An investigative study of adult consumer education and lifelong learning needs in the United Kingdom and Latvia

Consumer education in Latvia is in the early stages of development and should be seen in the context of the rapidly changing society in the post‐Soviet era and the increasing influence of the marketplace, and Latvia's position as a new accession country. The Latvia University of Agriculture is in the process of developing an adult consumer education programme. A comparative study between the UK and Latvia was designed to test the hypothesis that many adult consumers lack knowledge and understanding of their consumer rights and responsibilities. A sample of adults in both countries completed a consumer rights questionnaire investigating attitude, knowledge and critical thinking ability. The UK questionnaire was modified, taking into account the different consumer environment in the two countries, to compare the need for adult consumer education in Latvia and the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom results showed that the group overall were not confident that they knew enough about consumer rights and legislation or to resolve consumer problems and were unsure about their consumer responsibilities. Levels of knowledge were poor, leaving adults vulnerable to exploitation in the marketplace, uninformed about their responsibilities to voice dissatisfaction about goods and services, and unaware of how their consumer behaviour can affect the wider community. Adult participants in Latvia thought that they lacked education in consumer legal rights and responsibilities and did not have the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to manage consumer problems effectively. Results in both countries indicate that adult consumer education is needed, supplemented by a comprehensive package of adult consumer education. Despite the cultural differences between the two countries, the analysis showed that similar adult consumer skills and attitudes were needed. This joint research has shown that this methodology could be used to determine adult consumer and life‐long consumer education needs in other European countries and internationally.