IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jcopol/v45y2022i3d10.1007_s10603-022-09523-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Importance of Consumer Authorities for the Production and Maintenance of Trust and Social Capital in Consumer Markets

Author

Listed:
  • L. Berg

    (Oslo Metropolitan University)

Abstract

Trust is a valuable resource that varies between countries. This paper suggests that consumers’ trust in retailers and service providers, facilitating interactions and transactions between sellers and buyers in impersonal markets, is best understood as generalized trust. The paper is based on 28 037 respondents’ evaluations of consumer conditions in 30 European countries. The material reveals large country-to-country variations in the percentages of residents who trust public authorities to protect their consumer rights. Moreover, there are large differences in the percentages who trust retailers and service providers to respect their rights as consumers. A multilevel path analysis supports the paper’s main hypothesis that fair and effective consumer authorities enhance generalized trust in the markets. The analyses also demonstrate that fair and effective consumer institutions contribute to more equality in the markets. It is argued that consumer markets are important arenas for the maintenance and production of trust and social capital. And that generalized trust produced in markets will probably extend to, and be valuable for, the wider society.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Berg, 2022. "The Importance of Consumer Authorities for the Production and Maintenance of Trust and Social Capital in Consumer Markets," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 537-559, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:45:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-022-09523-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10603-022-09523-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10603-022-09523-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10603-022-09523-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. H. Austgulen, 2020. "Correction to: Understanding National Preferences in EU Consumer Policy: a Regime Approach," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 799-806, December.
    2. Lisbet Berg, 2019. "Class Related Consumption and the Ability to Resist Commercial Temptations in the Age of Commercialism," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, June.
    3. M. H. Austgulen, 2020. "Understanding National Preferences in EU Consumer Policy: A Regime Approach," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 767-798, December.
    4. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    5. Oecd, 2020. "Measuring consumer detriment and the impact of consumer policy: Feasibility study," OECD Digital Economy Papers 293, OECD Publishing.
    6. Daniel Kahneman, 2003. "Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1449-1475, December.
    7. C. E. Jager, 2017. "A Question of Trust: the Pursuit of Consumer Trust in the Financial Sector by Means of EU Legislation," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 25-49, March.
    8. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2002. "Information and the Change in the Paradigm in Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(3), pages 460-501, June.
    9. Niclas Berggren & Henrik Jordahl, 2006. "Free to Trust: Economic Freedom and Social Capital," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 141-169, May.
    10. S. Nessel, 2019. "Consumer Policy in 28 EU Member States: An Empirical Assessment in Four Dimensions," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 455-482, December.
    11. Petteri Repo & Päivi Timonen, 2017. "Regime Market Performance Analysis: Informing European Consumer Policy," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 125-143, March.
    12. Reisch, Lucia A. & Zhao, Min, 2017. "Behavioural economics, consumer behaviour and consumer policy: state of the art," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 190-206, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. L. Mundaca & H. Moncreiff, 2021. "New Perspectives on Green Energy Defaults," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 357-383, September.
    2. Andor, Mark A. & Fels, Katja M., 2018. "Behavioral Economics and Energy Conservation – A Systematic Review of Non-price Interventions and Their Causal Effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 178-210.
    3. K. P. Purnhagen & E. Herpen & S. Kamps & F. Michetti, 2021. "Oversized Area Indications on Bonus Packs Fail to Affect Consumers’ Transactional Decisions—More Experimental Evidence on the Mars Case," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 385-406, September.
    4. M. H. Austgulen, 2020. "Understanding National Preferences in EU Consumer Policy: A Regime Approach," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 767-798, December.
    5. Marek Hudik, 2019. "Two interpretations of the rational choice theory and the relevance of behavioral critique," Rationality and Society, , vol. 31(4), pages 464-489, November.
    6. Creutzig, Felix, 2020. "Limits to Liberalism: Considerations for the Anthropocene," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    7. Scheaf, David J. & Davis, Blakley C. & Webb, Justin W. & Coombs, Joseph E. & Borns, Jared & Holloway, Garrett, 2018. "Signals' flexibility and interaction with visual cues: Insights from crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 720-741.
    8. Múñoz, Féliz-Fernando & Encinar, María-Isabel & Cañibano, Carolina, 2016. "Agents, interaction, and economic laws: An analytical framework for understanding different economic theories," Working Papers in Economic Theory 2016/05, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), Department of Economic Analysis (Economic Theory and Economic History).
    9. Winter, Peter, 2007. "Managerial Risk Accounting and Control – A German perspective," MPRA Paper 8185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Charles M. A. Clark, 2021. "Editor’s Introduction: Economics and the Option for the Poor," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(4), pages 1051-1059, September.
    11. Joshua Hall & Robert Lawson, 2008. "Theory and evidence on economic freedom and economic growth: A comment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 15(18), pages 1-6.
    12. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor, 2016. "Does Trust Matter for Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Cross-Section of Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, March.
    13. Kelly, Scott & Shipworth, Michelle & Shipworth, David & Gentry, Michael & Wright, Andrew & Pollitt, Michael & Crawford-Brown, Doug & Lomas, Kevin, 2013. "Predicting the diversity of internal temperatures from the English residential sector using panel methods," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 601-621.
    14. Catherine Locatelli & Sylvain Rossiaud, 2011. "A neoinstitutionalist interpretation of the changes in the Russian oil model," Post-Print halshs-00631115, HAL.
    15. White, Reilly & Marinakis, Yorgos & Islam, Nazrul & Walsh, Steven, 2020. "Is Bitcoin a currency, a technology-based product, or something else?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    16. Adamson, Jordan, 2020. "Political institutions, resources, and war: Theory and evidence from ancient Rome," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Coleman, S., 2010. "Russian Election Reform and the Effect of Social Conformity on Voting and the Party System: 2007 and 2008," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, issue 5, pages 73-90.
    18. Das, Willy & Das, Satyasiba, 2018. "Role of Heuristic Principles On Crowd-Funder's Investment Decision Making," 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disruptive Change (Dubrovnik, 2018), in: 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disrupt, pages 443-452, Governance Research and Development Centre (CIRU), Zagreb.
    19. Soumyananda Dinda, 2014. "Inclusive growth through creation of human and social capital," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(10), pages 878-895, October.
    20. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "The If, How and Where of assessing sustainable resource use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 274-283.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jcopol:v:45:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10603-022-09523-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.