This course is an introduction to consumer affairs. Consumer Studies 1202 is designed to help students become enlightened purchasers of goods and services. Its focus is on the consumer in the marketplace, seeking to satisfy needs and wants. The modern marketplace is complex and confusing at times for even the astute buyer. The abundance of commodities, variations in quality, emotional appeal of advertising, fraudulent practices, and the wide use of technical language are just a few of market realities. Other forces not so visible but perhaps more difficult to cope with include built-in obsolescence, artificial control of supply and demand to increase profits, and emphasis on materialism.
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