Consumer Rights Awareness in Punjab: A Comparative Analysis between Rural and Urban Consumers

Description

Page: 531-541

Harmilan Kaur, Gagandeep Banga, and Babita Kumar (School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

This study aimed to compare the awareness of consumer rights among rural and urban consumers in Punjab and examine its association with demographic factors. A total of 600 respondents-300 each from rural and urban areas-were selected using a multistage sampling technique from three socio-cultural regions of Punjab: Majha, Malwa, and Doaba. One district from each region was chosen based on population size. Within each district, urban respondents were selected from two randomly chosen cities, while rural respondents were drawn from villages selected through blocks using simple random sampling. Respondents were chosen based on convenience and willingness to participate. Data analysis was conducted in two phases using SPSS version 20, with descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests applied to identify patterns and associations. The results revealed a significant disparity in consumer rights awareness between urban and rural respondents. Urban consumers demonstrated higher awareness across all six fundamental rights-for instance, 69.1% were aware of the Right to Safety compared to 51.0% of rural consumers. Similar gaps were noted for the Right to be Informed and the Right to Seek Redressal. Despite moderate awareness overall, rural respondents showed particularly low recognition of several rights. The findings emphasize the need for targeted, inclusive awareness initiatives, especially in rural areas.