Nation's opinions on the performance of the marketplace and the consumer movement
The information and data discussed are drawn from a Harris survey on consumer affairs and the consumer movement entitled ''Consumerism at the Crossroads,'' the third in a series commissioned by Sentry Insurance. Throughout, the survey shows how deeply the public is disillusioned with business and how skeptical it is of business' motives. The profit motive is seen to be so strong that 71% of the public feel that ''business will do nothing much to help the consumer if that reduces profits significantly--unless it is forced to do so.'' And most of the leadership groups interviewed agreed. The only exceptions were the two samples of business management--senior business executives and consumer affairs executives. But this hostility to business is not a rejection of the free enterprise system. The public, most emphatically, does not want government to take over and run its own business enterprises. To the contrary, there is a very strong belief among the public in the value of the free market and the benefits of competition. It is concluded that consumers in America appear to have decided that they can only make their desires known and their weight felt by participating in the marketplace. (MCW)
- OSTI ID:
- 5174788
- Journal Information:
- Electr. Perspect.; (United States), Vol. 78/1; Other Information: Based on talk delivered last November at a consumer affairs conference sponsored by Edison Electric Institute
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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POLICY AND ECONOMY
COMMERCE
PUBLIC OPINION
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ECONOMICS
ECONOMY
MARKET
PERFORMANCE
COMMODITIES
DATA
DEMAND FACTORS
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
FORECASTING
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
PROFITS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
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