An examination of Irish adult consumer competence: implications for the targeting and content needs of consumer education programmes

Consumer education seeks to help the consumer cope with the complex, producer dominated, contemporary marketplace. However, research has shown that consumer education for adults in all EC member states is not adequate. In order for future consumer education to be optimised and beneficial it must be sensitive to the needs, thus the competence, of the recipients. As the literature suggests knowing how to be a rational, well informed consumer (cognitive competence) does not necessarily lead to rational behaviour (behavioural competence). Therefore to fully assess the consumer education needs of adults it is imperative to examine both their cognitive and behavioural competences. The specific aim of this research was to identify whether cognitive consumer competence affected behaviour, and secondly to identify the socio-demographic variables associated with cognitive competence. The research was carried out on a sample of 500 adults chosen from randomly selected sampling points. The data was analysed by SPSS-X. In the findings of the research a typology of five consumer types was developed using cluster analysis and then profiled demographically and behaviourally using both factor and discriminant analyses. The five clusters, labelled as Disinterested, Confused, Slightly Impulsive, Cautious Cue-Users and Complete, revealed distinctive consumer education needs, as cognitive competence was identified as a prerequisite but not a guarantee of competent behaviour in the case of some of the clusters. The findings also showed that age, education, marital status and social class all affected the level of cognitive competence. Recommendations on the future targeting and content needs of consumer education programmes were made based on the distinctive characteristics of the five identified consumer types, and in light of their differing receptiveness to consumer education efforts