CONSUMER REPORTS
SIR.—I was very glad when I saw Leslie Adrian's notice of the article in The Manager by Mr. Stanley Alderson which dealt with consumer reports as pub- lished in Shopper's Guide and in this Association's Publication Which?
Mr. Alderson's reply in your issue of November 14 is really not much clearer than his original some- . What incoherent article. Only one of his statements seems concrete enough to be considered seriously. 'The main function of consumer reports is to enable People to get better value for their money—and, generally speaking, they get better value at the ex- pense of manufacturers.'
Even though I have tried very hard to evaluate this statement from the point of view of the manufacturer,
I cannot agree with it. Certainly, in an attempt to evaluate it from the point of view of the economy at
• large, one has to come to the conclusion that it is utter nonsense. The only reason why some manufac- turers who produce goods which are not as good value for money as those of their competitors can stay in business or even prosper is that they are sell- ing to ignorant consumers. It may also be that through their various methods of sales promotion some of the manufacturers concerned may have helped to confuse, perhaps even mislead, the naive consumers.
If as a result of consumer reports manufacturers of this kind find that their shares of the market (and Perhaps also their profit margins) shrink, that surely is in the interest of the economy—all of us. As manu- facturers and other commercial interests are so often prone to say when discussing consumer protection, We are all consumers after all.'
Mr. Alderson, in his letter, says that, just as the Publishers of Which? and Shopper's Guide are for better products, he is for better Consumer reports. Mr. Alderson adduced much miscellaneous economics in his article and letter; may I just say that The value for money that members of the Consumer Advisory Council or of the Consumers' Association get is very high. In the case of my own Association the more money we get (from sources other than industry and trade) the better will be our reports.—Yours faith- fully,
Consumers' Association, Ltd., 7 Great James's Street, WC1 CASPAR BROOK
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