Consumers’ Empowerement for a New Marketing Paradigm

The marketing practices of the companies show that not all of them are observing ethical and moral standards and they manipulate the consumers. This paper has as main goal to examine the most usual unethical techniques, the present status of consumers’ power and how more power could work for a new marketing paradigm. There are many unethical marketing techniques which could be found in deceptive product recipes, packaging, promotion, prices and in other areas. Most consumers have no appropriate powers and tools to counteract the manipulation techniques and feel they have fewer rights than the marketers. The current state of empowerment of the consumer show that the European consumers are not in the best position in the market as the Consumer Empowerment Index proves. This matter of facts emphasizes a strong need for a better empowerment of the consumers. The consumer which has more power and wisely use it could improve the balance of power in the market. But the consumers should have a proactive buying behavior in order to get such results. These revolutionary consumers attack the structural roots of the social, economic and political problems which produces a new market ideology as a part of the new tier of transnational institutional ideology. This consumer behavior may have a strong influence toward a new marketing paradigm.