CONSUMER PROTECTION POLICY IN NIGERIA
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CONSUMER PROTECTION POLICY IN NIGERIA
SUMMARY
The resuscitation of marketing as a profession and academic study has led to a more constructive and inclusive application of its ideas in increasing product innovation on a daily basis. This project’s primary goal is to determine how the “marketing mix” affects the achievement of organisational goals.
It raises questions since poor marketing communication has a detrimental impact on the marketing mix over time. To what extent does appreciation of marketing communication (promotion) contribute to the favourable outcome of other marketing variables?
The act of creating and distributing information about a product’s existence, features, and benefits to target markets through various media is known as marketing communication.
It is anticipated that this study would provide additional insight on how the marketing mix—which consists of product, price, promotion, and place—can effectively aid in achieving organisational goals
Introduction
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Before taking into account the consumer’s position in the product, marketing strategies used in the early 1960s were designed to fulfil the manufacturer and his objectives.
According to Nwaneri (1981), social marketing’s early hurdles and changes in cultural values and socioeconomic conditions lead to consumer unhappiness and complaints about marketing efforts.
Consequently, it is possible to define consumerism as a protest against unfair marketing practices and/or efforts to abolish marketing injustice and disease.
With its focus on the rights of the customer, consumerism is becoming a hot topic in marketing and has significant financial ramifications.
The main goal of consumerism, according to Assael (1984), is to safeguard the rights of consumers during the exchange process through the actions of autonomous organisations, businesses, and governments.
These rights cover things like the need for information, the right to the truth, the provision of suitable substitutes when needed, and the guarantee of his safety and well-being throughout the consuming process.
Business essentially adopts the marketing notions of consumer sovereignty, which enjoys that the customer is the centre of the economy. This is accomplished by the market system‘s functioning, which allows the customer to both determine and direct the flow of goods and services.
He is already so dominant in the market that he didn’t require any further defence. In contrast, the government contends that consumer supremacy is a prank and that it is required by the constitution to defend citizens who identify as consumers in one way or another.
In 1979, Baker examined the concept of marketing and proposed that since people make up the economy and we are trying to distribute limited resources to maximise satisfaction, then what we should be aiming for is people’s contentment.
Because of how crucial this is, we must first ascertain what the public wants before allocating our resources. However, in this regard, the government ought to intervene in the market system to influence corporate control through the use of laws and regulations, which are contentious.
The consumer has remained a helpless victim in the face of numerous items with ever-increasing complexity. It is noteworthy that consumption has not received as much attention as it should in developing nations such as Nigeria.
Nonetheless, a few developing nations have implemented specific policies to show how the government affects consumption in Nigeria Onah (1979).
Among the measures are:
One is the rent decree or edict.
ii. The 1970 price control directive was implemented.
iii. The Food and Grug Decree that was implemented in 1974
In this sense, customer protests typically centre on striking a balance between the manufacturer’s profit goals and the needs of the customer. Since marketing only represents a portion of the customer base,
it is explicitly stated that marketing is the primary reason for customer dissatisfaction with the business. Nonetheless, it is evident that the relationship an organisation has with its customers is the root of the customer’s unhappiness and any attempt to address it.
1.2 EXPLAINING THE PROBLEM
In general, complaints of unhappiness persist despite outside interference in the market mechanism. These, however, are a reflection of the constant reporting, the presentation of immoral business practices, and the insensitivity of businesses to the needs of their customers.
These can be observed in the statement of worry regarding the corporate sector’s reputation in Nigeria. Customers have always been the victims of marketing glorification and ineffective mistakes.
The question that emerges from the aforementioned is whether Nigerian consumers actually need more legal protection from the government; to what degree has he complied with consumer rules when being taken advantage of in the marketplace?
Would he have been better protected by a powerful consumer protection campaign or by additional government machinery like personal and group mobilisation?
When there are laws or government agencies in Nigeria that are supposed to defend consumers’ rights, what has really led to their lack of motivation, lethargy, or apathy?
Does this imply that the goals of the consumer protection policies are changing quickly and becoming out of date in the Nigerian context? What has actually happened to some consumer protection laws in Nigeria,
such as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act of 1989, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria Act of 1976, and the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC) counterfelt and take drugs (MISC, Provision) Decree of 1989?
1.3 The Study’s Objectives
The following is a list of this research study’s objectives:
i. Investigating alternatives to direct government intervention for consumer protection
ii. To assess whether or not more consumer protection laws should be implemented in Nigeria.
iii. To critically highlight how consumerism affects marketing for Nigerian marketers.
iv. To thoroughly investigate the topic of consumerism in order to determine the level of consumer protection in Nigeria.
v. To find out how well-informed Nigerian consumers are about consumer protection regulations.
1.4 Research Questions and Hypothesis
Following is a list of formulations of hypothesis and research questions based on the above-mentioned objective statement:
i. Hull (H0): Consumers in Nigeria are indifferent to their rights in the marketplace.
Option (HA): Nigerian customers are aware of their legal rights in the marketplace.
ii. Hull (H0): The majority of Nigerian customers are not aware of the country’s significant consumer protection legislation.
Option (H0): Nigerian customers are aware of the country’s important consumer protection laws.
iii. Hull (H0): Nigerian consumers are not sufficiently protected by the notion of consumer sovereignty.
Option (Hn): The idea of consumer sovereignty is insufficient to protect Nigerian consumers.
1.5 IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH
This is especially important to the company organisation in practice because it is well acknowledged that corporate success is dependent on how logical advancements in recent years have altered the complete landscape of the market. For the consumer, it has gotten more impersonal, complicated, perplexing, and—most importantly—frustrating.
Businesses need to understand that measures taken for the protection of consumers may, in the short term, reduce manufacturer profits and, in the long term, result in the company’s complete liquidation.
The proverbial “caveat enptor”—buyer beware—no longer applies to entrepreneurs, therefore companies need to adapt to the difficulties of rekindling customer interest. The outcome will be displayed together with brand loyalty and purchases, which are undoubtedly indicators of happy customers.
Furthermore, this study does not just focus on production enterprises; it also includes service organisations like schools, both public and private. The police, customs, army, post office, hospital, and even the government’s overall attitude towards its citizens are examples of government agencies or bodies.
As a result, consumerism’s reach extends beyond the boundaries of production and marketing companies. It is quite reasonable for businesses to acknowledge that their interests as consumers are important.
The most significant aspects of a business are not its tangible assets, which lose value in the absence of clients.
Long-term, a company’s most valuable asset is its devoted clientele. Customer loyalty translates into steady business growth and patronage, which in turn translates into the firm’s stability in terms of profit (Kolter, 1974).
The company’s survival and growth—as well as individual satisfaction—can only be achieved through sustained and growing sales, not through the orientation of its physical assets.
1.6 THE STUDY’S SCOPE AND DELIMITATION
The survey was conducted in Mgbowo and Enugu, respectively, in the Agwu and Enugu local government areas of the state of Enugu, with the aim of creating a sample that was adequately representative. The consumers in this survey range in age from eighty to eighty years old.
ENUGU’S SIDE VIEW
The state capital of Enugu is Enugu. Since Nigeria gained its independence in the 1960s, the town has served as the country’s capital. Enugu is a conforming state primarily home to commercial companies and government employees.
Infrastructure includes things like pipe-born water, goods roads, electricity, and telecommunication services. It also includes a number of educational institutions,
like the federal polytechnics Uwana and the Institute of Management and Technology, with projected populations of 428 and 535 in 1988, respectively.
Enugu was divided into two sections, Enugu South and North, for a portion of the questionnaire. Akwuke Amechi Awkunanaw and Uwani, the local government headquarters, are located in the South; Enugu Urban, the local government headquarters, Enugu Ugwuaji, and Nike are located in the North.
MGBOWO TOWN
The town is in Agwu local government in Enugu state and has a population of around 20, 690 according to Enugu state population statistical record No. 3 of 1985. Enugu is almost 40 kilometres away from the town.
Aliechera, Inyi, Ezioha Amada, and Imama are its five villages. Its borders are as follows: Neriwe to the north; Awgu to the south; Ndeaboli to the east; and Maku to the west.
Its market is Ekemgbowo, and the majority of its residents work in farming and trading. Infrastructure-wise, there is this energy, the postal service without pipe-born water, and the maternity.
With the exception of the Enugu Port Harcourt Express Road, which is privately owned, all of them are in poor condition.
1.7 TERMS AND IRIGATION
1. Consumer: According to Hoyer and Macinnis (1997:3), consumers are persons or groups that make purchases of products and services to meet their demands for personal and household consumption.
Simply expressed, Kotler claims that the consumer movement is an organised effort by concerned citizens and the government to strengthen the buyer’s power and rights vis-à-vis sellers.
ii. Brand Name: According to Knaur (1969:25), a product’s brand name is what sets it apart from competitors. Put another way, it’s a term, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of them that’s used to distinguish the goods and services of a certain vendor or group of sellers from those of their rivals.
iii. Publicity: As mentioned by Adirika, Ebue, and Nnolim (1996:90), there are a number of ways that publicity might appear. Press relations involves showcasing noteworthy stories in the media,
product publicity involves introducing a new product, and lobbying involves opposing unfavourable laws and policies or advocating for the betterment of consumer protection laws.
iv. Consumer Protection: According to Odutayo (1989:5), the government uses consumer protection to claim that consumer supremacy is a prank on citizens and that it is required by the constitution to defend citizens who are consumers in one form or another.
v. Advertising: Udeaha (1999:182) noted that, in contrast to personal selling, advertising is a non-personal or open kind of communication. A sizable audience is reached concurrently with the message.
Advertising, according to Adirika (1996:88), is any type of paid, non-personal presentation and promotion of ideal goods and services by a recognised sponsor that makes use of mass media.
Radio, television, newspapers, magazines, outdoor displays like signs and posters, direct mail, and so on are examples of these mass media.
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