Consumer Associations CRUSADERS FOR BUYERS ARE BUSY ALL ROUND THE WORLD

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30540, 8 September 1964, Page 14

Consumer Associations CRUSADERS FOR BUYERS ARE BUSY ALL ROUND THE WORLD

[By a "Financial Times" Correspondent] (Reprinted ba arrangement)

Consumers’ associations and organisations mia coui t:nes are invariably infuriated at the suggestion that their aimi in life> is to Pi otct the consumer. Yet this is the popular conception of their• role. But. the fact remains that all these organisations aim only to ed “f*te 1 } „ To give him or her just enough accurate information to choose a good bin moi? easil™ yet at the same time to stimulate the shopper into doing some of his or her own thinking.

Also, few people, in any country, are aware of quite how international the movement really is. There is, for example, a bi-monthly publication called the International Consumer, which collates information on all subjects from every country’s publications. Its members do not include all consumer crusaders, but only those which are non-profit-making and totally independent of commerce and industry. Currently there are about 24 members. Two Categories In all, however, there are several hundred consumer organisations, either national or local—in Britain alone there are nearly eighty local organisations as far apart as Oxford and Sevenoaks or as close as Kensington and Harrow. Basically, the organisations can be divided into two broad categories. There are those who depend entirely on members’ subscriptions, such as our own British “Which?” run by the Coni sumers’ Association. These, though not profit-making, pay their own way and the cost of merchandise they are able to test naturally depends upon their success and popularity.

association. There are also embryonic bodies, such as exist in Switzerland and Italy, which are graduating slowly from the British Consumer Council methods to carry out a few tests of their own.

hold Review," although its main title is "AMA,” or “mistress of the household." in its nearly four years of life, it has gathered 12,000 subscribers, but also has a retail sale at news kiosks. There are signs of the growth of regional movements and associations in Spain, too. In Huesca province is a "Club of Huesca Housewives." in Madrid is the beginning of what looks like being a large concern, the “Spanish Consumers* Union.” They started early this year and have received a good deal of bureaucratic and commercial support in spite of being apparently privately sponsored and nonprofit making. They do, however, work with the International Office of Consumers’ Unions already. In Iceland, the consumer journal has the biggest coverage in terms of percentage of the population, being taken by one-fifth of all households. Britain’s “Which?” has the world’s second largest membership (446,302 people) after the United States though rated third in terms of its percentage of coverage of the adult population. Norway comes second to Ireland. Methods Vary The variation of methods among the various national reports are wide. In America, the Consumers’ Union chooses a number of worthwhile buys in various price brackets and for various price categories. A good deal of criticism has been heaped upon the British "Which’.’" for its categorical choice of one only "Best Buy” when consumer needs differ so widely. In all fairness, however, it should be pointed out that “Which?” has lately taken to tabulating clearly the pros and cons of many other good, middling or bad buys, emphasising the Best Buy to a far lesser extent and showing up the variations available to the customer to a greater degree. Its tests are still the subject of much criticism, on the grounds that there is too wide a margin of error in human judgment which can distort the results and reported findings—and that corrections take three months to reach the printed page after any error occurs. On the whole, though, it aims rather at teaching an ignorant shopping public than on being whiter-than-white itself. There is, however, a third category of consumer publications, such as “DM” (Deutschemark) of Germany and “Fourpence” of Milan. Published respectively by the Waldemar Schweitzer and Gianni Mazzochi houses, both these have infinitely more influence than the “do-good" counterparts in both countries. Both are run for profit and are on bookstall sale. Both break most of the “rules” but both have done much good as well as made a number of errors resulting in legal actions. There are said to be more than 70 actions pending against "DM" but since these are unlikely to. reach the courts for two years or more, the journal’s profitable appearance continues. Scandal Disclosed “Fourpence” disclosed last year’s major drug scandal in Italy. Both magazines are feared by manufacturers, yet avidly read by the public. Both accept advertising—“DM” allows its favourable findings to be used by manufacturers in other journals as advertising copy; and also admits to its own' pages advertisements from makers arguing with the publisher s unfavourable findings. Most of the consumer groups were born during periods of, boom in consumer goods. And many have founded their success on the variety of merchandise available. As this looks like decreasing rather than increasing, there are those who say that the star of consumer education journals and organisations is on the wane. Meanwhile, there is no sign of such an eventuality.

Regional Bodies What is not generally known is that Britain started the regional consumer movements. These have been found to wield a good deal of local power since they investigate anything from the dry cleaning facilities to what would seem like obscure services if measured on a national scale. These formed their own Federation a little over a year ago, recently joined the International group and now publish the “National Consumer,” a magazine which is to appear quarterly and will re-publish reports thought to have something wider than a purely regional interest. The membership fees vary surprisingly little from one country to another. In Australasia, “Choice” costs its 40,000 members £1 a year for 12 issues. Fewer items are tested than in Britain, but tremendous skill and care is involved and the tests are highly thought of by consumers and manufacturers alike. However, since the sales represent a small proportion of a total population of 11 million persons, and are largely concentrated around Sydney, the power of “Choice” is somewhat limited. Influential In Holland

Then there are those which are in part or entirely subsidised by the Government of the country in which they exist. In Norway, the government finances a consumertesting institute, but its reports are mainly used by economists, consumer goods manufacturers, domestic scientists, and others, while its findings are mainly disseminated to the public through the newspapers and magazines. Also enjoying subsidies, often in addition to subscriptions, are France, Israel, Iceland, New Zealand and others. Of these, a few are purely educational, and do not actually carry out tests themselves, but merely recommend tests or report the results of consumer tests by authoritative bodies. The Consumer Council in Britain, which makes recommendations on certain merchandise after sifting complaints and inquiries from the public, is an example of this kind of

The “Canadian Consumer” appears every other month, but is a comparative infant, having come into being only 13 months ago. Even so, it has already acquired 20,000 members, who each pay just over £1 a year. In the Netherlands, the “Consumers’ Guide” is more of a power, with a membership of 60,000 (the subscription is also roughly £1). This is 11 years old and was one of the first to come into being. In Sweden, where government aid helps out, members pay 7s 6d yearly and there are 35,000 of them. In Spain, the movement is in its infancy and can roughly be translated as being called the “House-