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EPALE - Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe

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Consumer Education: 2.0 - the next chapter

Consumer education can support individuals in participating in the marketplace by making thoughtful and informed decisions. Get to know initiatives and strategies to increase critical consumer skills.

Consumer education

According to UNESCO, almost 800 million adults lack basic literacy skills in economic, political, and digital spheres, resulting in people struggling as they cannot meet their consumer needs and participate in all social worlds online. This can negatively affect their personal growth and, in the long-term, impede socioeconomic development. Lack of basic literacy skills is a vicious circle as it affects our decisions in different aspects of social life, such as health, income, as well as financial and social opportunities.

Consumer Education

Consumer education, supporting individuals in participating in the marketplace by making thoughtful and informed decisions, refers to the development of consumers' skills, behaviours, and knowledge to be an active part of a consumer-oriented society. Consumer education, as one aspect of the lifelong learning process, focuses on:

  1. enhancing citizens' well-being by helping them understand their consumers' rights;

  2. supporting them in influencing the local and international economy;

  3. promoting a healthy lifestyle;

  4. contributing to global sustainability through informed decision-making. 

Consumer education is oriented towards the comprehension of the market's structures, applying a social approach, as it is based on the vivid relationship between the consumer and society. It helps people to analyse their individual consumer needs and, based on this knowledge, to be able to influence their decisions in the market on a national and international level. That is why consumer education must be not only part of the primary and secondary level of education, but also a strong aspect of adult education. 

Although being part of the declared European objectives, research shows that many adults lack sufficient skills for participating sustainably and responsibly in the marketplace - offline and online. This might limit their insight into how and in what way their personal consumer decisions have an impact on the environmental, economic, and social domains. Additionally, the easy access to online services and goods augmented the social inequalities and the Digital Divide gap, making limitless products and services available with a click of a button without providing insight into their production ways and often veiling their financial consequences. 

In 2015, data revealed that the majority of consumers were uncertain about the protection of their (on- and offline) rights. This is even more evident in older people, as they even less often acquire the needed consumer skills to participate effectively in the digital society. Against this background, it becomes clear that the thorough evaluation of the consumers' landscape, accompanied by the assessment of the needs and interventions in consumer education, is crucial and will remain so for the next decades. In stark contrast, however, only the minority of concerned consumers do seek further information or help, although expressing concerns about digital frauds, data protection, and cybersecurity.

EU initiatives

In view of this, the European Commission has constituted various policies to ensure consumer safety and rights in the constantly changing domains of online trading, energy supplies and financial services, including:

  • Consumer protection policy

  • Consumer protection law

  • Solving consumer disputes

  • International cooperation on product safety

  • Product safety

  • Consumer protection in financial services

  • Circular economy

  • Energy supply: policy information

  • Transport emissions

The Europe 2020 Strategy, for example, aims at smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and is in line with the New European Consumer Agenda (2020). The objectives of the Agenda are to empower European consumers to be part of the digital and green transition, and to further the resilience and protection of consumers during and after the pandemic. The needs of vulnerable groups of consumers, such as older people or people with disabilities, remain a priority for the Commission. Moreover, aligning the key national policies with the economic and social challenges is an integral part of the strategy for international cooperation in the next five years. 

During the EAEA Annual Conference 2022 on "Transformative Learning and Values", consumer education was discussed extensively. Different discussions and interactive workshops on European Policy, Digital Transition, and Green Transition took place and highlighted the critical role of consumer education in adult learning and education. On top of that, the updated EAEA manifesto 2019 outlines the transformative possibilities of adult learning and how it can contribute to combating the EU challenges.

Over the last decade, several initiatives have taken place to empower different stakeholders and enhance their knowledge and participation in the digital marketplace. For instance:

  1. DOLCETA: a multilingual online educational resource that informs not only the general public, but also the teachers of students and adults;

  2. Europa Diary: a multilingual guide for adolescents (15-18 years of age) and teachers focused on consumer affairs; 

  3. TRACE: training for personnel of national consumer organisations; 

  4. the European Integrated Master Programme: is intended to support students of EU universities to work in EU consumer organisations;

  5. Consumer Classroom: a multilingual pan-European website for teachers. This online community includes a European library on consumer education accompanied by tools which facilitate the collaboration among teachers and students, as well as the interaction between the teachers. 

Although Internet access facilitates multidimensional information, equal access remains an obstacle, especially for disadvantaged groups of European citizens. After the evaluation of consumer education, information and capacity-building actions in 2011, the needs of the different consumer groups have been identified. Through the different policies and initiatives, the European Union aims the frequent evaluation of the new consumer education initiatives to preserve their effectiveness and sustainability. At the same time, it has a complementary role in understanding consumer attitudes and needs and assists national-level actions. For example, Consumer Classroom is one of the recent educational platforms which intends to inform and mobilise teachers from all over Europe. 

Future educational strategies should encourage people to participate in literacy programmes, which should focus on cultivating critical consumer literacy competencies and skills to overcome the obstacles to global growth and opt for accomplishing collective goals. Additionally, technology should develop around the needs of all target groups and act as a connecting factor that serves a pluralistic society of equals, rather than an additional obstacle to overcome.

More information on EPALE:

Opening photo by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

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Themes addressed
Digital inclusion
Equality
Basic skills
Digital skills
Policy and funding

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