Energy prices and customer intertia

A recent BBC article speculated why customers don't bother to switch to the lowest priced provider and included some of my thoughts on the matter

Brands, Families, Consumption and Society

Parents feel under enormous pressure to provide children with high status brands to avoid them being picked upon and bullied. Valuing such possessions was a particular feature of UK family life. Could it be that craving such material possessions is a syptom of the search for self esteem that is absent due to a lack of quality time spent with parents. And do we as parents make sure that we set a good example ? Another report shows that UK children are amongst the unhappiest in the developed world and what they really want is time with parents rather than more stuff. Easier said that delivered when many parents are working long hours to make ends meet or to cover large mortgage payments etc !

Tesco in trouble for telling porkies

Tesco have had a TV advert banned because the images contained within were deemed misleading. This provides a good example of the substantiation doctrine and illustrates that it applies to images as well as text.

Beach Volleyball Anyone?

The decision by two female Beach Volleyball players to advertise a bookmaker on their bikini bottoms has been criticised as detailed here. Is this really any different to David Beckham in his underwear which was also controversial and, if not, is it really a gender issue at all?

Simple Products Consultation

The Goverment is running a consultation on how encourage financial services firms to offer simple products and how to make sure that consumers are aware of them. Full details can be found here, including a report that I was commissioned to write by the Treasury.

Super Complaint on Credit and Debit Card charges

Many customers are annnoyed to find that excessive (in their view !) fees are charged for payments using a debit/credit card online. A super complaint has now been filed which will be investigated by the OFT. No suprise to see Ryanair at the forefront of defending the practise !

Coca Cola Vitamin Water Ad Banned

An Adevrt for Coca Cola Vitamin Water has beed banned for mis-leading consumers.The ASA judged that the publ;ic would not expect a drank labelled as nutritious to contain five spoonfulls of sugar and, as a result, the ad was sufficiently misleading to require action. Only three customers complained and Coca Cola mounted a robust defence, but to no avail.

Minimum Price for Alcohol Proposed

Scotland proposed a minimum price for alcohol, but it never came to fruition. Now there are proposals for England and Wales. With health campaigners complaining that the proposed price is too low and the drinks industry hailing it as a pragmatic solution, it is quite clear that the business lobby has done its job effectively.