Critical consumer issues in St. Lucia: An examination of consumer challenges and related learning among rural adults.

摘要

Consumer education is a relatively new and growing interest in St. Lucia, but at present, neither the government nor the National Consumer Association has established a consumer education program to address the growing consumer concerns in the country.;The purpose of this study was to examine consumer issues and related learning among rural adults in St. Lucia; a group which is perhaps the most disadvantaged in terms of levels of education, income, and access to resources that may help to prevent and mediate consumer concerns. The specific research questions examined were: What is the nature of problems experienced by rural St. Lucian adult consumers in the marketplace? How do rural St. Lucian adult consumers solve the challenges they encounter in the marketplace? What is it like for rural St. Lucian adult consumers as they go about trying to learn to solve the consumer issues they face? What do rural St. Lucian adult consumers perceive to be the requisites for effective decision-making in the marketplace? A rational for the study was that, while the hallmarks of effective consumer education may not be culturally or regionally-specific, the nature of the problems in Caribbean rural areas may be unique.;This study used a mixed method approach called the sequential exploratory research design (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). In the first phase, two focus groups were held with eight individuals in each. In the second phase, 500 participants were surveyed orally through door-to-door contact.;The study revealed that middle income rural adult consumers feel they experience more problems in the marketplace than those with each lower or higher level of income. Place of residence was related in important ways to how rural adult St. Lucian consumers think and learn about consumer issues.;The findings further indicated that information from family, friends, neighbors and co-workers is very important for rural adult consumers when making purchasing decisions. Middle income rural adult St. Lucian consumers in particular seek more information and are comfortable with using more strategies than the lower and higher income consumers.