Key Trends in Consumer Policy

Background Paper to Creating Confident Consumers

May 2003

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Future Consumers

• Targeting Policy
• Older People
• Children
• Asian Peoples

Targeting Policy

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) and particularly the Consumer Information Service (CIS) have targeted Māori, Pacific peoples and low-income consumers as they are considered less able to be effective in asserting their rights and responsibilities in the marketplace because they are less able to: [2]

• access information to make informed consumer choices
• enforce their legal rights in the market
• sustain the loss as a result of an unsuccessful consumer transaction such as purchasing poor quality goods or a bad credit deal.

The Māori population is projected to reach 21% by 2051. [3] As with other ethnic groups, the Māori population will become increasingly older with half being more than 32 years of age by 2051. On current trends the Pacific population is growing at a rate 11 times faster than other groups and is expected to double by 2031.

MCA has no evidence to suggest that the rationale for targeting these consumer groups has changed. However, there are other identifiable consumer groups that can also benefit from targeted information.

Older People

At the time of the 2001 census there were more than 450,000 people over the age of 65. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is projected to comprise 26% of the population by 2051. The median income for those over the age of 65 was $13,100 compared to the median for all other New Zealanders of $18,500 in 2001. As our population ages and its buying power decreases, older consumers are most likely to demand better access to information to assist their purchasing decisions. MCA will have to prepare to meet that demand.

Children

Children make up 23% of the population and this figure has remained largely unchanged since 1991. However, significant decreases in the number of children are projected so that by 2051 children will comprise 16% of the population. By ethnic group, there are more children of Māori or Pacific descent than any other group. Access to the Internet varied greatly by ethnic group: 60% of Asian children usually lived in households with access to the Internet compared with 52% of European children, 25% of Māori children and 19% of Pacific children. Coupling this with information about the status of adult Māori consumers today, MCA's current targeting policy is likely to remain relevant for some years. MCA already targets children via its interactive "Consumerkids" website [4] which is also available in Māori. The website could be a foundation for future consumers to obtain information prior to entering into transactions, creating a demand for pre-emptive rather than post-failure consumer information.

Asian Peoples

Projections for the growth of the Asian population are based on a net gain of 4,000 immigrants per year until 2016. Provided this target is met, the Asian share of the population will almost double to 9% by 2016. In 2001, 85% of Asian people were able to speak English, with nearly a quarter (24%) speaking only English. In 2001 62% of the Asian population were living in households with Internet access. Although there are similar proportions of children in the Asian and total New Zealand populations (24% and 23% respectively), young people (those aged 15-24 years) made up a larger share of the Asian population. In 2001, those aged 15-24 years comprised 21% (50,991) of the Asian population-up from 18% (18,348) in 1991. This age group comprised 14% of the total New Zealand population in 2001. MCA may consider whether or not the rise in the numbers of Asian peoples requires the development of a specific information targeting strategy.

MCA must meet the challenges that an increasingly aged and culturally diverse population poses. We also have to be aware of other pointers on the spectrum. As children are introduced to technology at an early age, it is likely that the next generation of adult consumers will be more technologically sophisticated than today's adult consumers. Those consumers who are left behind in the technology trend are also those who MCA has traditionally targeted: Māori, Pacific Island and low-income earners.

[2] Review of Consumer Information Service, 1999

[3] "Projections" by the Statistics New Zealand are subject to uncertainty and are intended as an indicator rather than an exact forecast of future change.

[4] www.consumerkids.govt.nz

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