Consumer protection has become an important issue in many spheres of trade. This fact is borne out by the many consumer protection laws introduced in many countries globally. However, despite these developments Swaziland is lagging behind. Obviously, this state of affairs has left consumers in Swaziland in a totally vulnerable position. Consumers are often exploited in two material respects. They are either subjected to unfair contract terms in the provision of services, or supplied with defective products having the potential of causing serious bodily harm. In protecting consumers the common law has been judicially developed over many centuries to curb these unfair trading practices. The doctrine of freedom of contract has been the driving force in regulating the relations between consumers and suppliers. The import of this doctrine is the unyielding recognition of an individual’s autonomy in the conclusion of consumer transactions. The underlying percepts of this doctrine are privity of contract, which only recognises obligations between contracting parties, and pacta sunt servanda which requires contractual undertakings to be recognised. The operation of contractual freedom in concluding agreements often leads to unfair results against consumers because suppliers usually impose unfair terms as a result of their stronger bargaining power over consumers. In short, problems faced by consumers were twofold; first, they have to battle the issue of potentially harmful goods, and secondly, their economically weak bargaining position is exploited by suppliers through the use of unfair contract terms. Many countries, including the United Kingdom and South Africa, addressed these two consumer issues decisively through statutory reform aimed at protecting consumers against potentially harmful products and unfair contract terms. Swaziland requires statutory reformative measures that will ensure a shift from the current consumer framework regulated by outmoded common law principles towards a modern framework that will comply with international standards. / Thesis (LL.M)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

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

Half Price Books, Records, Magazines, Inc. (HPB), fills a unique niche by selling a variety of new, used and rare merchandise primarily in their chain of 116 stores in sixteen states and online. The company has noticed increased mobile device use among customers in their stores while sales have declined in recent years. To remain viable HPB is attempting to adapt to market forces in a timely manner while remaining continually interested in growth and innovation. A major part of adapting, growing, and innovating is the adoption and astute utilization of technology in-store and a more complete understanding of their customers’ activities and preferences. The goal is to make Half Price Books a more technologically savvy destination for shopping, community events, and entertainment. One purpose of this study is to give the company a better idea of how customers use technology in searching for merchandise including information searches generated in-store from mobile devices and how customers use the internet to find merchandise prior to and following their experiences in HPB’s stores. Another important purpose is to also determine what kinds of events such as book signings, poetry readings and other special events customers would like to see at Half Price Books, since the company has indicated a strong desire to provide fun and memorable experiences as well as products. The major research aims of this study are (1) To explore how customers use technology in searching for books in relation to two Half Price Books locations in Arlington, Texas and (2) To determine what customers want in terms of in-store events at these same locations.

<p>Consumers have relationships with other people, and they have relationships with brands similar to the ones they have with other people. Yet, very little is known about how brand and interpersonal relationships relate to one another. Even less is known about how they jointly affect consumer well-being. The goal of this research, therefore, is to examine how brand and interpersonal relationships influence and are influenced by consumer well-being. Essay 1 uses both empirical methods and surveys from individuals and couples to investigate how consumer preferences in romantic couples, namely brand compatibility, influences life satisfaction. Using traditional statistical techniques and multilevel modeling, I find that the effect of brand compatibility, or the extent to which individuals have similar brand preferences, on life satisfaction depends upon power in the relationship. For high power partners, brand compatibility has no effect on life satisfaction. On the other hand, for low power partners, low brand compatibility is associated with decreased life satisfaction. I find that conflict mediates the link between brand compatibility and power on life satisfaction. In Essay 2 I again use empirical methods and surveys to investigate how resources, which can be considered a form of consumer well-being, influence brand and interpersonal relations. Although social connections have long been considered a fundamental human motivation and deemed necessary for well-being (Baumeister and Leary 1995), recent research has demonstrated that having greater resources is associated with weaker social connections. In the current research I posit that individuals with greater resources still have a need to connect and are using other sources for connection, namely brands. Across several studies I test and find support for my theory that resource level shifts the preference of social connection from people to brands. Specifically, I find that individuals with greater resources have stronger brand relationships, as measured by self-brand connection, brand satisfaction, purchase intentions and willingness to pay with both existing brand relationships and with new brands. This suggests that individuals with greater resources place more emphasis on these relationships. Furthermore, I find that resource level influences the stated importance of brand and interpersonal relationships, and that having or perceiving greater resources is associated with an increased preference to engage with brands over people. This research demonstrates that there are times when people prefer and seek out connections with brands over other people, and highlights the ways in which our brand and interpersonal relationships influence one another.</p> / Dissertation

The Consumer Loan Contract and its Securing by Suretyship As is self-evident from the title of the thesis, the subject matter of the thesis is the analysis of the concept of consumer credit and the securing thereof through suretyship. The starting point of the thesis was the newly-adopted Consumer Credit Act, which came into force on 1 January 2012. The aim of this thesis is to acquaint its readers with the relevant legislation, point out its shortcomings, and analyse the concept of suretyship as the most typical instrument used to secure consumer credit obligations, thus giving the reader a full picture of these legal concepts. The thesis is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter describes a contractual relationship under the credit contract, which is governed by legal regulations similar to those governing a consumer credit contract or a loan contract. This chapter analyses the essential terms of a credit contract, its origination and termination. Also analysed are the differences between a credit contract and a loan contract under the Civil Code. The second chapter describes the history of the consumer credit concept, in both domestic and European contexts. Particular emphasis is given to the individual directives of the European Community, currently the European Union, since they are of...

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Law Department of Civil Law Private law aspects of consumer protection Diploma Thesis Abstract Roman Matějka Supervisor: prof. JUDr. Jiří Švestka, DrSc. Prague, September 2011 Abstract Private law aspects of consumer protection The aim of this thesis is to analyze the issue of consumer protection in private law. The author focused mainly on the latest changes in the applicable legislation dealing with the consumer protection. The thesis also contains critical evaluation of current legislation and a comparison with the draft of the new Civil Code. The thesis should contribute to the discussion of the ongoing recodification of private law. The thesis is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter deals with the definition of the term consumer protection and consumer protection law. It also includes a brief excursion on the topic of consumer protection in public law. The second chapter consists of a list of acts that regulate consumer protection. First, it brings a list of national sources of consumer protection in the Czech legislation. It also contains an overview of the legislation protecting consumers in Community law, both in the primary, and the secondary legislation. The third chapter discusses the key terms of consumer protection - consumer and supplier. There...

Thesis title: Business contracts with consumers The objective of this thesis is to analyse current legislation in Czech Republic regarding consumer law, especially business contracts concluded with customers. The main objective of this thesis is the assessment of selected provisions of the consumer legislation from entrepreneur's view and analyse whether the consumer protection provisions in question are justified and not unreasonably limiting for the entrepreneur. The thesis is divided into 5 main chapters. Each of them deals with selected aspects of the topic in question. For the completion of the thesis were used domestic and foreign resources, especially legislation, specialised literature and the case-law. First chapter is introductory and contains my reasons and motivation for the choice of the thesis topic. Second chapter briefly summarizes world history of consumer law and history of consume law in Czech Republic. The focus is mainly on putting the Czech consumer law into context with European Union consumer law, because it is primarily based on it. The aim of the third chapter is to carefully define the main terms of consumer law which will be used in the whole thesis. The fourth chapter is the most comprehensive and forms the core of the entire thesis. It is divided into four thematic...

Title: Business contracts with consumers This thesis presents an analysis of the general regulation of consumer contracts. Given the comprehensive nature of this topic and its many ambiguities due, among other things, to the recodification of civil law, it was not possible to address every aspect of consumer law. This is also why the specific regulation of distance contracts and of contracts concluded outside of business premises was not analysed. On the other hand, emphasis is placed on provisions whose interpretation is uncertain and that require clarification by means of the case law. The thesis consists of five chapters which are divided into several thematic topics. In the chapter one, I introduce the basic issues which I will analyse in detail and for which I attempt to find or at least outline possible solutions. It is first necessary to introduce the topics in terms of their legislative classification and to define the basic concepts of consumer law - consumer, entrepreneur and consumer contracts. The fourth chapter is the most comprehen- sive and forms the core of the thesis. It contains an analysis of the specifics of consumer con- tracts, which are compared to the general regulation of the law of obligations and are system- atically divided into subchapters. Each subchapter summarizes...

Title: Business contracts with consumers This thesis presents an analysis of the general regulation of consumer contracts. Given the comprehensive nature of this topic and its many ambiguities due, among other things, to the recodification of civil law, it was not possible to address every aspect of consumer law. This is also why the specific regulation of distance contracts and of contracts concluded outside of business premises was not analysed. On the other hand, emphasis is placed on provisions whose interpretation is uncertain and that require clarification by means of the case law. The thesis consists of five chapters which are divided into several thematic topics. In the chapter one, I introduce the basic issues which I will analyse in detail and for which I attempt to find or at least outline possible solutions. It is first necessary to introduce the topics in terms of their legislative classification and to define the basic concepts of consumer law - consumer, entrepreneur and consumer contracts. The fourth chapter is the most comprehen- sive and forms the core of the thesis. It contains an analysis of the specifics of consumer con- tracts, which are compared to the general regulation of the law of obligations and are system- atically divided into subchapters. Each subchapter summarizes...

Essa pesquisa tem como tema o comportamento socialmente indesejável do consumidor. Tal comportamento pode impactar significativamente no resultado das organizações, uma vez que esse tipo de consumidor pode trazer prejuízos tanto financeiros, quanto à marca ou até mesmo a outros consumidores. A finalidade da pesquisa é desenvolver uma escala que seja capaz de discernir, indiretamente, o consumidor que possui tendências de agir de forma socialmente inadequada daquele que não possui tal tendência. Para tanto lançou-se mão de uma metodologia híbrida de desenvolvimento de escalas, a proposta por Churchill (1979) e a metodologia C-OAR-SE. A coleta de dados foi feita através do MTurk®, que coleta respondentes de várias regiões do mundo pela Internet. As técnicas estatísticas utilizadas na pesquisa foram as análises de agrupamento e discriminante. Os resultados mostraram evidências de que é possível discriminar os consumidores através de uma função discriminante. Contudo, ao contrário do que se esperava teoricamente, os indivíduos com maior índice de insatisfação não foram aqueles que apresentaram maior tendência de agirem de forma socialmente inadequada. As demais hipóteses (influência dos aspectos de personalidade e de terceiros) foram aceitas pela pesquisa. Ao final chegou-se a uma sugestão de escala para separar os dois tipos de consumidores - podendo essa ser utilizada para novas pesquisas acadêmicas, ou para acompanhamento em programas de relacionamento com o consumidor dentro das organizações. Uma das principais limitações desse estudo é a impossibilidade de generalização dos achados, dada a metodologia utilizada. / This research has the theme the Dysfunctional Consumer Behavior. This behavior can negatively influence in organizations proffits, since this kind of consumer can imply financial prejudices, or negatively impact in brand equity, or cause harm to others consumers. This research aims develop a scale to discern, indirectly, the consumer that tend to act in a dysfunctional manner than the other ones. For this propose, the methodology used to reach this objective was an hybrid one, mixing Churchill\'s (1979) with C-OAR-SE methodologies. The data was collected through MTurk®, how collect respondents in different places in world through the Internet. The statistical methods used to the scale development were cluster and discriminant analysis. The results showed evidences that is possible differ consumer through a discriminant function. Nevertheless, on the contrary of what was theoretically expected, the individuals most dissatisfied weren\'t the ones that presented dysfunctional consumer behavior. The other hypothesis (interpersonal influence and personality aspects) has been accepted. At the end, the research produced a scale that can be used to differ the consumers - and this scale can be used for both academicals and managerial propose. One of the limitations of this research is the generalization impossibility, because the methodology didn\'t select the individuals in a statistical random way.