The Consumer Protection Act 68 ('the CPA') came into effect on 31 March 2011. In broad terms, the purpose of the CPA is to promote the social and economic welfare of consumers. Specific reference is made to reducing disadvantages suffered by vulnerable consumers. The question posed in this thesis is whether the scope of the application of the CPA in relation to transactions for goods is consistent with the purpose of the Act, but also how it compares to the approaches taken in the European Union, United Kingdom and Australia. It is argued that the application provisions are not always fair, rational, clear, efficient and consistent with reasonable expectations. The following issues relating to the application of the Act are addressed: the approach to the protection of small juristic persons, the omission of a exclusion based on the purposes for which the transaction is concluded, the onus of proof, the exclusion of transactions outside the ordinary course of business, the definition of 'supplier', whether transactions should be 'for consideration' in order for the consumer to qualify for protection, whether the whole supply chain should be liable and whether all goods should fall within the scope of the Act. Recommendations on these issues are made in light of rationales for consumer protection legislation, proposed criteria for evaluating such legislation (namely whether the legislation is fair, rational, clear, efficient and consistent with reasonable expectations) and comparative research. Suggested amendments to the wording of relevant sections in the Act are made in the final chapter.

Over the past two decades, South Africa has introduced several laws regulating business and providing protection to consumers. These include the Competition Act (89 of 1998), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (25 of 2002), the National Credit Act (34 of 2005), and the Consumer Protection Act (68 of 2008) (CPA). The CPA was implemented to conform to international best practice regarding consumer law, to replace the existing but outdated laws, and most importantly, to provide protection to vulnerable consumers (Department of Trade and Industry, 2004:14; Rampersad & Reddy, 2012:7407). The importance of protecting vulnerable consumers can be attributed to South Africa’s history of discrimination and excluding the majority of the population from quality education and equal opportunities in the marketplace (Rampersad & Reddy, 2012:7407). However, the CPA is of small value to consumers if it is not generally known and applied; thus, consumers will continue to be at the mercy of retailers who very often do not have their best interests at heart. Therefore, this study was undertaken to measure the awareness and knowledge of the CPA among retailers. The research was done among small independent retailers located in shopping malls in the Vaal Triangle, South Africa. The study followed a quantitative approach, using a self-administered questionnaire to obtain a single cross-sectional sample. From the data gathered, it is clear that most of the participants considered themselves well informed regarding consumer rights; 88 present of the participants indicated that they are familiar with the nine consumer rights contained in the CPA. However, this stands in stark contrast to the results obtained in the section measuring the actual knowledge of the CPA; only 49 present of the participants managed to answer more than half of the questions correctly, and none answered more than 70 present correctly. In addition, the participants seemed to score higher on those rights that existed before the CPA came into effect, and lower on the new rights introduced by the Act. This seems to indicate that retailers are not yet familiar with the Act; it is, therefore, unlikely that they do business in a manner that complies with the CPA, which robs consumers of the benefit and protection of the Act. Of the retailers who participated in this study, 72 present said they believe the CPA is necessary to protect consumers. This would seem to indicate that it is the lack of knowledge rather that real resistance to the Act which is standing in the way of wider compliance. Therefore, steps should be taken with utmost urgency to educate and increase awareness of the Act, both among retailers and consumers. / MCom (Marketing Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Over the past two decades, South Africa has introduced several laws regulating business and providing protection to consumers. These include the Competition Act (89 of 1998), the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (25 of 2002), the National Credit Act (34 of 2005), and the Consumer Protection Act (68 of 2008) (CPA). The CPA was implemented to conform to international best practice regarding consumer law, to replace the existing but outdated laws, and most importantly, to provide protection to vulnerable consumers (Department of Trade and Industry, 2004:14; Rampersad & Reddy, 2012:7407). The importance of protecting vulnerable consumers can be attributed to South Africa’s history of discrimination and excluding the majority of the population from quality education and equal opportunities in the marketplace (Rampersad & Reddy, 2012:7407). However, the CPA is of small value to consumers if it is not generally known and applied; thus, consumers will continue to be at the mercy of retailers who very often do not have their best interests at heart. Therefore, this study was undertaken to measure the awareness and knowledge of the CPA among retailers. The research was done among small independent retailers located in shopping malls in the Vaal Triangle, South Africa. The study followed a quantitative approach, using a self-administered questionnaire to obtain a single cross-sectional sample. From the data gathered, it is clear that most of the participants considered themselves well informed regarding consumer rights; 88 present of the participants indicated that they are familiar with the nine consumer rights contained in the CPA. However, this stands in stark contrast to the results obtained in the section measuring the actual knowledge of the CPA; only 49 present of the participants managed to answer more than half of the questions correctly, and none answered more than 70 present correctly. In addition, the participants seemed to score higher on those rights that existed before the CPA came into effect, and lower on the new rights introduced by the Act. This seems to indicate that retailers are not yet familiar with the Act; it is, therefore, unlikely that they do business in a manner that complies with the CPA, which robs consumers of the benefit and protection of the Act. Of the retailers who participated in this study, 72 present said they believe the CPA is necessary to protect consumers. This would seem to indicate that it is the lack of knowledge rather that real resistance to the Act which is standing in the way of wider compliance. Therefore, steps should be taken with utmost urgency to educate and increase awareness of the Act, both among retailers and consumers. / MCom (Marketing Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Submitted by AMANDA HENRIQUE PEREIRA null (amanda_henrik@hotmail.com) on 2018-03-20T12:40:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO - FINAL - AMANDA PEREIRA.pdf: 1825491 bytes, checksum: d94ed108dc9b4850589bffe10dc0663f (MD5) / Rejected by Milena Maria Rodrigues null (milena@fclar.unesp.br), reason: Bom dia Amanda, Para aprovação no Repositório Institucional da UNESP, serão necessárias algumas correções na sua Dissertação. Solicitamos que realize uma nova submissão seguindo as orientações abaixo: - O título do trabalho deve ser todo em caixa alta; - Na folha de aprovação é necessário constar a data da defesa com os nomes do orientador e professores da banca; - Corrigir a paginação do seu trabalho, inclusive no sumário. As páginas pré-textuais devem ser contadas (com exceção da capa e ficha catalográfica), mas aparecerá número somente a partir da introdução. - Os números das páginas devem aparecer no canto superior direito; Qualquer dúvida, seguir o roteiro de normalização disponível na página da Biblioteca: http://www.fclar.unesp.br/#!/biblioteca/normas-da-abnt/normalizacao/ Em caso de maiores dúvidas, entrar em contato com as bibliotecárias da Seção de Referência (Camila ou Elaine). Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2018-03-20T13:47:17Z (GMT) / Submitted by AMANDA HENRIQUE PEREIRA null (amanda_henrik@hotmail.com) on 2018-03-21T13:35:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DISSERTAÇÃO - FINAL - AMANDA PEREIRA.pdf: 1814900 bytes, checksum: 4e945b9cf8b185433646d566079cce1e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Maria Rodrigues null (milena@fclar.unesp.br) on 2018-03-21T14:06:32Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_ah_me_arafcl.pdf: 1814900 bytes, checksum: 4e945b9cf8b185433646d566079cce1e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-21T14:06:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_ah_me_arafcl.pdf: 1814900 bytes, checksum: 4e945b9cf8b185433646d566079cce1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-01-26 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / O presente trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo da variação terminológica no âmbito do Direito do Consumidor (DC). A pesquisa visa investigar os tipos de variação: denominativa e conceitual, mas se concentra mais especificamente, a identificar e analisar a variação conceitual. O Direito do Consumidor é uma área jurídica que ocupa-se de regulamentar todos os aspectos referentes às relações de consumo. Por isso, estudos terminológicos que sejam voltados ao DC são importantes na medida em que auxiliam na compreensão dos preceitos dessa área que são do interesse de grande parte dos cidadãos. Para tanto, faz-se um breve percurso histórico das principais correntes teóricas da Terminologia a fim de compreender o espaço dado à variação em cada uma delas. Com relação ao eixo teórico que sustenta este trabalho, elegeu-se, principalmente, os pressupostos teóricos da Teoria Comunicativa da Terminologia, de Cabré (1999). Tal fato justifica-se por essa teoria apresentar em seu escopo teórico-metodológico a possibilidade de variação na língua em uso no âmbito de especialidades. Além disso, retoma-se Freixa (2002; 2006) cujos trabalhos abordam as razões para a variação denominativa e demonstra a inter-relação entre as variações denominativa e conceitual. Com base em Fernández, Freixa e Cabré (2008; 2012), esta pesquisa direciona-se às teorias que analisam motivações de ordem cognitiva para a variação. No tocante à variação conceitual, baseia-se também nos preceitos de Kostina (2009). A autora dedica-se ao estudo da variação conceitual apontando alternativas para a identificação e a análise desse fenômeno nas terminologias. Nesse sentido, como procedimentos metodológicos, adequou-se alguns dos pressupostos metodológicos de Kostina (2009), entre eles, a análise da variação por meio de estruturas definitórias relacionadas aos termos que compõem nosso objeto de estudo. Essa seleção foi feita a partir de um corpus textual pertencente a diferentes níveis de especialidade. As definições foram buscadas em cada um dos textos do corpus, a partir disso, realizamos análise comparativa dessas construções. Como contraponto, apresentamos as definições apresentadas por um dicionário padrão de Língua Portuguesa e por um vocabulário jurídico para os termos analisados. Entende-se a partir disso, que variação conceitual ainda é um tema em ascensão e ainda há muito que ser investigado. Os resultados indicam que o âmbito do Direito do Consumidor apresenta uma organização epistemológica e terminológica complexa, pois reúne conceitos de outras áreas das ciências jurídicas. Verificou-se também que, a partir da análise de variação conceitual, foi possível identificar termos sinônimos aos analisados, isso motiva a busca por entender como esses diferentes usos influenciam a compreensão da terminologia do âmbito do Direto do Consumidor. / The aim of this work is to present a study about terminological variation in the scope of Consumer Rights (CR). This research aims to study both denominative and conceptual variation, but it focuses on identifying and analysing conceptual variation. Consumer Rights is a juridical area, which deals with all the aspects of the relationships between individual consumers and businesses that sell goods and services. Therefore, terminological studies about CR are important because they help to improve the comprehension about the precepts of this area, which is of great interest to most citizens. In this research, we present a brief history of the main theories regarding Terminology. The theoretical axis, which supports this investigation is the Communicative Theory of Terminology (CABRÉ, 1999), and this is justified by the fact that this theory presents in its theoretical-methodological scope the possibility of language use variation in terms of specialized contexts. Moreover, Freixa (2002; 2006) states the reasons of denominative variation and demonstrates the inter-relation between the conceptual and denominative variations. Regarding cognitive variation, this study is based on the studies of Fernández, Freixa e Cabré (2008; 2012), and supported by the theoretical assumptions of Kostina (2009), who dedicates to conceptual variation by pointing out alternatives to the identification and analysis of this phenomenon. In this way, in order to develop this investigation, some methodological procedures were adapted from Kostina (2009), such as the variation analysis through defining structures. The selection of terms was made from a textual corpus compiled with different degrees of the CR speciality. We searched for definitions of selected terms in each text, resulting in a comparative analysis among them. As counterpoint, the same definitions were looked up in a standard Portuguese dictionary and a law vocabulary book. All in all, conceptual variation is still a rising issue and there is much to be investigated, principally in the area of Cognitive Linguistics. The area of Consumer Rights presents a complex organization due to the number of terms and concepts connected to other law areas. The analysis of conceptual variation also revealed the possibility of identifying synonymous terms, which motivates further investigation on how the use of these different terms influence the understanding of the Consumer Rights terminology. / CNPq: 133871/2016-9

The purpose of this study was to explore differences in the perceived consumer problems and concerns between American and Egyptian consumers, as measured by a composite score for perception of problems. The relationships between fourteen independent variables and perceived consumer problems of American and Egyptian consumers also were examined. The independent variables that were studied include: perceived adequacy of income, perceived improvement in living situations, expectations and experiences with products, attitudes toward government, attitudes toward business as consumer protection agencies, attitudes toward consumer education efforts, and demographic variables of gender, age, marital status, presence of children, family annual income, education level, employment status, and university position. Specific objectives of this study were: (1) To determine if there are differences between American and Egyptian consumers in the following areas: perception of consumer problems; concerns related to price, quality, safety, labeling and information, and concerns about the environmental effects of products and their packaging; needs fulfillment related to perceived adequacy of income, needs fulfillment related to perceived improvement in living situations; expectations and experiences with products; attitudes toward consumer protection efforts by government; attitudes toward consumer protection efforts by business; and attitudes toward consumer education efforts. (2) To analyze relationships between perception of consumer problems and concerns and the following: needs fulfillment related to perceived income adequacy; needs fulfillment related to perceived improvement in living situations; expectations and experiences with products; attitudes toward consumer protection efforts by government; attitudes toward consumer protection efforts by business; and attitudes toward consumer education efforts. (3) To investigate the influence of demographic variables of gender, age, marital status, presence of children, family annual income, education level, university position, and employment status on the perception of consumer problems and concerns. Data were obtained through a questionnaire developed by the researcher. The questionnaire was first developed in English, and then translated into Arabic with a back translation check. The reliability of the instrument was tested with a test-retest procedure. A questionnaire, an explanatory cover letter, and a stamped self-addressed envelope, were mailed to 180 randomly selected respondents at Virginia Tech and Radford University. Graduate students assigned at Ain Shams University and Sadat Academy delivered the questionnaires personally to the 180 randomly selected respondents in both universities in Cairo. The completed questionnaires were collected within three weeks after delivery. There were 112 questionnaires returned from Virginia Tech and Radford University, of which 108 were acceptable for analysis (60%). There were 154 questionnaires returned from Egypt, of which 142 were acceptable for analysis (78.8%). Hence, a total of 250 responses were used in the data analysis for an overall return rate of 69.4%. Procedures for statistical analysis involved eight phases including: the reliability analysis, frequency distribution, chi-square, factor analysis, the two-sample independent t-test, stepwise multiple regression, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and discriminant analysis. Results revealed a statistically significant difference in the total score on consumer problems between the two samples. Also, results showed a significant difference in the total score on consumer concerns related to quality, safety, and labeling and information. However, the variables that were found to discriminate the two samples in order of importance were: perception of consumer problems, concerns for quality, concerns for labeling and information, concerns for safety, and concerns for price. The most important concern for all respondents was quality. The majority of the American respondents perceived that they had more adequacy of income and improvement in living situations than the Egyptian respondents. Also, they conveyed a positive attitude toward government regulations and business efforts to protect consumers' interests as opposed to the Egyptian respondents who conveyed a negative attitude toward the same aspects. / Ph. D.

The objective of the work is to evaluate the achieved level of development of consumer protection, in particular in the European and Czech context, as well as to analyse the current state of consumer protection in the Czech Republic, with a special emphasis on the analysis of the actual protection and enforcement of consumers' rights in the Czech Republic. The following three working hypotheses are set out in the work: Hypothesis No. 1: The pre-condition for enforcing consumer protection is improving on a world wide scale. Hypothesis No. 2: The consumer policies of the Czech Republic respect the European principles of consumer protection, and form the framework for the effective enforcement of consumers' rights. Hypothesis No. 3: The actual enforcement of consumers' rights depends not only on the working of the relevant state authorities, but also on the level of knowledge among the consumers, and their willingness and ability to enforce their rights. The work is divided into four basic parts. The first part is devoted to the theoretical solutions, and the economic context of consumer protection. It attempts to answer the question of whether consumer protection has some theoretical justification. The text shows that the substantiation of consumer protection consists, in particular, in the levelling of informational asymmetry, which is one of the most frequent causes of market failure. Therefore, it is consumer protection in the form of state intervention in the economy which reduces dis-equilibrium on the market. The second part analyses the development of consumer protection, and evaluates the state of consumer protection in the world and European context. The world context is understood in the global scale, and its analysis should confirm, or overturn, the first working hypothesis. Upon analysis of the relevant data it may be stated that the findings of this part of the work confirm the first hypothesis. Ever more countries belong to that group of countries which can provide their citizens with a high standard of consumer protection, such as that normally envisioned in U.N. policy. The European context is viewed through the prism of our membership in the EU, and its analysis is vital to understanding the state of consumer protection in the Czech Republic. The third part of the work is devoted to the analysis of the development and evaluation of consumer protection in the Czech Republic; together with the previous part, this part provides sufficient basis for the evaluation of the second hypothesis. It must be said that, with a few small exceptions, the legislative provisions for the protection of consumers in the Czech Republic are completely harmonised with consumer protection legislation in the whole EU, in other words, the European framework of consumer protection is completely respected. On the other hand, more detailed analyses of the development of consumer protection in the CR, and analysis of government consumer policy, has revealed certain reservations in this area. The second hypothesis, then, could be confirmed; nonetheless, in the creation of an effective framework for the enforcement of consumers' rights, there is still some room for improvement. The fourth part concentrates mainly on the evaluation of research among consumers, which should confirm, or overturn, the third hypothesis. The research was questionnaire based, and, subsequently, there were processed questionnaires from 313 respondents. The results were interpreted in connection with demographic factors, such as: age, education, sex and profession. Analysis of these results confirms the third hypothesis. That concerns, mainly, the willingness, knowledge and ability of the consumers, which have significant influence on the actual enforcement of their consumer rights. These attributes are individual qualities, which do not play any significant role in following demographic characteristics.

Everyone holds personal information about others. Each person's privacy thus critically depends on the interplay of multiple actors. In an age of technology integration, this interdependence of data protection is becoming a major threat to privacy. Yet current regulation focuses on the sharing of information between two parties rather than multiactor situations. This study highlights how current policy inadequacies, illustrated by the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, can be overcome by means of a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Specifically, the authors introduce a new phenomenological framework to explain interdependent infringements. This framework builds on parallels between property and privacy and suggests that interdependent peer protection necessitates three hierarchical steps, "the 3Rs": realize, recognize, and respect. In response to observed failures at these steps, the authors identify four classes of intervention that constitute a toolbox addressing what can be done by marketers, regulators, and privacy organizations. While the first three classes of interventions address issues arising from the corresponding 3Rs, the authors specifically advocate for a fourth class of interventions that proposes radical alternatives that shift the responsibilities for privacy protection away from consumers.

This Master thesis is about the electronic administration of the consumer rights protection. The purpose of this paper is to determine how the consumer rights protection is administrated in Lithuania and in the countries of the European Union (EU); as well as to propose the ways in which the administration system in Lithuania could be improved and a modern and progressive electronic administration system could be created. The point of this scheme is to transfer from the traditional “paper-based” administration to the “online-based” electronic administration. E-administration is a new term and it means the administration activity based on computer technologies. The paper finds out that the advantages of the online administration are these as follows: time saving, improving quality of the service, smaller expenditures, less overloaded traffic of emails. In regard to the legal basis to ensure the proper functioning of the e-administration in Lithuania, the paper concludes that foremost attention should be given on realisation of the law norms, on passing the necessary by-laws, on conducting public awareness and education campaigns, on increasing efficiency of supervisory institutions. Paper explains the consumers protecting networks in the European Union, which are merely based on information and Internet technologies (ICPEN, econsumer.gov, RAPEX, EEJ-Net ir FIN-Net). These electronic networks administrate different consumer complains on international level and help... [to full text]

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.

Magistro baigiamasis darbas skirtas ginčų, kylančių tarp vartotojų ir verslininkų, alternatyvaus sprendimo analizei. Darbo pradžioje nagrinėjama problemos, susijusios su alternatyvaus ginčų sprendimo (toliau - AGS) samprata, atskleidžiami AGS privalumai ir trūkumai, jo reikšmė vartotojų teisių gynimo sistemoje. Antroje darbo dalyje apžvelgiama atskirų AGS procedūrų įvairovė, jų ypatumai bei taikymo sąlygos, taip pat pateikiama šių procedūrų visumos (tame tarpe - jų klasifikacijų) analizė. Galiausiai yra gvildenamos neteisminiam vartotojų teisių gynimui esminės įtakos turėjusios Europos Sąjungos (toliau - ES) iniciatyvos, ES valstybių narių praktika, ir, įvertinus Lietuvoje vyraujančias tendencijas, jos institucinę ir įstatyminę bazę, atskleidžiamos problemos, su kuriomis susiduria mūsų valstybės vartotojai. Darbas aktualus ir naudingas tiek teoriniame, tiek praktiniame lygmenyje: kadangi AGS vartotojų teisių srityje Lietuvoje pakankamai naujas, tradicijų kol kas dar neturintis reiškinys, tyrimo rezultatai galės būti panaudoti ne tik gerosios praktikos kūrimui, veiksmingos teisinės duomenų bazės formavimui, bet ir problemų, su kuriomis susiduria AGS procedūras taikančios struktūros, sprendimui. Remiantis šiuo darbu, bus galima toliau tęsti ginčų, kylančių iš vartojimo sutarčių, alternatyvaus sprendimo analizę, jo teigiamų ir neigiamų savybių tyrimą. Atnaujinus statistinius duomenis, papildžius praktinių pavyzdžių sąrašą, priėmus naujus teisės aktus, jau galiojančius - pakeitus... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Master thesis is attributed to the analysis of alternative dispute resolution between consumers and businessmen. At the beginning of the thesis problems related to the alternative dispute resolution (hereinfather reffered to as the ADR) concept are researched, later on, advantages and disadvantages of ADR, its importance to consumer rights protection system are described. The second part of the thesis discusses the diversity of particular ADR procedures, their features and application possibilities, as well as provides the analysis of whole these procedures (including their classification). Finally, it provides European Union (hereinfather reffered to as the EU) initiatives substantially influenced the extrajudicial consumer rights protection, EU Member States‘ practice and challenges facing our state‘s consumers in accordance with the assessment of the prevailing trends in Lithuania, its institutional and legal framework. The thesis is relevant and useful at theoretical as well as at practical level, because ADR of consumer rights is new phenomenon with no traditions in Lithuania yet. Therefore, results of the research could be used not only in order to create good practice and to form effective juridical database, but also in order to deal with problems facing the structures that apply the ADR procedures. Based on this study, further improvements will be possible of the analysis of alternative resolution of disputes arising from consumers’ agreements, research of positive... [to full text]