA table reveals that the model was
fit as F value is 409.14 and sig value is 0.00 . The
co-efficient’s of the independent variables - namely
government Initiatives, (0.00) ,Consumer Awareness (0.00)
and Accessibility (0.00) are significantly effecting the
dependent variable consumer satisfaction as their sig.values
is less than 0.05(Table 5,6,7 ).
Tab l e 5. Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the
Estimate
1 .743a .552 .551 1.05312
a. Predictors: (Constant)
Tab le 6. ANOVA
Model
Sum of
Squares
df Mean Square
F Sig.
1
Regression
1361.283 3 453.761 409.143
.000a
Residual 1104.617 996 1.109
Total 2465.900 999
a. Predictors: (Constant)
Tab le 7. Coefficientsa
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients
t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1
(Constant) 10.390 .033 311.989 .000
Government
initiatives
.502 .033 .320 15.071 .000
Consumer
Awareness
1.040 .033 .662 31.202 .000
Accessibility .172 .033 .110 5.169 .000
a. Dependent Variable: satisfaction
6. Conclusions
The study was conducted to understand the level of
consumer awareness among both educated and uneducated
consumers. It was found from the survey that majority of the
Consumers both educated and uneducated do not have
knowledge of their consumer rights, Laws and provisions.
They have very little confidence in the government and
negative opinion about the existing measures. The study
identified three critical factors of consumer protection
namely Government Initiatives, Consumer Awareness and
Accessibility. The study also found there is a positive
correlation between Consumer Perceptions, buying Practices
and Problems of Consumers .Consumer education must be
made a part of the curriculum and voluntary organizations,
cooperative societies need to provide the necessary training
and financial support. Seminars, Workshops, discussions
should be conducted in the educational institutions
frequently. Books on Consumer Protection, Magazines,
Reports, pamphlets, cassettes, CDs, slides should be
available in all libraries. More and more promotional
activities should be conducted to increase awareness among
students. Consumer Clubs must be there in all educational
institutions. Consumer Fora should function more effectively.
They should advertise about the cases solved by them and
should motivate consumers to complain about their problems.
The Consumers must be cautious and responsible when they
are buying the products and services. They should
understand their rights and should fight for their grievances.
The government has to take necessary measures to stop
unfair trade practices and strict regulations need to be made
to follow business ethics. Majority of the Consumers felt that
consumer movement can be strengthened through Media and
Literature and through better relations between government,
consumer and business. Hence the government should
Universal Journal of Industrial and Business Management 4(4): 97-103, 2016 103
evolve a mechanism which would enable the customer to
access the legal service at free of cost and they should be
easily accessible to all. Business men have to be enlightened
on its ethical and legal obligations to maintain quality of the
products or service. It is also suggested that provisions have
to make for receiving complaints through online.
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