Q1. [3] medium thorough-understanding
A consumer buys a packaged food item that turns out to be adulterated, but hesitates to complain because she feels it is 'not worth the trouble.' What structural features of the marketplace make individual consumers feel powerless against sellers, even when they have been wronged?
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:26 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Several structural features make individual consumers feel powerless:
- Information imbalance: Sellers know far more about their products than buyers. Without proper labelling or quality certification, consumers cannot easily detect adulteration at the time of purchase.
- Lack of organisation: Individual consumers act alone against organised businesses. Most purchases are small retail sales where cash memos are not issued, making evidence hard to gather.
- Costly and time-consuming redressal: The complaint process is cumbersome and expensive, often requiring lawyers and multiple visits, making it seem "not worth the trouble" for small purchases.
- Weak enforcement: Rules and regulations for market conduct are often not followed, and consumer awareness spreads slowly.
Source: Consumer Rights, Chapter 5 — Consumer Movement; Taking the Consumer Movement Forward
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Explanation
The examiner expects you to identify specific structural reasons (not just say "consumers are weak"). Draw from the text: information gap, lack of cash memos as evidence, expensive/slow redressal process, and weak law enforcement. Avoid vague phrases like "sellers are bad." Three clear, labelled points work well for 3 marks.