The problem of this study was to measure older and
younger consumers' knowledge or awareness of selected
consumer rights and legal protections, and their perceptions
of and experience with unfair and deceptive business
practices. A 34-item instrument was developed and
administered by telephone to a random sample of 1,305
consumers nationwide. The data were examined by analysis of
frequencies, Chi-square, and analysis of variance.
The findings revealed (p<.01) that consumer knowledge
was related to the age and marital status of the respondent.
Married consumers and consumers aged 25-49 were the most
knowledgeable about the eight consumer laws and legal
protections.
Consumer experiences with unfair and deceptive business
practices were related to age, marital status, and gender.
Younger, married, and female consumers had experienced three
or more of the unfair and deceptive business practices.
Married consumers and consumers aged 25-74 are more
perceptive than consumers aged 75 and over in correctly
identifying a business practice as unfair or illegal. The
gender of the respondent does not always influence their
perceptions of whether or not a particular business practice
is fair.
Significant differences existed between the knowledge
score means and the age and marital status of the
respondent. Significant differences existed between the
experience score means and the age, marital status, and
gender of the respondent.
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