Ralph Nader Suggests To Consumers Reading 'Consumer Reports' Before Impulse Buying

Source: Consumer Reports

Have you every shopped with that seemingly haunting 'impulse'?  You know what I mean.  Walk into a store and the feeling arises immediately when viewing a product of interest with such an 'urge to purchase' that you can hardly leave the store -- that is until you buy the product occupying not only your mind -- but your life temporarily?  Well, if you have and later had the thought of regret, then the Consumer Activist Ralph Nader has some advice for you below worth reading before your next purchase.



As I have stated before on this blog post, I receive new content via e-mail from the wonderful website 'Nader.org' -- Ralph Nader's website.  Here is a letter regarding the magazine 'Consumer Report' worth reading before going out to purchase your next product:

On my weekly radio show, I recently interviewed Liam McCormack, the head of testing for Consumer Reports (CR)—a resource and monthly magazine with seven million print and online  subscribers. It has always been a wonder to me why seventymillion people don’t take advantage of this honest, non-profit testing organization that gives you the lowdown on just about every kind of consumer product—and some services—that you buy regularly.

Year after year, month after month, Consumer Reports proves its worth to consumers through money saved, aggravation avoided and safety advanced. Founded in 1936, this venerable  organization takes no advertising and is as incorruptible as  any organization can possibly be.

Here are just a few examples of naming names and suggesting better purchases:

–“AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon cost an average of $960 a year. We’ll tell you about the carrier that provides better voice quality and costs $360 a year. You can save $600 a year.”

–Comparing price, selection and service of more than 20 chain retailers, consumer satisfaction scored Costco higher than Walmart.

–You’ve heard the Geico insurance ads—“15 minutes” saving you “15 percent.” CR advises you compare insurance companies every two or three years, adding, “After 20 years with Geico, one of our readers switched to highly-rated Amica insurance companies and saved $793 on her coverage.

–The most expensive brands, whether cars or mattresses, are not often the best buy, whether it is a Mercedes-Benz car or an Apple computer, or a Serta mattress. CR’s own testing results often show other brands—including lesser known ones, are a better deal for a variety of reasons—including price and performance.

To show how much you can save and how you pay for rewarding name-brand advertisers, Consumer Reports tested the “Serta Comfort Smart Support HB300Q,” which costs $2,275, and “had unimpressive back support.” By contrast, the “Denver Mattress Doctor’s Choice” received a CR top-rating with “very good back support” and is priced at $500!

CR’s food testing and advice can save your family hundreds of dollars a year while protecting your health and saving you additional health care expenses.

One of the magazine’s innovations was their Annual Auto Issue. Let’s say you’re thinking about buying a car or selling a car. You’ll receive “detailed ratings, reliability, recommendations, photos and base price ranges for 240+ recently tested cars and trucks.”

CR doesn’t shy away from controversy. It writes that doctors recommending CT scans include many physicians who “underestimate the risk of CT scans,” whose substantial radiation can “increase your risk of cancer.” “Always ask your doctor why the scan is being ordered and if your problem could be managed without it,” urges CR. As with other cautions, CR backs such statements up with hard evidence in its magazine.

With various offerings, the subscription is $30 a year and you should receive the famous CR’s Buying Guide and another book titled, Should I Eat This? which you will find very nutritious.

As someone who has received thousands of complaints from consumers over the years, pardon me if I continue to wonder why so many consumers continue to act against their own perceived self-interests.

If you’re already a CR subscriber and you want to get the attention of friends whom you think can benefit from its comparative ratings and other advice, try a little reverse psychology: to wit, I submit the following:

10 Ways to Shaft Yourself as a Consumer

1) Buy before you think

2) Buy before you read

3) Buy before you ask questions

4) Buy before you can afford to buy

5) Buy before you see through the seller’s smile and smooth tongue

6) Buy before you comparison shop

7) Buy when you are tired or hungry

8) Buy when you are rushed

9) Buy to dote on your child or because your child demands the product

10) Buy just to keep up with your friends or neighbors

 Marketing experts rely on a 'tool box' of supplies to reel you into purchasing a given consumer product.  Technology has been the most recent 'tool' added to the 'tool box'.  While a shopper might arrive at an aisle ready to purchase a given beauty product - BAM - out of the blue, their cell phone rings with a coupon for a competitor beauty product.



  How are consumers supposed to stay focused after their hours of reading 'Consumer Reports' magazine while being inundated with 'real time' coupons to try to persuade a change of heart?  



Choosing a product is difficult in today's world with an overload with information.  Cost has no meaning.  Behind cost can be a deceptive manufacturer's stamp which unveils the true value of the product.  Be careful.



Conclusion....



Ralph Nader has a big point regarding the research contained in the 'Consumer Reports' magazine.  In a world where information is free flowing and entangled in various web pages after web pages, at least there is still a publication dedicated to providing consumers with the best 'researched' choice.  The magazine is well researched.  Although, the competition is the entire 'internet' coupled to the 'attention deficit disorder' which each of us suffer from.  What do I speak of?



To end the post, think about the last purchase in which involved your opinion.  How well researched was your purchase?  Now that you are aware of the 'Consumer Reports' -- would you have consulted the magazine before the purchase?  How inclined are you to 'impulse' shop?  I admit that I have little patience and am very prone to 'impulse shop' to relieve my 'shopping anxiety.  Maybe I will subscribe to 'Consumer Reports' to educate myself.  Especially since I love to read.  Why not read about my next purchase?





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