Consumers are increasingly venting their dissatisfaction online through viral videos, negative comments and blog posts. The…
Queue for iPad 2 in Sydney: green activists targeting companies and governments should realise that those ‘enemies’ reflect the values of the money and consumption-hungry populace.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The recent news out of the RIO+20 summit is dire. No collective pre-agreement, no institutional change, no investment. The difference between RIO+20 and Kyoto was that at least Kyoto created an agreement…
Carbon double-take: shoppers will turn to eco-friendly groceries, mainly when they’re cheap.
Flickr/Bruce A Stockwell
If everyday items were labelled according to the carbon emissions embodied in them, would shoppers change what they buy? And if they did, would it make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Voluntary…
Christmas retail performance hasn’t been pretty this year.
The lead up to Christmas inevitably draws our attention to the actions and performance of retailers. This December there have been very few tales of cheer. Major players such as JB Hi Fi, Billabong and…
The claim of “free to roam” is being challenged by the consumer regulator.
Christmas is coming, which means consumers are out looking for great deals to fill stockings and feed the family. And for retailers and manufacturers, the temptation to add “spin” to their marketing is…
Well-intentioned credit protection regulations could make it hard for some people to secure loans.
AAP
The Federal Government has taken significant steps in recent years to protect consumers from predatory lending practices, such as very high-interest “payday loans”. An unfortunate, though surely unintentional…
Price-gouging might occur under the carbon tax regime, but market discipline will keep it in check.
Flickr/dmcneil
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced that the government will provide the competition watchdog with almost $13 million in extra funding to tackle carbon tax-related price-gouging. In this context…
There are a lot of natural things you wouldn’t want to eat.
Timothy Valentine/Flickr
Producers and retailers of everything from toilet paper to homes want you to believe that their product is “green”. More are “greenwashing” their products. Greenwashing is the misleading claims of environmental…
Most families with at least one child say they are ‘comfortable’ with their finances at just under $80,000, according to latest figures from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research.
Flickr, Meredith Farkas.
Global fashion sensation Zara has opened its first Melbourne store after launching in Sydney in April, and if local retailers aren’t gearing up for a fight, they should be. For its Australian debut, Zara…
Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor of Business, Department of Marketing and Department of Business, Government and Society, University of Texas at Austin