This research addresses the economic impact of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID 19) pandemic on consumers and the global economy. It provides an overview of member State responses during the pandemic and suggests actions that consumer protection authorities might take to address future challenges. Consumer protection laws and policies have proven effective in dealing with the issues faced by consumers at the national, regional and multilateral levels. Consumer protection agencies have taken actions in response to the challenges arising from the unprecedented crisis in a timely, appropriate and effective manner, drawing on the United Nations guidelines for consumer protection. However, agencies continue to face challenges exacerbated by the pandemic in two key areas, namely, consumer protection in digital markets, in particular with regard to vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers, and international cooperation in law enforcement.
I understand that future challenges after the pandemic should consider cooperative research, development and production of vaccines on the one hand. And with regard to the markets, there are no longer excuses to make the cost structures of consumer products transparent and to highlight, socially or from the State, the companies that are socially responsible when determining prices.
Federico Del Giorgio Solfa Currently, one element of the changing dynamics of the global economy, which may be critical for the effectiveness of diversification-oriented policies, is the digital wave and its impact on production processes and business models. One of these effects is that new digital technologies offer more possibilities for customizing production and for providing real-time data on consumer behavior and real-time transmission via the industrial Internet for design and production decisions. This could make value chains more demand-driven, and bring production and pre-production stages closer to final markets. Ownership and accessibility of consumer behavior and preferences data, as well as data analysis skills, will be key determinants of value-added distribution in these digital value chains. To the extent that knowledge of consumer preferences and behavior is intangible in the production of goods, and leads to winner-take-all market structures, new products that match consumers' expectations even slightly compared to traditional goods may allow new producers to capture an entire market.
The digital economy has offered great opportunities to consumers amid the COVID-19 crisis. Electronic commerce of goods and services is booming as consumers increasingly rely on digital platforms for online shopping, virtual meetings, and educational purposes. However, the digital economy is also a source of some of the greatest challenges to consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Challenges include the proliferation of price gouging for medical equipment and basic consumer goods; the rise of misleading and deceptive online marketing techniques exploiting consumers by falsely claiming that a product can prevent or cure an infection of the virus; and other scams such as financial fraud and fishing schemes. Moreover, the digital divide increased the gap for vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers.
https://www.unescwa.org/events/consumer-protection-aftermath-covid-19-pandemic-focus-digitalization
Mohammed Abdul Imran Khan
Thank you very much, you have dealt with these issues at length, all thanks to the attached source.
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