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Consumerism

Svetlana Dowding is taking the Family Life Management course at Cyril Potter College of Education in the 2019-2021 cohort under lecturer A. Griffith. The document provides a list of questions related to consumer rights, responsibilities, and practices. It discusses how different families have different needs and defines key terms like consumer, goods, services, wants and needs.

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Daniel Dowding
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134 views

Consumerism

Svetlana Dowding is taking the Family Life Management course at Cyril Potter College of Education in the 2019-2021 cohort under lecturer A. Griffith. The document provides a list of questions related to consumer rights, responsibilities, and practices. It discusses how different families have different needs and defines key terms like consumer, goods, services, wants and needs.

Uploaded by

Daniel Dowding
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: Svetlana Dowding

Course: Family Life Management


Lecturer’s Name: A. Griffith
Institution: Cyril Potter College of Education
Cohort: 2019-2021
Class: PV1B

1
Content
Questions 3-5
References 6

2
Questions
1. Define five of the following words:
-Consumer is someone who uses economic goods and services.
-Goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility.
-Services are tasks or activities performed for you by persons or organizations.
-Wants are desires that are not essential.
-Needs are considered to be necessities, requirements for living.
(1 mark each)

2. In your own words explain four practices that would be observed by the wise consumer ensure
to mention what the guidelines would protect the consumer from). (2 marks each)
Four practices that would be observed by the wise consumer are-
A Making a shopping list- would allow the consumer to buy only what he or she needs and not to
over spend.
B Buys/ purchasing goods in season - in this way the consumer would save money since items
that are in great supply would obviously be cheaper.
C Makes a budget- generally people have a tendency of spending what they don’t earn. Making a
budget will keep the consumer from going over their budget.
D Gets value for money - smart consumers will purchase items from stores that give warranty
with insurance, so that should anything go wrong with the item he or she can get a replacement
or it can be repaired without the consumer bearing any cost.

3. Detail in a paragraph why one family's needs would differ from another. (5 marks)
Each family is uniquely different hence they will have different needs. Example a single parent
families need would be different from an extended family in that the extended families need will
be greater from the single parent family. The extended families food bill will be more than the
single parent family and it may differ in the extended family if the grandmother has diabetes
hence her diet will be different.

4. Mary purchased a faulty food processor and is counting her loses as she details to you an
unhealthy ordeal while she was making the purchase. As a Home Economist educate Mary about
her rights as a consumer, ensuring to mention the importance of consumer education.
(6 marks)

3
Consumers have rights as well as responsibilities. It is extremely important that Mary is
educated on same, so that she would know how to respond thus, once shop owner(s) know that
Mary is empowered with the requisite knowledge they would respond differently. So here is
what she needs to know as a consumer:
Consumer Rights
 The right to truthful and honest information
 The right to choose
 The right to safety
 The right to be heard
 The right to satisfaction of basic needs
 The right to consumer education
 The right to a healthy education
 The right to REDRESS- means that Mary has the right to receive compensation for
misrepresentation or shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services. This is the one that would
be most applicable in this situation.
Consumer Responsibilities
Here are some responsibilities that Mary should know:
 Shopping carefully and wisely
 The responsibility of carrying out transactions in a business- like manner, such as
reporting unsatisfactory products to retailers and manufactures in order that they may be
removed from shelves and future production.
 The responsibility to tell customers about any unfair treatment by a retailer or
manufacturer, so consumers could protect themselves in future dealings.
 The responsibility to report apparently unsafe merchandise to consumer protection bodies
so that they could be tested and, if necessary, be removed from the market or be more
specifically labelled.
 The responsibility of demanding the best value for money.
Consumer education is extremely important because it informs the consumer about what he or
she needs to know about products and services, so that the consumer can make well informed
decisions on what to purchase and from whom to purchase items from. Mary can also write a
formal letter of complaint to the consumers association. Here her concerns would be adequately
addressed.
There are laws that would protect consumer interests- some more vibrant than some. These are
responsible for increasing consumer awareness and provide assistance against defaulters. Finally
I would advise Mary to listen to talk shows, radio programs and television programs.

5. Differentiate between consumer right and consumer education. (3 marks)

4
Consumer rights is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public,
against unfair practices in the marketplace while consumer education is the preparation of an
individual to be capable of making informed decisions when it comes to purchasing products in a
consumer culture.
6. Since we are all consumers and at times do not adhere to the guidelines of a wise consumer,
discuss three unwise consumer practices you have engaged in (say how you have been affected
by that unwise choice). (9 marks)
Three unwise consumer practices are soaping up the dishes and allowing the water to run.
Leaving the water to run made the water bill go sky high which in turn caused me to withdraw
money from my saving. This saving was to do another project and the project had to be put on
hold. Secondly not getting up to take the fan off when it gets cooler later in the night. By leaving
the fan on this escalated the light bill. The fan also stopped working. This made me have to pay
the light bill which was extremely high and replace the fan later. Finally put water to hot on the
stove and sit in front of the television. In this way the gas would be wasting hence it will finish
faster causing you to replace the gas earlier in the month putting financial strain on the family.

5
References
Author: Thelma M. Stewart
Title: Certificate Management of Home & Families New Edition
Published: Carlong Publishers (Caribbean) Limited 1994

Author: Dr Antonia Coward


Title: Caribbean Home Economics in Action Book 3
Published: Heinemann Educational Publisher in 1983

Author: Rita Dyer & Norma Maynard


Title: Home Economics for CSEC Examination Management
Published: Macmillan Publishers Limited 2004

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