Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Loyola Consumer Law Reporter
Publication Date
Spring 1990
Abstract
This article examines neo-formalist views and recent empirical studies of the consumer decision-making process. Part II discusses the neo-formalist "rational utility maximizer" standard and its underlying assumptions. Part III explores several recent studies of consumer behavior and discusses how the empirical evidence is incompatible with the neo-formalist prescriptions for consumer law. Part IV considers whether and to what extent this research should be applied in formulating legal standards that govern consumer transactions. This article concludes that courts and legislatures appropriately take into consideration consumers' cognitive limitations in developing regulations and "reasonable consumer" standards.
Recommended Citation
Norman I. Silber,
Observing Reasonable Consumers: Cognitive Psychology, Consumer Behavior and Consumer Law, 2 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 69
(1990)
Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/faculty_scholarship/786