Can Bonus Packs Mislead Consumers? : A Demonstration of How Behavioural Consumer Research Can Inform Unfair Commercial Practices Law on the Example of the ECJ's Mars Judgement

Title data

Purnhagen, Kai ; van Herpen, Erica:
Can Bonus Packs Mislead Consumers? : A Demonstration of How Behavioural Consumer Research Can Inform Unfair Commercial Practices Law on the Example of the ECJ's Mars Judgement.
In: Journal of Consumer Policy. Vol. 40 (2017) Issue 2 . - pp. 217-234.
ISSN 1573-0700
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-017-9345-0

Official URL:

Abstract in another language

The use of psychological findings in EU internal market regulation has gained interest, particularly in the area of unfair commercial practices. This study investigates consumer perceptions of bonus packs containing an oversized indication of the “extra” volume in the package, such as in the Mars case. The Mars case serves as a standard reference in EU unfair commercial practices law which is used as a benchmark to determine the “average consumer.” Our study demonstrates how an experiment can be set up to provide empirically based insights on whether a practice is “deceptive.” Results of our experiment show that consumers overestimate the extra volume when confronted with an oversized indication compared to control conditions, which is first empirical evidence that this practice is potentially deceptive.

Further data

Item Type:	Article in a journal
Refereed:	Yes
Institutions of the University:	Faculties > Faculty of Life Sciences: Food, Nutrition and Health > Chair Food Law Faculties > Faculty of Life Sciences: Food, Nutrition and Health > Chair Food Law > Chair Food Law - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kai Purnhagen Profile Fields > Emerging Fields > Innovation and Consumer Protection Profile Fields > Emerging Fields > Food and Health Sciences Research Institutions > Research Units > Research Centre for Consumer Law (FFV) Research Institutions > Research Units > Forschungsstelle für Deutsches und Europäisches Lebensmittelrecht Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Life Sciences: Food, Nutrition and Health Profile Fields Profile Fields > Emerging Fields Research Institutions Research Institutions > Research Units
Result of work at the UBT:	No
DDC Subjects:	300 Social sciences 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics 300 Social sciences > 340 Law 300 Social sciences > 380 Commerce, communications, transportation
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2020 09:20
Last Modified:	22 Jun 2020 09:29
URI:	https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/55547