ACADEMIC YEAR

2015-2016

PROJECT REPORT ON
ETHICAL APPROACH TO CONSUMER RIGHTS
PRIYAL ARVIND GALA

ROLL NUMBER: 1510714

BCOM (BANKING AND INSURANCE)

T.Y BCBI SEMESTER VI

BUSINESS EHTICS IN BANKING AND INSURANCE

PROF. ALPA KATIRA

INDEX

SR NO.
1
2
3

TOPIC
INTORDUCTION
CONUMER RIGHTS
REALITY V/S

PAGE NO.
1
2-3
4-5

4
5

EXPECTATION
CONCLUSION
REFRENCE

6
7

Introduction

In order to understand the correlation between consumer rights

and business ethics, one looks once again to the Golden Rule.
Consumers expect to be treated with courtesy and respect.
Therefore, in order to encourage sales, business managers pay
close attention to consumer opinion polls, feedback, and
attitudes. This has evolved into basic understandings of consumer
rights and protections that have been developed through the
years in order to encourage a positive relationship between

What is a Consumer?
A consumer is defined as "someone who acquires goods or services for direct use
or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing. "
Before the mid-twentieth century, consumers were without rights with regard to
their interaction with products and producers. Consumers had little ground on
which to defend themselves against faulty or defective products, or against
misleading or deceptive advertising methods.

Risks to Consumers
Dangerous and risky products
Deceptive selling practice
Poorly constructed products
Failure to honor warranties Deceptive and unpleasant advertising

Consumer Rights

Right to Safety
The assertion of this right is aimed at the defense of consumers against injuries
caused by products other than automobile vehicles, and implies that products
should cause no harm to their users if such use is executed as prescribed. The
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has jurisdiction over thousands of
commercial products, and powers that allow it to establish performance standards,
require product testing and warning labels, demand immediate notification of
defective products, and, when necessary, force product recall.

Right to Be Informed
This right states that businesses should always provide consumers with enough
appropriate information to make intelligent and informed product choices. Product
information provided by a business should always be complete and truthful. This
right aims to achieve protection against misleading information in the areas of
financing, advertising, labeling, and packaging.

Right to Choose
The right to free choice among product offerings states that consumers should have
a variety of options provided by different companies from which to choose. The
federal government has taken many steps to ensure the availability of a healthy
environment open to competition through legislation, including limits on concept
ownership through Patent Law, prevention of monopolistic business practices
through Anti-Trust Legislation, and the outlaw of price cutting and gouging.
Right to Be Heard

This right asserts the ability of consumers to voice complaints and concerns about
a product in order to have the issue handled efficiently and responsively. While no
federal agency is tasked with the specific duty of providing a forum for this
interaction between consumer and producer, certain outlets exist to aid consumers
if difficulty occurs in communication with an aggrieving party. State and federal
attorney generals are equipped to aid their constituents in dealing with parties who
have provided a product or service in a manner unsatisfactory to the consumer in
violation of an applicable law.

Right to Satisfaction of Basic Needs

To have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing,
shelter, health care, edu
cation, public utilities, water, and sanitation.
Right to Redress
To receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for
misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services.

Right to Consumer Education

To acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about
goods and services, while being aware of basic consumer rights and
responsibilities and how to act on them.
Right to a Healthy Environment
To live and work in an environment which is non-threatening to the well-being of
present and future generations.
Consumer Protection
Even though consumers have these rights, they can easily be ignored. That's where
consumer protection comes in. Consumer protection consists of laws and
organizations designed to ensure the rights of consumers, as well as fair trade

competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws
are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices
from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional protection
for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves.
EXPECTATION V/S REALITY
Whether you're purchasing goods or services, or buying your first car, we as
consumers expect honest negotiations in all aspects of our environment. Such
expectations may be based on morals and values of common courtesy, but the
concept goes much deeper than that. The development of consumer rights and
protections in a wide range of industries and fields may be the difference between
the success and failure of a business.
For example, topics involving privacy rights, safety, and product reliability are
important parts of developing marketing and advertising plans.
Ethical issues surround nearly every aspect of the goal of any business: to increase
stocks, backing, reputation, and most importantly, profit. While the pricing of
products is an important part of sales and product placement, advertising and
marketing are issues that involve a large degree of business ethics.
Consumers demand certain rights, from the expectation of honest and fair practices
in the world of banking, to the warranties that cover our appliances and
automobiles. We expect to be protected when signing a lease agreement or
purchasing a product off a store shelf. We want to be protected against scams and
rip-offs and to be able to report such behavior to the proper authorities.
Nearly every aspect of our daily lifestyles involves some sort of reliance on ethical
business practices, whether we realize it or not. We expect to pay a fair price for
groceries and gasoline. We expect our privacy to be respected when we visit our
doctor's office, and we expect honest and fair practices from mortgage companies
and financial institutions.
Our expectations have become so ingrained that many business, retailers, and
suppliers have had to adapt production and advertising methods to cater to those
expectations.

When it comes to advertising and marketing, adherence to basic business ethics is

essential for success. Unethical methods of advertising that include deceit, outright
lies, or manipulation, may threaten the reputation and success of a manufacturer, a
product, or service. Unfortunately, this does not mean that deceit does not occur.
Consumers must remember there's a big difference between deceit and
manipulation and persuasion. One of the most common methods of manipulation is
through deceit. However, sometimes manipulation is subtler, involving some sort
of psychological threat or engendering fear in someone in order to get them to do
what you want them to do. Such psychological manipulation instills fear, guilt, or
anxiety into some aspect of the business transaction.
This type of marketing is prevalent today, and remains one of the focal points of
the practice of business ethics. For example, watch the television on any given
evening, and viewers are likely to be inundated with advertisements for everything
from aspirin to heart medications. Playing on a person's ignorance or lack of
understanding of certain medical conditions is one way that many pharmaceutical
companies encourage consumers to purchase their products.
Whether a product is toothpaste or a therapeutic heat patch, consumers are led to
believe that one product is better or safer than anyone else's. Indeed, many experts
believe that marketing and advertising agencies focus on target populations that are
especially susceptible to such manipulation.
And what of manipulation? We all practice it to some degree in our daily lives.
Playing on your son's guilt to take out the trash is a form of manipulation. Diet
pills targeted toward women with less than perfect bodies is also a form of
manipulation.

Conclusion
While marketing and advertising executives deal with the attitudes of the general
population, sales people deal with individual customers. Customers dealing with a
sales representative on a one-on-one basis seem to be more alert and wary to
coercion, pressure, or encouragement to buy a particular service or product.
However, when it comes to magazine and television ads, consumers seem to be
less aware of manipulation.
Deception and coercion are prime examples of unethical behavior when it comes to
consumer rights and expectations. Whether the advertisement is for Viagra or a life
alert bracelet, consumers must by necessity continue to demand transparency and
fair practices to protect their consumer rights.

REFRENCE

WEBSITES: www.ftms.edu
www.universalclasses.com
BOOKS: Vipul Prakashan {business ethics in banking and insurance}
Semester VI