The Average Consumer Benchmark From a Behavioural Perspective

Abstract

There are two general assumptions underlying the average consumer benchmark as applied by the CJEU. Firstly, the CJEU has a tendency towards viewing the average consumer as a rational decision-maker. This assumption is highly problematic from a behavioural perspective, as many studies have shown that consumers often do not act rationally. People have difficulty dealing with complex or large amounts of information and consumer decision-making is often flawed because of so-called biases. Secondly, the average consumer benchmark has as a basis the assumption that consumers behave similarly, and that the average consumer benchmark, therefore, more-or-less accurately represents ‘standard consumer behaviour’. Similar to the rationality assumption, this assumption is problematic from the point of view of consumer behaviour. Consumers in many ways differ from one another in their decision-making, making it difficult to work with the concept of an average consumer. For example, consumers significantly differ in terms of pre-existing knowledge and the degree of involvement consumers have with specific products. Also differences in personality and culture create significant differences in behaviour between consumers.