Approaches and Techniques of Consumer Education

Consumers need consumer education to build their capacity to act as rational and responsible consumers in the market place;

Businesspersons need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical businesspersons, to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well-being for a profit, rather than profiteer from them; and

Manufacturers need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical manufacturers to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well-being, also for a profit and not mislead consumers to profiteer from them.

The information guide on consumer rights and responsibilities, on codes of conduct and business ethics, and product labelling gives the adequate materials to provide consumer education to the three groups in society who can collectively contribute to ethical business practices and bring about a situation for greater consumer protection.

This module is designed to introduce such education to these three groups.

The purpose of this section is to share ideas and guidelines on approaches and techniques on how this consumer education module can be used in educating them.

There are many methods through which consumer education can be imparted. Here the three most popular and effective approaches and techniques selected for our purpose, namely how to:

Use lecture, story telling and case study methods;

Organise and conduct seminars;

Organise and conduct workshops

1. How to use lecture, story telling and case study methods to impart consumer education?

This section demonstrates how consumer educators can use lecture, story and case study methods to impart consumer education as contained in this module. The lecture method is used to disseminate education on the rights and responsibilities of consumers as contained in "Information Guide on Consumer Rights and Responsibilities." "Information Guide on Ethical Business Code of Conduct" is disseminated through the story telling method and "Information Guide on Product Labelling" is disseminated using the case study method. This approach is meant more as an illustration and an idea giver. It is a guide and not a blueprint. Changes particularly creative ones are encouraged.

Audience
We recognise in this module that the three groups namely the consumers, the businesspersons and manufacturers, need consumer education. Therefore, it is important that the audience comprise homogenised group categories like the general consumer group, the business group and the manufacturers group. It is recommended that the group categories be not mixed. This will avoid possible conflicts and increase greater awareness of the role of each group in consumer protection initiatives.

The number of the audience is important. The outreach and impact of the education message is less if the audience is too big. If it is too small, the atmosphere is less motivating, particularly to the educator. A judicious balance is required. Drawing from experience, the audience for this approach should not be less than 50 people, and not more than 100 people.

This approach is particularly suitable if we need to cover more people, and face the constraints of time.

The Venue
The selection of the venue for this approach is very important. First, it must have the capacity to accomodate the number of people invited. Second, it must be adequately comfortable and conducive for the education session with the required equipment and furniture. It must be accessible to all participants without much difficulty, particularly within the reach of public transport, and if not, transportation for participants to the venue should be arranged.

The Tentative Programme:

08.00 – 08.30:	Registration
08.30 – 09.00:	Opening, briefing and introductions
09.00 – 09.45:	Lecture: Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
09.45 – 10.00:	Break
10.00 – 10.45:	Story Telling: Ethical Business Code of Conduct
10.45 – 10.50:	Break
10.50 – 11.35:	Case Study: Importance of Product Labelling
11.35 – 12.00:	Assessment, evaluation and closing

Session Speakers
It is better to have three speakers for each of the three sessions. This will increase variety and reduce the monotony of having to listen to the same person throughout. There is, however, a need for an overall facilitator for the sessions. His or her role will be to facilitate the opening, briefing, introducing the speakers, facilitating the sessions, winding up, evaluating and closing.

A Guidelines on the use of lecture method

The Approach
The most common approach used in imparting consumer education is the lecture (ceramah) method. Here is a guide on how consumer educators can provide education regarding the rights and responsibilities of consumers;

The Topic: Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
The talk will cover the following:
- The role of the consumer as a member of the society;
- The value system that consumer can promote;
- The 8 rights of the consumers;
- The 5 responsibilities of consumers; and
- The 5 roles and contributions of consumer associations

The Preparation
The speaker must prepare the text and the visual. The text is already in the manual. What the speaker needs to do is prepare the visual. See annex-1 for an example on the rights and responsibilities of consumers. This is to be used as a transparency in an overhead projector in making the presentation.

The Presentation
The speaker must remember that he/she has only 45 minutes to make the presentation. It is more than adequate time for the given subject. The presentation must be made interesting by visuals and examples explaining the concepts and texts.

B Guidelines on the use of the story telling method

The Approach
Story telling is another common approach for education. The story must be interesting and should contain adequate substance for discussions and reflection.

The Topic: Code of Conduct for Ethical Business Ethics
The story telling method should cover the following aspects on the topic, namely;
- The importance of good business ethics;
- Characteristics of an ethical business;
- Role and responsibilities od ethical business;
- Contribution of ethical business towards consumer protection; and
- Business code of conduct

The Preparation
The consumer educator needs to prepare a relevant and suitable story that will interest that participants, and motivate discussions to adequately cover the education topics. As an example, see annex-2, the story of Abdul Hassan.

The Presentation
The story teller must remember that he/she has only 45 minutes to tell the story and facilitate the discussion. It will be useful if this story and the questions for discussion are distributed as part of the presentation exercise. It will be a useful reference for following the story and discussion.

C Guidelines on the use of the case study method

The Approach
Case study method is another popular approach to impart education and training. For education on product labelling the best approach will be to take a case of an actual product labelling to make the study;

The Topic: Product Labelling
This case study method should cover the following aspects on the topic, namely:
- Product labelling and the importance of labelling;
- Key characteristics of good product labelling;
- Role and responsibilities of manufacturers in product labelling; and
- Labelling and role of consumers

The Preparation
The consumer educator needs to select a relevant case for study that will interest the participants and motivate discussion to adequately cover the topics. An example is provided in annex-3, Case Study of Indocafe label.

The Presentation
The case study facilitator must remember that he/she has only 45 minutes to tell the story and facilitate the discussion. The case and the questions for discussion needs to be distributed to all participants as part of the presentation exercise.

2. Guidelines on how to organise a seminar to impart consumer education

Another very effective way to impart consumer education is through a seminar. This is particularly useful if more time and resources are available. Here are seven guidelines or checklists on how to organise and conduct a half-day consumer education seminar using the module.

Selection of participants: This module caters for three groups. It is important that groups are selected from the same category, i.e. general consumers, businesspersons and manufacturers.

Number of participants: Too big a group of participants will not allow for the rendering of an effective seminar. Likewise too small a group does not inspire a motivating environment. The best number, according to experience of educators is a group between 40 – 50 people.

Invitation of participants: The quality of the education seminar will depend on the quality of participants invited. We must be careful to ensure that all efforts are made to invite the right people.

Selection of topics: The topics of the seminar will follow the contents as the basis for presentation and discussions.

Seminar programme: A tentative seminar programme can be as follows:

08.00 – 08.30:	Registration
08.30 – 09.15:	Opening, briefing and introductions
09.15 – 10.15:	Presentation of Topic 1 (according to the group category) and discussions
10.15 – 10.30:	Break
10.30 – 11.30:	Presentation of Topic 2 and discussions
11.30 – 12.30:	Presentation of Topic 3 and discussions
12.30 – 01.15:	Recapitulation, assessment, evaluation and closing
01.15 – 02.00:	Lunch

Venue: Select an appropriate venue with adequate facilities that is conducive to organising and conducting the seminar.

Preparation of materials: Make available the module to the participants both as a guide and reference material.

Seminar facilitator: The consumer educator familiar with the module will be the seminar facilitator.

3. Guidelines on how to organise a workshop to impart consumer education

There is a general consensus among educators that the workshop method is the most effective way to educate adults. The approach enables participants to brainstorm, share knowledge and experience and generate new and functional knowledge for action. The workshop method however requires more time and resources. Here are 7 guidelines on how to organise and conduct a one consumer group education seminar using the module.

Selection of participants: The participants to the workshop are selected based on experience, leadership capabilities and those who are capable of initiating follow up action. For our purposes, groups need to be selected from the same category, i.e. general consumers, businesspersons and manufacturers.

Number of participants: Participants to the workshop are often limited to not more than 40 participants. The ideal number based on experience is 24 participants.

Invitation of participants: The quality of the workshop, like for a seminar, will depend on the quality of participants invited. We must be careful to ensure that all efforts are made to invite the right people.

Selection of topics: The topics of the workshop will follow the module contents as the basis for brainstorming, sharing experiences and discussions.

Guide workshop programme: A tentative workshop programme:

08.00 – 08.30:	Registration
08.30 – 09.15:	Opening, briefing and introductions
09.15 – 10.15:	Workshop 1: Discussion on: What is the role of a consumer as a member of society? What values can the consumer promote? What are the universal consumer rights? What are the consumer responsibilities? What are the role and contributions of consumer associations?
Participants are divided into small groups of not more than 10 in a group. The group will select one facilitator and one reporter from amongst the members. The facilitator will facilitate the workshop discussion, giving 10 minutes for each question. The reporter will record the key points for presentation in the plenary. The consumer educator will be the workshop facilitator. He will provide the synthesis, drawing from the information guide of the module, after the presentation.
10.15 – 10.30:	Break
10.30 – 11.30:	Plenary 1: Presentation of workshop discussions and synthesis from the plenary chair
11.30 – 12.30:	Workshop 2: Discussion on: What is the importance of good business ethics? What are the characteristics of ethical business? What are the roles and responsibilities of an ethical business? What contributions can good governance make towards consumer protection and national development? What are the elements for an ethical code of conduct for business?
The same procedures are to be adopted as for workshop 1. It is proposed the same members are retained in their own workshop. However, this time the groups will elect a new facilitator and a new work group.
12.30 – 01.15:	Lunch
01.15 – 02.00:	Plenary 2 (Same procedure as plenary 1) Workshop 3: Discussion on What is product labelling and the importance of labelling? What are the key characteristics of good product labelling? What are the roles and responsibilities of manufacturers in labelling? What can consumers do to ensure proper product labelling?
The same procedure and participants as in workshop 1 and 2. However, the participants will select a new facilitator and reporter to give more people the opportunity to learn.
03.30 – 04.00:	Plenary 3 (Same procedures as plenary 1 and 2)
04.00 – 04.15:	Break
04.15 – 05.00:	Review, assessment, evaluation and close.

Venue: Select an appropriate venue with adequate facilities that is conducive to organising and conducting the workshop.

Preparation of materials: Make the module available to the participants both as a guide and reference material, after the workshop.

Seminar facilitator: The consumer educator familiar with the module will be the workshop facilitator.