INTRODUCTION

In his first Consumer address to the United States Congress in America in 1962, the then American President, J. F. Kennedy, spelt out four basic rights of the Consumer, they include:-

1.                 The right to Safety

2.                 The right to be Informed

3.                 The right to Choose and

4.                 The right to be Heard

Should all these rights of the Consumer be respected, the Consumer-Seller relationship in a marketing environment will be perfect. This, however, is hardly the case.

1.2        WHO IS A CUSTOMER?

Oluwatosim (2000) attempted a definition when she expressed the view that “the objective of every firm and the aggregate goal of the economy is to reach a target population known as the consumer”. Furthermore she opined that “the Consumer is the final recipient of the output of the production process. Production in terms of goods or services, and in the economic life cycle, every sector constitutes consumers of one end product or another”.

Finally she concludes the definition by saying that “ everybody is a consumer.”

1.3        THE CUSTOMER-SELLER RELATIONSHIP

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The ultimate desire of any Customer, in patronizing the Seller, is the achievement of customer satisfaction. Business, in an attempt to make profit at all costs often violate the code of marketing ethics which gives the customer the four rights listed above viz Safety, Information, Choice and Fair-hearing; thereby creating the need for entrenchment of measures aimed at giving the customer some respite in the course of his business dealings with the other party.

Under these circumstances, it is apt to quickly look up to the Government for rescue, but (Gill 1973, Okeke 1991) observed, albeit ver strongly, that “in most economies, especially free societies, the commitment of government to passing legislations that appreciably compromise business profits is doubtful, perhaps because of the close relationship between economic power and political control”.

Out society today is rife with too many instances where business have openly broken the law without suffering any penalties. Most often those violations of the law are not without the notice of the law makers.

(Davis, 1975) corroborates this assertion when he observed that “even when laws are made, implementation and effectiveness become another thing altogether”. What this implies is the very obvious but painful realization that is is not as if our society lack laws but their implementation.

Kotler (1972) took a historical view and concluded that “consumerism was inevitable in the economic and social development of the United States”. The factors he enumerated for taking such a stand could be seen to be very much present in Nigeria today. The economy is advancing,

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educational level is rising with tremendous advancement in technology. These factors are expected to create economic, social and political discontents which could eventually become the precipitating factors for mobilizing consumers for action.

When consumers rise and come up to their own rescue past antecedents show clearly that their approach is in two directions. Okeke (1990) has identified these two directions to include defensive and existential consumerism.

1.4        what is consumerism

Kotler (1984) defined consumerism to simply mean an “Organized

movement of concerned citizens and government to enhance the rights

and power of buyers in relation to sellers”

1.5        statement of the problem

The Capital Market constitutes only a section of the Nigerian financial

system, but a very important one at that, as the long term growth,

development and stability of the economy depends on it.

It is in the Capital Market that Government (Federal, State and Local)

corporate bodies and multinational organizations raise the funds they

require for long term developmental purposes.