Everyday consumers are confronted with numerous choices that are accompanied by a myriad of information that needs to be processed and evaluated. Against this backdrop, the notion of a rational consumer, who always takes into account all available information to reach a decision, not always seems to hold true. Current consumer policy therefore starts to rather focus on actual consumer behavior and the way decisions are made in order to formulate policy accordingly. Building on real consumer behavior, decision context is to be established where consumers are empowered to responsibly make the best choice for themselves.
The discussion “Lost in the consumption jungle? Caught between protection and paternalism” is held by invitation of NovoArgumente. Along with Elvira Dobrinski-Weiss (Speaker for Consumer Policy of the SPD fraction in the German Parliament), Jan Mücke (Director of the German Tabacco Association) and Johannes Richardt (Chief Editor of NovoArgumente) Dr. Jana Diels from ConPolicy is contributing to the debate.