CONSUMERS AWARENESS ASSESSMENT SURVEY 2019 IN THE PROVINCE OF CAGAYAN
The business industry is worthless without its clientele, the consumers. They are the basic foundation of marketing. Because middle managers or even industry magnates are interested in learning what their target customer’s desire, several plausible research are undertaken on this topic. The business sectors and industries must also provide their target customers with more than just their products. Moreover, they must oversee that methods to safeguard their interests and the interests of the customers are included in some of their items. It is through this mechanism that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) interacts with the business sectors. The organization controls the networks that link the marketplace and the public. Thus, providing the initiative to make the consumers aware of the different programs and more importantly their rights. This 2019 Consumer Awareness Assessment Survey in the province of Cagayan was conceptualized and implemented to measure the awareness of consumers on their rights and responsibilities and their knowledge of related provisions of the Consumer Act of the Philippines and other related Trade and Industry laws. A questionnaire was utilized to generate the responses from the different sectors of seven municipalities and one city of Cagayan namely; Aparri, Baggao, Claveria, Gattaran, Gonzaga, Sanchez Mira, Tuao and Tuguegarao City. The study used the descriptive-normative method of research. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the profile of the respondents like percentages, frequency counts and mean. A questionnaire was utilized to gather information from the respondents which consisted of two parts: Part 1 on the profile of the respondents and Part II consisted of the questions pertinent to the study being covered such as their awareness on the different consumer rights and responsibilities and its utilities to remedy certain violations which may be possibly committed by establishments. This survey revealed that the respondents are aware of their rights and responsibilities coupled with the services available for them by the different agencies of the government. However, the respondents are slightly aware of the different programs of the Department of Trade and Industry, thus recommends that heighten collaborative efforts of the different sectors of the society to emphasize more programs on consumer awareness to build knowledge, proficiency, values, abilities and talents directed towards the growth and development of an aware and responsible consumer, a consumer education program should be given priority and be developed to arouse and re-kindle the consumers over and over until complete awareness on their different rights (right to basic needs, right to safety, right to healthy environment, right to choice, right to information, right to consumer education, right to representation, right to redress) is fully recognized, appreciated and comprehended and the agency should reinforce and train barangay officials to help barangays escalate awareness on consumer activism in their respective barangays and further promote consumers welfare in the macro environment.
basic rights, survey, consumer rights, consumer, Consumer Act of the Philippines, consumer welfare desk, Bagwis Program, consumer information materials