‘Lending by numbers’: credit scoring and the constitution of risk within American consumer credit

Abstract

This paper examines how statistical credit-scoring technologies, sanctioned by the state in the interests of promoting equality, became applied by lenders to the problem of controlling levels of default within American consumer credit. However, these technologies, constituting consumers as ‘risks’, are themselves seen to be problematic, subject to their own conceived sets of methodological, procedural and temporal risks. Nevertheless, as this article will show, such technologies have increasingly been applied to other areas of consumer lending, thus interpreting a wider array of operational contingencies in terms of risk. Finally, it is argued that, since the 1980s, the constitution of credit consumers as risks has been deployed to new ends through technologies of ‘profit scoring’ and new practices of ‘risk pricing’.     

Cue utilization in the product authentication process: a framework and research agenda for product counterfeit prevention

Scholars suggest that consumers rely on heuristics to evaluate products. They employ both extrinsic and intrinsic cues to evaluate product quality and utilize the same cues to differentiate between counterfeit and genuine products. This has far-reaching public health, economic, product authentication, and even criminal justice policy implications due to the emerging ideas of criminalizing the purchase of counterfeit goods. In order to predict the viability and the possible effects of such a policy, a thorough understanding of consumer attitudes toward counterfeits, purchase motivation, and behavior, as well as of their ability to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit goods, is imperative. Building on cue utilization theory, this article develops a framework for understanding how consumers develop and utilize heuristics for product authentication in the context of intellectual property infringements and outlines a research agenda. Additionally, it helps to inform the development of prevention and enforcement efforts, in consumer education and enforcement agent training, as well as a basis for policy decisions.     

Conceptualizing Usage in Voting Behavior for Political Marketing: An Application of Consumer Behavior

Political marketing has borrowed and adapted many terms from mainstream marketing, such as image management (segmentation, targeting, and positioning) and consumer (voter). In marketing, the terms “user” and “usage” have been established, yet their application to political marketing is less clear. This paper analyzes the feasibility and usefulness of usage in the political context. Drawing from the literature on usage, a model is developed and applied to four voting environments: Britain, Australia, Russia, and Belarus. One critical factor that emerges is the concept of choice, whereby the voter may chose to indicate their preference for one party yet be forced to use a different party as chosen by collective choice. Another issue is the potential for habitual voting behavior to limit decision making. It is concluded that usage needs to be contextualized specifically for political marketing.     

Online penny auctions and the protection of the consumer under EU law

This paper examines online penny auctions, which currently attract consumer traffic but pose consumer risks also. It discusses pressing questions such as whether they are scams, entertainment shopping or gambling. It shows that though they cannot readily be considered as scams, they are suspiciously risky for consumers. Moreover, contrary to what penny auctioneers suggest, they do not allow for consumer shopping. They also share several characteristics with gambling and therefore, the possibility of legally classifying them as such is worth exploring. If they are not gambling, consumer protection legislation is fully applicable to them and can satisfactorily protect penny consumers. If penny auctions are legally classified as gambling however, protection will greatly be enhanced; they will (additionally) be subjected to strict and detailed gambling laws at least in the UK, where a mature gambling regulatory regime exists. Certain disadvantages of labeling penny auctions as gambling can relatively easily be remedied through suitably adjusting gambling laws. The paper concludes by suggesting possible approaches of legal regulation of this new online phenomenon.     

金融消费者权益保护法律问题研究

从金融消费者基本概述出发,论述了金融消费者保护的现实意义,并借鉴了美国、日本等外国金融消费市场与金融消费者权益保护的经验,对完善我国金融消费者保护制度提出了立法建议。     

Buy Today,Pay Tomorrow: Formal Credit Supply and Domestic Electrical and Electronic Goods Consumption in São Paulo's Urban Periphery

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, expansion of the formal credit supply in Brazil has promoted the ‘financial inclusion’ of the low-income population, especially through instalment plans offered by large retail chains. This article aims to analyse the impacts of formal credit availability on the consumption of electrical and electronic goods by residents of Jardim Helena, a neighbourhood in São Paulo's periphery. Through the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, this study reveals how the instalment plan can stimulate consumption among the low-income population, with a significant impact on household budgets, raising the risk of indebtedness.