The young generation has a major role to play in ensuring a vibrant consumer movement. As can be seen from the preceding paras our country being a young nation the 70% of population below 35 years the onus really is on the youth to ensure that he protects himself from any kind of fraudulent/unfair trade practices.
For this awareness is the key that can ensure that not only the consumer gets a fair deal, the manufacturing as well as the services sector shall become efficient, transparent and accountable since they would be aware that any malpractice will be challenged by the aware consumer.
The market also realises that young consumers have a propensity to consumer junk food and prefer them over traditional forms of food. This characteristic is exploited by the market by associating convenience and a brand image with junk food like colas, pizzas, and fast-food joints. Young consumers are special targets of the junk-food industry. The market knows that fast food is addictive and once young people get used to having their fat, salts and sugar rich food, they will become their consumers for life. Also, young consumers have the indirect purchasing power of their parents, which makes them a very lucrative consumer segment.
It is the responsibility of parents, teachers and friends to make children aware of their rights and duties.
Women consumers not only constitute 50% of the total consumer population but also make 80% of all purchase decisions. They are being specifically targeted by the market because of their growing purchasing power and their ‘working-woman' status. Now, women have the dual role of family-makers and work professionals to play. As a result, they have less time, increased pressures and are slowly being de-linked from their traditional knowledge bank. The market takes advantage of this situation by offering to women instant services and products, like fast-food, ‘two-minute' snacks, and refrigerators and washing machines with supposedly better technologies.
Women consumers have the responsibility of choosing products that are not just convenient but also safe to use and eco-friendly. They must evaluate the nutrition content of food products before buying them and weight their quality with traditional foods that are less-expensive, have better nutritional scores and consume less resources like packaging and transportation.
