Consumer awareness is making the consumer aware of His/Her rights.

Consumer awareness it a marketing term. It means that consumers note or are aware of products or services, its characteristics and the
other marketing P's (place to buy, price, and promotion).

Need :
we need it so we will not be misled by producers,it explains if what we buy is worth to our money..and not harmful to us and to
environment .
Many people are ignorant of their rights to get protected against the exploitation by so many others. So when there is a forum for such
redress of grievances there seems to be no such exploitation by many; and becomes a rare one. So in order to get a clear picture of the
level of exploitation of consumers, the awareness is required.

Consumer awareness is about making the consumer aware of his/her rights.It is a marketing term which means that
consumers are aware of products or services, its characteristics and the other marketing P’s (place to buy, price, and
promotion).Though the first consumer movement began in England after the Second World War, a modern declaration
about consumer’s rights was first made in the United States of America in 1962, where four basic consumer rights
(choice, information, safety and to be heard ) were recognized.

consumer awareness is the knowlege that a consumer should have about his/her legal rights and duties.It is must for a consumer to
follow these rights.It is implemented fr the protection of the consumer,so that the consumer is not exploited by the seller of the
products.

The need for empowerment of consumers as a class cannot be over emphasized and is already well recognized all over
the world. The advancement of technology and advent of sophisticated gadgets in the market and aggressive marketing
strategies in the era of globalization have not only thrown open a wide choice, for the consumer but all the same also
rendered the consumer vulnerable to a plethora of problems concomitant to such rapid changes. There is an urgent and
increasing necessity to educate and motivate the consumer to be wary of the quality of the products, and also the possible
deficiencies in the services of the growing sector of public utilities. In short, the consumer should be empowered with
respect to his rights as a consumer. He should be equipped to be vigilant with a discerning eye so as to be able to protect
himself from any wrongful act on the part of the trader. In order to be able to position the consumer in such a state, there
is every need not only to evolve legal remedies but also provide reliable and exhaustive information, which he can access
without much effort and expense. Recognizing the importance of the problem, the Government of India and State
Government have initiated steps to introduce dispute redressal mechanism by way of Consumer Protection Ac, but a lot
more has to be done in the area of creating awareness on the part of the consumer to facilitate his seeking suitable
remedy wherever there is a need. This becomes more important in the rural areas, where there is wide spread illiteracy.

He should undertake steps to create a facilitative mechanism with the following objectives:

1. Promote General Awareness of the rights of the consumer by encouraging consumer education and supplying
information.

2. Publish periodical and product specific booklets, pamphlets, cassettes, CDs, slides, documentary films and other
devices of mass communication for promoting consumer awareness in English and regional languages, highlighting
the problem in specified areas like real estate, public utilities, non-banking financial agencies etc.

3. Enlighten the business community on its ethical and legal obligations to maintain quality of the products or services
and to be transparent in dealing with consumers.

4. Encourage consumer activities to strengthen the existing institutional set up of consumer dispute redressal by acting
as a facilitator between consumer and the institution.

5. Study the available legal remedies, analyze and suggest new measures for the effective and better consumer
protection.

6. Bring together the consumer, traders and policy makers to exchange information of mutual interest for better
coordination. Bring together the NGO’s/Consumer activities operating in different areas and equip them with suitable
and required nformation and knowledge to enable them to act as nodal agents of change in rural areas.

7. Organize and conduct seminars, workshops and group discussions and thus provide a platform for threadbare
discussion of the issues and evolve suitable remedial action. Conduct motivational campaigns for groups of potential
customers both in urban and rural areas.
8. Coordinate programmes organized by Central and State Governments, State Legal Aid Authorities, Academic
Institutes, National and International Consumer Organizations.

9. Periodic interaction with electronic & print media on success stories of consumers.

10. Establish links with educational institutions like universities, colleges, high schools to emphasize the need for
improving consumer education in the curriculum. Consumer clubs which were started recently by the A.P.
Consumer affairs, Food & Civil Supplies Dept. would go a long way in acheiving this.

11. Interact with national level organizations like NISIET, NIRD, ASCI etc. to explore possible collaboration and
organize awareness programmes for their clientele and undertake research projects.

In general, the rights of consumers in India can be listed as under:

* The right to be protected from all types of hazardous goods and services
* The right to be fully informed about the performance and quality of all goods and services
* The right to free choice of goods and services
* The right to be heard in all decision-making processes related to consumer interests
* The right to seek redressal, whenever consumer rights have been infringed
* The right to complete consumer education

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and various other laws like the Standards, Weights & Measures Act have been formulated to
ensure fair competition in the market place and free flow of true information from the providers of goods and services to those who
consume them.

6.Need For Consumer Awareness:-

Role of producers
proper labeling, full information, health warnings, handling information, expiration date, etc. keep to requirements, norms, standards
labelproducts according requirements, providing true facts
They have to produce and deliver the goods/services of rght quality at right price at right time at right place at right quantity with right
face

If they are providing a service they should carry it out with due skill and care. They must also make sure that any materials they
provide as part of this service are fit for the purpose.
It is also illegal for a supplier to cut off, or threaten to cut off, supply to a reseller (wholesale or retail) because they have been
discounting goods or advertising discounts below prices set by the supplier.

2.Meaning Of Consumer Awareness:-

Consumer:- Someone who purchases a good for personal use.
Awareness:-having knowledge of ; state of elementary or undifferentiated consciousness

(1) The right to be informed - to be given the accurate information you need to make wise choices and to be protected from fraudulent
advertising, mislabeling, and misrepresentation.
(2) The right to choose - to have reasonable access to a variety of products and services at reasonable prices.
(3) The right to safety -- to be protected against injury or illness from hazardous products and services.
(4) The right to be heard - to be assured that your interest as a consumer will get a sympathetic hearing, both from business and
government, and that laws that are supposed to protect consumers will be enforced.
(5) The right to consumer education - the right to receive early in life a fundamental understanding of the consumer marketplace,
including the rights and responsibilities of all sectors of the society. This right is also interpreted as meaning that consumers should
have access throughout their lives to education that will help them understand new federal and state laws and regulations, and to make
informed decisions about new products, services and marketplace practices.
(6) The right to service was named an "official" consumer right by the President and announced by the U.S. Office of Consumer
Affairs during the October 1994 observance of National Consumers Week. Little has been written about this newest consumer right,
which does not have such a clear relationship to federal consumer protection law, but is more often treated in state law.