Quality control: The origins of the Australian Consumers' Association

Amanda McLeod

Business History, 2008, vol. 50, issue 1, 79-98

Abstract: The Australian Consumers' Association (ACA) was formed in 1959 in response to increasing market competition, falling product standards and mass manipulation by marketers. Despite being the first, largest and most influential consumer organization in Australia, the Association and the origin of the Australian consumer movement have been little studied. From its inception, the ACA acted as mass production's quality controller, directing its fire against the mass marketing methods that obscured rational consumer choice. But rather than rejecting the dual principles of mass production and mass consumption, the ACA sought to reform the system by equipping rational, informed consumers with independent, scientific information about products.

Keywords: Australian Consumers' Association; advertising; business; consumer; consumer affairs; consumerism; consumer protection; demand management; marketing; market research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1080/00076790701785664

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