Consumer advocacy
Consumer advocacy is a movement focused on safeguarding the rights and welfare of consumers—individuals who buy and use goods and services. This movement has evolved significantly, especially since the late 1800s, driven by the rise of industrialization and a growing consumer culture. Historically, consumers had minimal protection against unsafe or faulty products, which prompted the formation of organizations aimed at promoting consumer rights. These groups, alongside government initiatives, have played a crucial role in establishing regulations around product safety, advertising practices, and labeling requirements.
Key milestones include the establishment of the National Consumers League in 1899 and the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1914, which initially focused on regulating business practices. However, the consumer advocacy movement gained momentum in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly around safety issues with products like toys and automobiles, leading to significant regulatory changes and increased public awareness of consumer rights. Today, consumer advocacy encompasses a wide array of activities, including protecting consumers from unfair business practices and educating them about their rights, thereby empowering individuals to make informed choices in a complex marketplace.
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Consumer advocacy
Consumer advocacy is a movement to protect the rights and safety of consumers, or people who purchase and use goods and services in an economy. Consumer advocacy may take many forms, from regulating business and manufacturing practices to monitoring advertising and product labeling. This advocacy may take place on the individual level, with consumers protecting their own rights, but more often takes place within consumer organizations or government departments. The rise of industrialization and consumerist culture led to the growth of consumer advocacy, starting slowly in the late 1800s and becoming an important factor in society by the mid to late 1900s.
Background
People have been consuming goods and services for thousands of years. In ancient times, before factories and mass production, most goods were produced by hand on an individual basis. Consumers had little, if any, formal protection against goods or services that were faulty or dangerous. Tools could break, toys could injure children, and food could prove to be poisonous. Few laws were in place to protect early consumers from such occurrences.
The production and availability of goods and services changed dramatically in the late 1700s and 1800s. The Industrial Era brought mass production to many countries. Now, workers at factories could produce items by the thousands, whereas traditional artisans usually made only one item at a time. Many businesses grew into powerful corporations and an emerging middle class of society earned more money and sought new ways to spend it.
The societies of many parts of the world took on an increasingly consumerist nature. People wanted to buy more goods and services. Businesses accommodated them by offering an ever-expanding variety of products at affordable prices. Many products, such as cars and homes, became popular status symbols rather than basic tools for living. Other products, such as many kinds of food and medicine, were produced quickly and cheaply in factories instead of being prepared by hand.
By the late 1800s, the rapid spread of consumerism prompted changes in the United States and in other industrialized nations. Millions of people were consuming millions of products. The consumer had become a driving force in economy and a major factor in society, culture, and politics. Consumer organizations began forming to protect consumers' rights and interests. These groups were private at first but soon became politically active. Ultimately, governments began to take official actions to promote the welfare of consumers in many ways.
Overview
The earliest consumer-protection group in the United States was the National Consumers League (NCL), which formed in 1899. This group promoted innovative ideas that would eventually become standards in industry and economy. It advocated for workers by pushing for restrictions on work hours and a ban on child labor. It also advocated for consumers by promoting the use of food-inspection programs and accurate labelling on food and medicine containers.
The US government took one of its first actions to help consumers in 1914 with the creation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). At the time, however, the FTC operated on a business level more than on a consumer level. Early FTC actions aimed to reduce the power of corporations that were forming trusts that could drive competitors out of business.
The spirit of consumerism continued to grow through the 1900s and reached its highest level in the middle of the century, leading some historians to use the term "The Consumer Era" to describe the 1940s through the 1970s. Following the end of World War II in 1945, the United States and many other countries reached new levels of prosperity and capitalism. New jobs, technologies, payment methods, and shopping options enticed more consumption and created a booming economy.
During this period, consumer advocacy also increased, but not at the same level as consumerism itself. Only in the 1960s and 1970s, with the slowing of the economy, did many consumers look more critically at the goods and services they were buying and demand higher standards and better protection. The first main rallying point was consumer safety. Many consumers, individually and in organizations, began to re-evaluate products such as toys, food, and cars that posed an unacceptable risk to users.
Toys of the era were poorly regulated. Many contained small parts that might be swallowed or sharp edges that could cause injuries. Some toys were made with dangerous materials, such as lead paint or toxic chemicals. Other toys were simply dangerous, such as lawn darts, which are arrows with pointed steel tips meant for children to throw. Consumer advocates pushed for these products to be redesigned in safer ways or removed from the market. They also wanted people who had been injured to be justly compensated by manufacturers.
A similar consumer crusade took place with automobiles. Consumer advocates such as Ralph Nader and Byron Bloch targeted car models that they felt were unacceptable to society. Some of these vehicles had mechanical problems, such as gas tanks placed in vulnerable places, or engine and exhaust systems that created too much pollution, used too much gasoline, or were in other ways overly harmful to the environment. Nader's book Unsafe at Any Speed (1965) became a milestone in consumer advocacy.
Although some people thought Nader was a petty complainer, he and other consumer advocates persisted. At last, the federal government created its own advocacy department, the Office of Consumer Affairs, to be headed by advocate Virginia H. Knauer. This department advised presidents and other leaders about the needs and welfare of consumers. It also helped to make American consumers aware of their own rights and empower them to be more assertive. The idea of consumer advocacy entered the mainstream consciousness.
As awareness continued to grow among consumers, the government continued to develop safety nets and means of protecting citizens. Under the FTC, the Bureau of Consumer Protection, officially known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was formed on July 21, 2011. It was established through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to regulate and protect consumers regarding financial products and services. It also monitors companies for fair practices and treatment of customers.
Throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, many states created their own organizations to protect consumers. Private organizations and non-profits were also established to monitor business practices and keep consumers informed. Meanwhile, the FTC slowly changed from a big-business watchdog to a platform for benefiting consumers. The modern FTC protects consumers from unfair business practices and informs consumers about their rights and defends these rights. The FTC also offers assistance to consumers in varied areas including managing money, handling debt, avoiding scams, and discouraging telemarketers.
Bibliography
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Brobeck, Stephen and Robert N. Mayer (Eds.) Watchdogs and Whistleblowers: A Reference Guide to Consumer Activism. Greenwood Press, 2015.
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“The Consumer Era: 1940s to 1970s.” The Smithsonian National Museum of American History, amhistory.si.edu/american-enterprise/consumer-marketplace/. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.
"Consumer Protection." Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/consumer-protection. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.
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