NCJ Number
84626
Date Published
1982
Length
48 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings and recommendations of a committee established by the Council of Europe to examine the need and recommended procedures for training professional or voluntary consumer advisors in the Council's 21 member nations.
Abstract
The committee conducted a questionnaire survey to assess current training efforts and found wide disparities among nations in the level of consumer advisory services and a general lack of training of consumer advisors. Improvement in consumer advisory services and programs to train consumer advisors were recommended as a way to help consumers, particularly disadvantaged groups, deal with the increasingly complex good and services and the growing sophistication in the marketing of these products. The four most important components of a consumer advice center were identified as preshopping and ordering advice, advice after purchasing or ordering, help with complaints, and the promotion of consumer education. Consumer advisors need to be able to acquire the requisite technical knowledge and to communicate effectively at all levels. Knowledge essential to every consumer advisor and recommended for inclusion in training programs ranged from the underlying philosophy of consumer advice to the various forms of financing purchases and the various techniques of marketing. Public agencies were advised to take responsibility for overseeing the provision of the training of consumer advisors. Additional recommendations are given. A syllabus for a suggested training course and a summary of consumer advice programs in each of the 20 member nations of the Council of Europe are appended.