How Much do we Know about Consumer Protection Laws?

Abstract

Cunningham and Cunningham recently examined how much individuals from various sectors of society know about consumer protection laws and their rights as consumers.1 Their finding that consumer knowledge does not vary across income segments was based on a survey of six hundred respondents, primarily women. This study is particularly significant since its results are at odds with conventional wisdom. The changing definition of appropriate roles for males and females in our society, however, raises serious questions about the usefulness of studies which assume that women are the primary decision makers in consumer goods purchases. Their findings would take on even greater interest if they could be duplicated using a broader population. The purpose of the present paper is to report such a replication and extension of the Cunningham and Cunningham study. In the replication and extension the same questionnaire was used, but was administered to a sample of men and women. In cooperation with the Consumer Protection Division of the Washington State Attorney Generals Office, questions covering familiarity with state laws were added to the questionnaire.