Has the Russian consumers' attitude changed in recent years?

Abstract

This study examined consumers in the post-Soviet Russia and their willingness to make effective consumer choices. A sample of consumers (n=79) took part and were asked to explore the concept of ‘consumer rights’. They were asked to report an incident in which they complained about an unsatisfactory product or service, to describe the outcome of the complaint, and provided the outcome of the complaint was unsatisfactory, and how they resolved the problem. Finally, the sample was asked to discuss the Russian product/service providers’ attitudes towards customer complaints. The results suggest that the concept of ‘consumer rights’ does not have much meaning for the majority of Russians, and no statistically significant differences based on age or education were found. However, gender differences were found to be statistically significant (F=3.089,p<.05).