Consumer Affairs

This article examines the levels of savings of former participants in a matched savings program. Findings from a survey of Individual Development Account (IDA) participants and a general low-income population sample show that participants who successfully completed the savings program report higher household savings than both participants who left the program early and a non-participant comparison group, suggesting that successful completion of an IDA program may improve the financial dispositions and behaviors associated with long-term savings. Three predictors of saving behavior emerged: access to the financial mainstream, individual psychological disposition, and the presence of children in the household.

The purpose of the study is to identify trends and issues of selected hotels and its impact to the influx of tourist in Batangas, Philippines. More specifically, it answers the following objectives: to describe the profile of the hotel in terms of years in operation, number of employees and average number of tourists per year; to identify the trends and issues being faced by managers and hotel staffs of selected hotels in terms of marketing, human resources, logistics/ operations and consumer affairs; to determine if there is a significant difference on the perceived trends and issues on selected hotels when grouped according to hotel profile variables; finally, the study attempts to determine the significant predictor of the influx of tourists. The researcher used descriptive method which focuses at present condition in the purpose to find new truth. This was used by the researcher to determine the trends and issues of hotel industry and its impact to the influx of tourist. The researcher was able to identify that issue on human resource significantly predicts the influx of tourists. The trends and issues are significantly influenced by the number of years and average number of tourists per year. Based from the results it was found out that trends in logistics/ operations and issues on logistics/ operations and consumer affairs/ safety and security has an impact to the influx of tourists in Batangas province.

Government and industry organizations have declared information privacy and security to be major obstacles in the development of consumer-related e-commerce. Risk perceptions regarding Internet privacy and security have been identified as issues for both new and experienced users of Internet technology. This paper explores risk perceptions among consumers of varying levels of Internet experience and how these perceptions relate to online shopping activity. Findings provide evidence of hypothesized relationships among consumers’ levels of Internet experience, the use of alternate remote purchasing methods (such as telephone and mail-order shopping), the perceived risks of online shopping, and online purchasing activity. Implications for online commerce and consumer welfare are discussed.

The increasing efforts by marketers to target diverse groups of consumers call for a closer examination of the ethical implications of market segmentation and differentiated marketing. Previous research suggests that marketers and consumers often differ in their perceptions of marketing ethics. Based on contingency theory, this research proposes an integrated framework—which includes the nature of the product, consumer characteristics, and market selection—to analyze the ethical complexities of the marketing exchange. Interactions among these factors lead to various contingencies with different ethical implications for marketing managers and public policy makers. Marketers should assess consumer interests and the ethics of marketing programs before their implementation

Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with numerous adverse health conditions and is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Unlike manufacturers of most other packaged food and beverage products, alcohol beverage producers are not required to disclose product nutrition information. This situation may soon change. On July 31, 2007, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau proposed a rule that will require a Serving Facts panel containing a statement that includes levels of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and alcohol content on all alcohol beverage containers. The primary purpose of this research was to test predictions and provide insight regarding consumers’ potential responses to the provision of Serving Facts information on alcohol beverage labels. Implications of the results for public policy makers and consumer welfare are offered.

This article examines online behaviors that increase or reduce risk of online identity theft. The authors report results from three consumer surveys that indicate the propensity to protect oneself from online identity theft varies by population. The authors then examine attitudinal, behavioral, and demographic antecedents that predict the tendency to protect one's privacy and identity online. Implications and suggestions for managers, public policy makers, and consumers related to protecting online privacy and identity theft are provided.

Biometric authentication systems are becoming increasingly common. Though their use offers important advantages to governmental agencies, business, and consumers, the widespread use of biometric technology has the potential for serious negative consequences. In this paper, the authors explore the effects on consumers of the incorporation of biometric authentication into mainstream commerce, specifically focusing on privacy concerns of consumers in the context of the fair information practice principles of notice/awareness, choice/consent, access/participation, integrity/security, and enforcement/redress.

Worldwide, the marketing and promotion practices of tobacco firms are coming under scrutiny. Although tobacco advertising in traditional media such as television has been banned in most countries for many years, the use of nontraditional media such as sponsorship has only recently come into question. This paper analyzes how sponsorship-linked marketing programs function like advertising in promoting tobacco products. The various marketing tactics utilized by international tobacco firms are discussed as are policy recommendations for governments, businesses, households, and communities that seek to reduce tobacco promotion in their environments.

In 2001, commercial airlines carried nearly 450 million passengers for leisure, personal, and business travel, an increase of approximately 250% since the 1978 industry deregulation (US Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics 2002) (see 1Figure 1). ...