Awareness of consumer laws
95% are aware that laws exist to protect their consumer rights, compared to 94% in 2020 and 2018
71% Seek out extra information to confirm claims made by products, compared to 67% in 2020 and 61% in 2018.
45% report knowing at least a moderate amount about their rights.
1 in 4 consumers (24%) continue to answer 6 out of 10 statements correctly about their purchasing rights. In 2020 the figure was 26% and 19% in 2018.
Issues and consumer actions
55% of consumers report having at least 1 problem with a product or service in the last 2 years. In 2020 the figure was 49% and 56% in 2018.
67% of consumers took actions to try and resolve their problems. In 2020 the figure wass 73% and 72% in 2018.
Home-Based Telecommunication issues are trending downwards from 31% in 2018, 27% in 2020 to 25% in 2022.
Key reasons consumers don't take action to resolve issues:
- 36% are unsure what they could do to resolve it (24% in 2020 and 33% in 2018).
- 34% don’t think action would resolve it (26% in 2020 and 29% in 2018).
Consumert confidence in laws to protect them
Consumer confidence that New Zealand has adequate laws to protect them from being misled or cheated by businesses has decreased from 59% in 2020 to 53% in 2022.
72% agree that you can generally buy products and services and feel confident that businesses will do the right thing and not try to mislead consumer when making a purchase (74% in 2020 and 2018).
Consumer experience in getting redress may be better than the drop in confidence suggests.
70% of consumers who took action achieved a resolution to their problems (66% in 2020 and 74% in 2018).
Engagement with dispute resolution
83% of consumers said they are aware of at least 1 dispute resolution agency (84% in 2020 and 87% in 2018).
73% of consumers are aware of the Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand (74% in 2020 and 80% in 2018 and 2016).
Of the 67% who took actions to resolve their problems 10% went to the Disputes Tribunal (12% in 2020 and 5% in 2018).
44% agree there is adequate access to resolution services (42% in 2020 and 41% in 2018)
Consumers who have experienced a problem in the last 2 years are less likely to feel there is adequate access to dispute services, suggesting this perception could be tempered by negative experiences. (40% in 2022, 42% in 2020 and 41% in 2018)
Product safety
79% of consumers think about product safety’ always’ or ‘most of the time’ before making a purchase (80% in 2020).
Older consumers are more concerned than average about product safety. 87% of consumers aged 67 years and over think about whether a product will be safe to use before purchasing either ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’, compared to 79% of all consumers.
Other problem sectors
|
Building repairs |
Mobile telecom |
Electronics |
Travel / holiday |
Motor vehicles |
% of consumers within this sector who had a problem with a purchase |
24% |
21% |
19% |
18% |
15% |
% of those who took action in response to their problem |
71% |
60% |
66% |
52% |
57% |
% of those who'd taken action, and achieved a satisfactory resolution |
33% |
50% |
65% |
30% |
54% |