Prosuming, Participation, Consumer Education and the Deregulation of Telecommunications

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which consumers in the U.S. are prepared to make informed decisions in a decentralized society. The events surrounding the breakup of the Bell System and AT& T required a number of decisions by individual consumers and provided a unique opportunity to observe decision-making in a recently decentralized environment. Consumer education and decision-making in four specific areas are examined followed by analysis of levels of sophistication as related to social background charactertstics. Then, the General Activity Model of human discretionary behavior is used to examine the extent to which specific decisions and levels of consumer education are related to a "general activity syn drome" wherein education, participation and awareness are highly interrelated across all areas of behavior. The analysis and discussions are informative regarding the prerequisites for prosuming in American society, suggestive as to whether edu cational or protective policies are needed, and instructive regarding the existence of a general model of participation. The article presents a challenge to those interested in values of equity and democracy, and it identifies tasks for the self-help movement and the nonprofit sector in raising the functional competence of citizens.