The Role of Consumers in the Achievement of Corporate Sustainability through the Reduction of Unfair Commercial Practices

Borko Mihajlović
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Borko Mihajlović: Faculty of Law, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac 34000, Serbia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-20

Abstract: The subject of this article is a determination of the potential of the prohibition of unfair commercial practice, as an institution of consumer law, established to strengthen consumers’ protection, to contribute to the achievement of corporate sustainability. The main objective of the paper is the identification of situations in which certain companies’ actions may at the same time be considered as unsustainable and socially irresponsible behavior, as well as unfair commercial practice. There are three such characteristic situations that were the subject of thorough analysis in the paper: (1) company’s constantly invoking to the concepts of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in its marketing activities, which is essentially incorrect because the company in practice breaches some of the basic postulates of these concepts, (2) breach of company’s code of conduct which contains the principles of corporate sustainability and CSR, and which the company has undertaken to be bound, (3) conducting many concrete acts which represent unfair commercial practice, and simultaneously have negative impact on the corporate sustainability and CSR. From the analysis of these three situations arises the conclusion that there is a possibility for indirect legal sanctioning of the unsustainable and socially irresponsible behavior of companies through the application of the consumer law rules on the prohibition of unfair commercial practice.

Keywords: unfair commercial practices; corporate sustainability; corporate social responsibility; CSR claims; sustainability claims; corporate sustainability codes of conduct (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:1009-:d:314738

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