ABSTRACT
Consumer policy has long been based on a view of the consumer as a rational homo oeconomicus who actively engages in a search for the best available product/service option, knows and considers all cost and benefits and follows her true preferences. Economic models are theoretically underpinned by the assumption that humans, and indeed consumers, behave in a generally rational and consistent manner in the sense that: they are motivated (solely) by expected utility maximization, are generally governed by purely selfish concerns, and have consistent time preferences and fungible income and assets. Fundamentally, behavioral economics is concerned with the question of how people actually behave in decision-making situations and how their choices can be improved. Consumer policy research has identified three distinctive types of consumers such as confident, vulnerable, and the responsible or ethical consumer that generally may occur in any person in various situations but can also be linked to sociodemographic groups of consumers.
