This is a time of extraordinary change: technology is transforming interpersonal and business communication, including marketing and advertising to consumers. Products are evolving as a result of innovation. Even the way consumers are paying for goods and services is being revolutionised, as electronic payment systems serve up new and inventive ways to exchange money. Increasingly, people of all ages are using wireless phones and devices for communicating, for information gathering, and for entertainment- in all types of locations. And, as new wireless technologies are introduced, so too are new and expanded ways to get information and be entertained via your wireless phone or device. This book examines ways to adapt consumer protection strategies to ensure that all consumers, including the vulnerable, are equally well served. Applying existing policies and creating new ones is also looked at to address emerging challenges regarding new technologies and products that may be unfamiliar to consumers. This book also discusses how the ever-expanding number of marketing channels in the world-wide marketplace will be monitored for instances of deception of unfairness and finally, the collaboration with law enforcers from around the world will be examined to protect consumers in the global marketplace.

To date, there have been few theoretical inquiries into the relationship between the technological innovation and basic objectives of consumer protection laws. This book addresses this need by considering the impact of technological innovation on the foundations of consumer advocacy, contracting behaviour, control over intellectual capital and information privacy. The collection presents a unique and timely perspective on these issues. The authors, internationally renowned experts, from diverse areas such as consumer issues in technology markets, contract, and intellectual property provide a fresh perspective on these topics. Contributions provide novel approaches to the question of what consumer protection might consist of in the context of technological innovation. The book will be a valuable resource to academics and researchers in law and public policy and is easily accessible to graduate and undergraduate students working in these areas.

This book covers technologies that pose new challenges for consumer policy, creative developments that can help protect consumers’ economic interests, innovative approaches to addressing perennial consumer concerns, and the challenges entailed by emerging ways of creating and delivering consumer products and services. In addition, it reflects on past successes and failures of consumer law and policy, explores opportunities for moving consumer law in a different direction, and discusses potential threats to consumer welfare, especially in connection with the changing political landscape in many parts of the world. Several chapters examine consumer law in individual countries, while others have an international focus.

The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection are an influential declaration of best practices in consumer protection law and policy. But as they were last amended in 1999, they are now overdue for an update - not least in areas where advances in technology have affected consumers, such as access to knowledge, Internet and telecommunications services, e-commerce, and digital products and services. Consumers International (CI), as the global campaigning voice for consumers, is well placed to make recommendations about what amendments should be made to address these new and emerging areas of consumer rights. This publication - which is a companion volume to a broader set of amendments developed by CI - explains our reasoning behind those proposed amendments that particularly affect consumers in the digital age. A focus of this volume - and of the Guidelines themselves - is on how effective consumer laws and policies can benefit consumers in developing and emerging economies. As such, in-depth analysis is provided of how the proposed amendments relate to consumers in India, Brazil and South Africa, either by reflecting existing best practices in those countries, or by shining light on problem areas that the proposed amendments could help address.

This volume considers the impact of technological innovation on the foundations of consumer advocacy, contracting behaviour, control over intellectual capital and information privacy. A unique and timely perspective on these issues is presented by internationally renowned experts who provide novel approaches to the question of what consumer protection might consist of in the context of technological innovation.

Privacy is a growing concern in the United States and around the world. The spread of the Internet and the seemingly boundaryless options for collecting, saving, sharing, and comparing information trigger consumer worries. Online practices of business and government agencies may present new ways to compromise privacy, and e-commerce and technologies that make a wide range of personal information available to anyone with a Web browser only begin to hint at the possibilities for inappropriate or unwarranted intrusion into our personal lives. Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age presents a comprehensive and multidisciplinary examination of privacy in the information age. It explores such important concepts as how the threats to privacy evolving, how can privacy be protected and how society can balance the interests of individuals, businesses and government in ways that promote privacy reasonably and effectively? This book seeks to raise awareness of the web of connectedness among the actions one takes and the privacy policies that are enacted, and provides a variety of tools and concepts with which debates over privacy can be more fruitfully engaged. Engaging Privacy and Information Technology in a Digital Age focuses on three major components affecting notions, perceptions, and expectations of privacy: technological change, societal shifts, and circumstantial discontinuities. This book will be of special interest to anyone interested in understanding why privacy issues are often so intractable.

This work looks at the consequences of the development of information technology and the information society for consumers and for consumer law. While the new technological environment has been greeted with enthusiasm by many, citing the improvement in consumer choice, convenience, and the accessibility of information, there have also been calls to focus on the needs of those consumers who cannot easily gain access to the benefits associated with the new technology. This collection of expert papers examines developments in consumer protection legislation around the world in response to the technological advances, and focuses on issues such as electronic marketing, electronic commerce, financial services, product liability, intellectual property and rights of access to information. Issues such as how and to what extent the new environment should be regulated, as well as the impact of changes in the globalized information market, are also discussed. This volume arose from the 7th International Consumer Law Conference, held in Helsinki in 1999 under the auspices of the International Association for Consumer Law.

This comprehensive textbook explores how technological developments and emerging technologies impact on, and engage with, consumer behaviour and decision making globally. The book will enable readers to develop a coherent understanding of the basic underpinnings of consumer behaviour as they relate to individual and group-oriented consumption decisions, offering insight into how consumer behaviour, contemporary real-life situations, and digital technology are inextricably linked. Key learning objectives, exercises and activities, boxed examples and analytical frameworks facilitate and enrich students’ learning. Each chapter includes ‘pause, plan, and practice (PPP)’ activities, as well as real-life case studies exploring digital consumption, digital consumer experiences, and digital trends across industries, from global companies such as Nike and McDonald’s to the digital transformation of SMEs. Combining a thorough examination of traditional theory with a fresh approach to the impact of digital transformation on consumer behaviour, this textbook should be core reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Consumer Behaviour, Consumer Psychology, Customer Experience Management, and Digital Marketing. This book will be accompanied by online resources for the use of instructors, including PowerPoint slides and a test bank.