This research studies a fundamental and seemingly straightforward question: Can basic advertising elements, such as the presence of attractive imagery, have uncontrollable effects on consumers’ ...attitudes and consumption decisions? Answering this question is methodologically challenging, because the presence of an uncontrollable process can be masked by a simultaneously operating controllable process. We argue first that existing methods conflate the contribution of both processes and are therefore unable to measure the presence of an uncontrollable process reliably. To solve the conundrum, we present a novel application of processing tree modeling. Evaluative conditioning is employed as a paradigm to study the influence of affective visual stimuli on attitudes and behavior. Across six experiments, we demonstrate the validity of the model parameters estimating controllable and uncontrollable processes. As predicted, the parameter estimate of the controllable process is susceptible to cognitive resources and levels of motivation to exert control. The parameter estimate of the uncontrollable process appears unaffected by these factors. We also demonstrate the external validity of our findings and their relevance to stimuli and instructions typical for consumer research. Finally, we find that controllable and uncontrollable processes are both predictive of product choice and consumption. We discuss implications for consumer protection.
Courts cannot agree on much of anything about chapter 13, and legislators cannot agree and are confused over what to do about it. This state of affairs benefits no one and shows no signs of abating. ...So, in this Article, I propose to throw in the towel by imagining a world without chapter 13. Spoiler alert: although I am not superstitious, with just a few tweaks and tucks to chapter 7, I think the Bankruptcy Code might just be better offoperating like a high-rise elevator that goes directly from floor twelve to floor fourteen. I will lay it out and readers can decide for themselves if they are prepared to become anti-choice. For me, in the words of the legendary Louis Armstrong, "and I think to myself what a wonderful world" it would be without chapter 13.···
Loot boxes - a form of in-game purchase within video games (i.e., “microtransactions”) - have received research attention due to their similarities with conventional gambling activities. A consistent ...positive correlation has been demonstrated between spending on loot boxes and problem gambling symptomatology. In April 2020, the video game regulatory boards across the United States (ESRB) and Europe (PEGI) announced a new warning label would be implemented for games than include loot boxes: “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)”. Such warnings may mitigate spending-related harms to consumers if they effectively inform consumers’ spending decisions. Here, we summarise findings from three preregistered studies showing that (1) consumers perceive that engaging with loot boxes has a potential for harm greater than non-randomised microtransactions, but lower than most gambling activities, (2) the perception of harm inferred by consumers from existing warning labels does not align closely to the potential harms perceived to be associated with loot box engagement, and, perhaps most importantly, (3) consumers do not appear to understand the ESRB/PEGI loot box warning. Thus, current warnings may fail to adequately inform consumer spending decisions.
•ESRB/PEGI loot box warning is poorly comprehended.•Most participants fail to identify the chance element of the warning.•Loot boxes perceived as higher in potential harm than non-random microtransactions.•Loot boxes perceived as lower in potential harm than conventional gambling activities.•Perceptions of harm for purchasing loot boxes and loot box warnings not commensurate.
Energy justice in times of crisis Anatole Boute
Journal of international economic law,
12/2023, Volume:
26, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
In response to the 2022 energy crisis, caused by the disruption of Russian gas supplies to Europe, the European Union (EU) emphasized the importance of accelerating the deployment of renewable energy ...to ensure supply security and lower energy prices. Paradoxically, renewable energy investments were also one of the main targets of the EU efforts to contain the hardship of the crisis. Based on the reasoning that investors in wind and solar energy received profits that by far exceeded pre-crisis levels, the EU capped their 'surplus revenues' and initially proposed to decouple electricity from gas prices. These initiatives were justified based on considerations of distributive energy justice. Yet, by interfering with revenues and the electricity market structure, the EU signalled to renewable energy investors the risk of regulatory intervention with the market basis governing their investments. Building on the arbitral practice on renewable energy and electricity regulation, this article examines the international protection of market-based renewable energy investments and critically reflects on how investment protection affects states' right to ensure energy justice in times of crisis.
The unfettered marketplace, in which uncertainty rules and the admonition caveat emptor ('let the buyer beware') dictates each consumer decision, has today virtually disappeared. Consumers have ...become the focus of intensive economic policymaking designed to protect them from the risks and disappointments of the market... Today, arguably no other economic actor in the advanced industrial countries—not the investor, not the worker, not the welfare recipient—enjoys a more thorough set of legal and institutional protections than the modern consumer when he or she enters the corner store.—from the Introduction Gunnar Trumbull investigates the origins of national systems of consumer protection in France and Germany, where, in the early 1970s, consumer groups and producers organized to advance their own ideas about the identity and interests of the affluent consumer. Through a comparison of eight areas of policy—product liability law, product safety standards and recall, misleading advertising, comparative product tests, product labeling, quality standards, consumer contracts, and pricing—Trumbull shows that different conceptions of the consumer interest emerged in the two countries. The result was the development of distinctive national consumption regimes, which have in turn influenced the market strategies of domestic producers. Trumbull's findings help to clarify distinctive national approaches to recent product crises—including cases of BSE and genetically modified foods. His research suggests that, in the age of consumer capitalism, national competitiveness may hinge not only on endowments of labor and capital, but also on the institutional forms of national consumption.
Consumer protection law in the age of globalisation poses new challenges for policy-makers. This book highlights the difficulties of framing regulatory responses to the problem of consumers' access ...to justice in the new international economy. The growth of international consumer transactions in the wake of technological change and the globalisation of markets suggests that governments can no longer develop consumer protection law in isolation from the international legal arena. Leading scholars consider the broader theme of access to justice from socio-legal, law and economics perspectives. Topics include standard form contracts, the legal challenges posed by mass infections (such as mad-cow disease and CJD), ombudsman schemes, class actions, alternative dispute resolution, consumer bankruptcy, conflict of laws, and cross-border transactions. This book demonstrates that advancing and achieving access to justice for consumers proves to be a challenging, and sometimes elusive, task.
This study examines how important it is to determine the halal fatwa of MUI for food, beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Given that there are still many fraudulent practices committed by ...business actors or producers in the product manufacturing process, causing harm to consumers. While Law no. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection has guaranteed the safety of every citizen as a consumer. Then what is the form of legal protection by the state for consumers? And how important is the determination of the MUI's halal fatwa for consumer protection? This type of research is qualitative research with a normative juridical approach. Data collection techniques through exploration and documentation, namely collecting data regarding the establishment of halal fatwas, legal protection and Law no. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection. The results of this study indicate that the form of legal protection for consumers in Indonesia includes preventive, repressive and juridical legal protection as well as institutions whose role is to audit products such as LPPOM MUI, BPOM and other inspection agencies. The halal certification process can be carried out when a business actor applies for a halal certificate, then verification and validation, inspection by the LPPOM MUI halal auditor, the process of meeting the MUI fatwa commission, issuing a halal decree and issuing a halal certificate. Determination of MUI halal fatwa for each product is very important because it is ensured that it has passed the stages and procedures designed to provide protection to consumers. So that in the context of product transactions that occur in the field, no party benefits or is harmed and has applied the principle of balance and the principle of justice.
The production of biodegradable food packaging with innovative characteristics is a current challenge that contributes to sustainable development and guarantees greater consumer safety. Thus, this ...review reports the general characteristics of jambu, highlighting the nutritional and medicinal importance, the rich composition of bioactive compounds and, mainly, the advances in the application of the plant as a multifunctional material for food packaging. The possibility of using jambu in active and “intelligent” films was identified. The addition of bioactive compounds to films can influence the physical, biochemical and sensory properties of foods, increasing the shelf life of packaged products, in addition to adding more economic value to the plant. According to the knowledge obtained by the authors of this review, information about the potential application of bioactive compounds from jambu in the development of films for biodegradable packaging will be presented for the first time in this review. Therefore, this study will provide researchers, food scientists and academics with a more comprehensive understanding of sustainable food packaging, with a focus on active and “intelligent” properties, contributing to the development of future research.
Abstract
The payday lending industry has been characterized as predatory, which has led to tougher government interventions. However, research on how stricter consumer protection regulations affect ...actual vulnerable consumers' lived experiences remains seriously underdeveloped. Following in‐depth interviews with financially excluded and therefore vulnerable payday loan consumers, this study finds that increased payday loan industry regulations are perceived by consumers as either empowering, disempowering, or simultaneously (dis)empowering. Accordingly, practical implications are developed to help public policy makers navigate vulnerable consumers' ambivalent relationship with consumer protection regulations.
