Magister Artium - MA / Technical documentation comes in a variety of forms such as installation or operation manuals, quick reference guides, maintenance manuals, user manuals, policy and procedure manuals or marketing brochures and flyers (Walsh, 2012). What all these sub-genres have in common is that the texts that correspond to them seek to inform and give instruction about procedures, behaviour and actions related to products (Schäffner & Wiesemann, 2001: 49). Manuals have been described as “the complete reference source for a product’s operation, maintenance and safety” (Cowley & Wogalter, 2011: 1773). For the purpose of this study, we will focus on one form of technical documentation, namely user manuals. The terms “documentation” and “manuals” will be used interchangeably. Although there are probably as many manuals as there are products in our homes, these user manuals have not frequently been the subject of academic study in the South African context. The relative lack of research into user manuals is especially regrettable at a time when new product liability legislation and trade regulations (e.g. the Consumer Protect Act of South Africa, 2008) have enhanced the profile of product manuals in public and regulatory discourse. As a result of this relative neglect, it is not known how understandable, relevant and therefore empowering users of products find these manuals. There is also not much knowledge concerning the level of compliance in manuals to the provisions of product liability legislation. This study therefore proposes to investigate the comprehensibility and usability of user manuals associated with two products (blenders) marketed in South Africa. It will draw on theories and methods of analysis associated with technical writing, analysis of terminological consistency, genre and multimodality, to evaluate the selected manuals from the standpoint of a subset of the criteria listed in Section 22(2) of the Consumer Protection Act of South Africa, No. 68 of 2008, which was later amended in 2011. The methodology for the proposed study will combine text analysis (by the researcher) with comprehension and usability tasks performed by selected participants. Data from these sources will be collated and analysed to determine the conformity of the manuals to criteria in the Consumer Protection Act of South Africa, and the effect the manuals have on product users. Areas for optimising (improving) the manuals will also be identified.

Esta dissertação analisa a estrutura do controle da concentração empresarial prevista na Lei de Defesa da Concorrência brasileira e realizada pelo Sistema Brasileiro de Defesa da Concorrência (SBDC) a partir da perspectiva do consumidor. Considera a legislação atualmente em vigor e verifica sobretudo a atuação do Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE). Verifica o protocolo de apreciação da concentração pela Administração Pública, destacando a interpretação conferida ao artigo 54, § 3º da Lei 8.884/1994 e a sua efetividade. Analisa as formas de mensurar os benefícios decorrentes dos atos de concentração empresarial e de garantir que esses benefícios sejam distribuídos equitativamente entre os seus participantes e os consumidores ou usuários finais, como determina a Lei de Defesa da Concorrência. Os três capítulos que formam a presente dissertação apresentam as características das concentrações de empresas e do seu controle e analisam os principais modelos que têm pautado a atuação administrativa neste tema. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que crescem diuturnamente os atos de concentração de empresas apresentados ao CADE e que há um modelo específico de análise de eficiências, já utilizado pela autarquia, que demonstra de forma mais fidedigna a efetividade do requisito da distribuição equitativa dos benefícios decorrentes da concentração econômica entre os seus participantes e os consumidores ou usuários finais. / This work analyzes the structure of merger control under the Brazilian Antitrust Law as performed by the Brazilian Competition Defense System from the consumer perspective. It considers the currently legislation and checks the work of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense and checks the protocol of assessment of the merger by the Administration, highlighting the interpretation given to the article 54, § 3º of the Law 8.884/1994 and its effectiveness. The text looks at possible ways to measure the benefits of mergers and to ensure that these benefits are distributed equitably among its participants and consumers or final users, as required by the Antitrust Law. The three chapters that make up this work present the characteristics of merger and of their control and analyze the main models that have guided the administrative action in this regard. The results show that there is currently a growth of merger submitted to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense and that there is a specific model that analyses the efficiencies, already used by the Council, which shows more reliably the effectiveness of the requirement for equitable distribution of economic benefits arising from the merger between its participants and consumers or final users.

O trabalho é um estudo dos contratos eletrônicos à luz do direito do consumidor. Discorre sobre a proteção do consumidor no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, segundo a Constituição da República de 1988, o Código de Defesa do Consumidor e o Código Civil brasileiro de 2002. Expõe a criação do Código de Defesa do Consumidor e a relação deste com o Código Civil. Ressalta a importância de um “diálogo de fontes” entre o Código Civil e o Código de Defesa do Consumidor, que devem ser interpretados conforme a Constituição. Analisa como ocorre a formação do vínculo e a manifestação da vontade nos contratos eletrônicos, com base nas relações estabelecidas entre consumidor pessoa física e fornecedor, tendo como enfoque os contratos de adesão e os contratos à distância. Examina o contrato eletrônico como contrato de consumo e aborda a aplicabilidade do Código de Defesa do Consumidor aos contratos celebrados pela Internet. Faz referência às regulamentações do comércio eletrônico concebidas por outros países, como sugestões que podem ser adotadas pelo Brasil, caso o legislador entenda ser preciso regulamentar. Conclui que a legislação brasileira já existente de proteção e defesa do consumidor é plenamente aplicável aos contratos eletrônicos celebrados entre consumidores e fornecedores e que o aplicador da lei deve conhecer a experiência legislativa de outros países para conferir uma proteção mais eficaz do consumidor que utiliza o meio eletrônico para se relacionar com fornecedores. / The paper is a study on electronic contracts under the light of the consumer rights. It considers the consumer protection in the Brazilian legal system pursuant to the Constitution of 1988, the Consumer Defense and Protection Code, and the Brazilian Civil Code of 2002. The text expounds on the creation of the Consumer Defense and Protection Code, and its association with the Civil Code. It points out the importance of a “dialogue of legal sources” between the Civil Code and the Consumer Defense Code, which must be construed according to the Constitution. It analyses how the formation of an agreement and the manifestation of consent occur in electronic contracts, based on the established relationships between individual consumers and suppliers, focusing on adhesion contracts and distance contracts. It examines the electronic contract as a consumption contract and approaches the applicability of the Consumer Defense and Protection Code to contracts entered via the Internet. Reference is also made to the electronic commerce regulations conceived by other countries, which are treated as recommendations that could be adopted by Brazil in the event that a legislator feels more effective regulation to be necessary. This work finally assesses that existing Brazilian legislation on consumer protection is wholly applicable to electronic contracts enacted between consumers and suppliers and that the law enforcer should understand the legislative experience of other countries so as to ensure more efficient protection for the consumer who utilizes the electronic medium to do business with suppliers.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to explore the activities of the countries of the European Union in the district of financial literacy and to draw conclusions and eventually recommendations for the Czech Republic. At first, activities were detected in the district of financial literacy of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria and New Zealand and consequently were drew conclusions. Severally countries have developed many projects for improving financial literacy, but financial literacy isn´t still equally high in these countries, as it was showed by research PISA 2012. Next, questionaire relevant to financial institutions was applied to inhabitants of South Bohemia. The research was evaluated graphically and statistically. For statistical evaluation was used test assessment of independence Chi-quadrat for contingent table. The results of own research are very disturbing. Inhabitants of South Bohemia lack knowledge of important financial notions, they don´t know the difference between debit and credit cards and they don´t know, what is the APRC. One of the important results of the questionaire includes trust of the people to staff of the branches of banks or insurance companies. These people would contacted with most respondents in the case of dissatisfaction with the course of financial services. Contrariwise, people behave distrust to financial advisors, a few respondents use their services. The results of research correspond to the general level of financial literacy in the Czech Republic, which was discovered by general methods based on researches of Czech National Bank or PISA before now.

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Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / Consumer trust is a core element for any e-commerce website. This study aimed to explore attributes of business-to-consumers (B2C) e-commerce websites that can communicate and engender trust from the users’ perspective using user-centred design. E-commerce websites are known to have features such as security certificates and encryption methods to ensure trust, but this requires technical knowhow to understand. The technologies used to develop websites have improved so far, but it has little effect on improving the trust of the users of e-commerce mostly in developing countries (Africa in particular). E-commerce users do not realise that these features have been put in place for the trustworthiness of the websites which contributes to their reluctance to conduct business transactions online, thus reducing their buying intentions. There is a need to design e-commerce websites to communicate/ convey trust from the users’ perspective. The study explored various sources of data to obtain insight and understanding of the research problem—user-centred design (UCD) group activity with users, interviews with developers, and secondary prior literature. Using UCD as the main methodology, an intensive UCD workshop activity with a group of eight e-commerce users was carried out. Furthermore, to obtain the view of experts (developers) on what is currently done to engender trust in B2C e-commerce websites, interviews with four respondents were also carried out. These interviews were intended to reduce any prejudice or bias and to obtain a clearer understanding of the phenomenon being studied. The findings from the study revealed six main attributes to engender trust, namely aesthetics design, security and information privacy, functionality design, trustworthiness based on content, development process, and vendor attributes. Proposed guidelines for each of the attributes were outlined. The findings from the users showed that those who were acquainted with the e-commerce technologies were those whose backgrounds are computer and technology related. Most users focused on aesthetics design, functionality, and security of their privacy and private details. Less emphasis was placed on the technology behind the e-commerce websites. Users use their aesthetic and cognitive value in their judgement for trust. The findings from the research were further validated using the Domestication of Technology Theory (DTT), which resulted in the development of a user-centred e-commerce trust model.

O trabalho é um estudo dos contratos eletrônicos à luz do direito do consumidor. Discorre sobre a proteção do consumidor no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, segundo a Constituição da República de 1988, o Código de Defesa do Consumidor e o Código Civil brasileiro de 2002. Expõe a criação do Código de Defesa do Consumidor e a relação deste com o Código Civil. Ressalta a importância de um “diálogo de fontes” entre o Código Civil e o Código de Defesa do Consumidor, que devem ser interpretados conforme a Constituição. Analisa como ocorre a formação do vínculo e a manifestação da vontade nos contratos eletrônicos, com base nas relações estabelecidas entre consumidor pessoa física e fornecedor, tendo como enfoque os contratos de adesão e os contratos à distância. Examina o contrato eletrônico como contrato de consumo e aborda a aplicabilidade do Código de Defesa do Consumidor aos contratos celebrados pela Internet. Faz referência às regulamentações do comércio eletrônico concebidas por outros países, como sugestões que podem ser adotadas pelo Brasil, caso o legislador entenda ser preciso regulamentar. Conclui que a legislação brasileira já existente de proteção e defesa do consumidor é plenamente aplicável aos contratos eletrônicos celebrados entre consumidores e fornecedores e que o aplicador da lei deve conhecer a experiência legislativa de outros países para conferir uma proteção mais eficaz do consumidor que utiliza o meio eletrônico para se relacionar com fornecedores. / The paper is a study on electronic contracts under the light of the consumer rights. It considers the consumer protection in the Brazilian legal system pursuant to the Constitution of 1988, the Consumer Defense and Protection Code, and the Brazilian Civil Code of 2002. The text expounds on the creation of the Consumer Defense and Protection Code, and its association with the Civil Code. It points out the importance of a “dialogue of legal sources” between the Civil Code and the Consumer Defense Code, which must be construed according to the Constitution. It analyses how the formation of an agreement and the manifestation of consent occur in electronic contracts, based on the established relationships between individual consumers and suppliers, focusing on adhesion contracts and distance contracts. It examines the electronic contract as a consumption contract and approaches the applicability of the Consumer Defense and Protection Code to contracts entered via the Internet. Reference is also made to the electronic commerce regulations conceived by other countries, which are treated as recommendations that could be adopted by Brazil in the event that a legislator feels more effective regulation to be necessary. This work finally assesses that existing Brazilian legislation on consumer protection is wholly applicable to electronic contracts enacted between consumers and suppliers and that the law enforcer should understand the legislative experience of other countries so as to ensure more efficient protection for the consumer who utilizes the electronic medium to do business with suppliers.

The topic of this thesis is Financing of Non-profit Organisations in Consumer Protection. Its aim was to analyse forms and possibilities of financing non-profit organisations in this area and to compare consumer protection in the Czech Republic and in selected EU countries. The first part of the thesis contains a literary search that defines non-governmental non-profit organisations (NPOs) in general, their visions, functions, aims and position in market economy. Furthermore, it describes the system of consumer protection in the Czech Republic, introduces particular organisations working in this sector and outlines their financial management and fund-raising. Czech consumer sector is compared to consumer sectors of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Slovak Republic. They differ from the Czech Republic especially in tax assignments system and in higher degree of governmental support. The following practical part analyses the forms of financing non-governmental non-profit organisations in consumer protection sector in two ways. The first one examines data from annual reports of three selected consumer protection NPOs. The other one analyses primary data from questionnaires completed by the same selected organisations. The results of the two forms of examination, independent of each other, confirmed the fact that consumer protection NPOs are forced to function with insufficient funding, the amount of which fluctuates year by year, having a tendency to decrease. A tendency to grow can only be observed with a few types of income sources, such as membership fees and private donations. One of the selected organisations makes earnings from its own activities a substantial part of its revenues. On the contrary, grants from Ministry of Industry and Trade show a tendency to decrease in the long term. To support the research, a questionnaire for consumers was analysed in practical part of this thesis. It was aimed to examine consumers´ awareness of activities, importance and funding of consumer protection NPOs and their willingness to financially support these organisations. The questionnaire analysis yielded a clear result that the public is not sufficiently informed of the function and importance of consumer protection NPOs, and this fact brings low willingness to participate on running or financing these organisations in general. To conclude, there is a relation between poor awareness of the public, not able to appreciate the value of NPOs, and long-lasting underfunding of these organisations as the outsiders of public interest. The reasons for this situation can be seen in combination of several factors: development of civil society being interrupted by decades of totalitarian regime, generally low public interest in community activities, lack of information about this part of community life, poor access to information about these organisations, vague conception of NPOs´ Public Relations and their insufficient cooperation with the media, and last but not least, unsystematic governmental support.

This work is concerned with analysis of marketing communication tools used by the TEST Civic Association of Consumers and partially also the Association for Defence of Consumers and the Association of Czech Consumers. The necessary information was obtained using a questionnaire survey, interview and also analysis of the organisation?s website from the viewpoint of a normal user. Measures on how to improve existing marketing communication used by the TEST Civic Association of Consumers, are proposed on the basis of the established results.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the warning systems used against dangerous or unsafe products, as well as to analyze the knowledge and attitudes of consumer protection against unsafe products. The work deals with the analysis of the RAPEX and RASSF alert systems in 2009. Market research was conducted assessing the knowledge of respondents regarding dangerous products. In the final section, there is a proposal for improving these systems, as well as an economic evaluation. An analysis of the market research I conducted indicates that respondents are interested in a product?s security when they are deciding whether or not to purchase it, they know where to find this information (Internet, TV), they mostly do not understand the safety warning systems used in the EU, and they rarely seek the support of surveillance institutions. Disturbing finding was the behavior of respondents in the case of having dangerous goods (many of them stop using the product). For this reason I propose to change consumer behavior to improve the situation. I would like to achieve the change in behavior through information campaigns on television, where they would show the correct behavior and the benefits that arise from the correct behavior, such as reducing and preventing the occurrence of dangerous products on the market. The campaign would be in harmony with the aims of consumer policy for the period 2011-2014, where the safety of products and services, health, life and personal property security of consumers are fundamental priorities.