ABC of Online Consumer Disclosure Duties: Improving Transparency and Legal Certainty in Europe

Following a series of complimentary studies assessing the current application of the principle of transparency of consumer information in Croatia, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK, this paper presents research findings on how to improve its effectiveness. Documented differences in nation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of consumer policy Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 307 - 333
Main Authors Luzak, J., Wulf, A. J., Seizov, O., Loos, M. B. M., Junuzović, M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.09.2023
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Commercial Law
Compliance
Consumers
Disclosure
Economic Policy
Enforcement
Interdisciplinary aspects
Legal research
Literature reviews
Marketing
Original Paper
Social Sciences
Stakeholders
Transparency
Uncertainty
Online communication
Transparency
Consumer protection
Information obligations
Information design
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Summary:Following a series of complimentary studies assessing the current application of the principle of transparency of consumer information in Croatia, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and the UK, this paper presents research findings on how to improve its effectiveness. Documented differences in national laws and practice indicate the need for a more harmonised approach on the level of the European Union. This demand also arises from the interviews the research team has conducted with various national stakeholders. Whilst the legislative transparency requirements could remain general, e.g., a duty for traders to provide consumer information in “plain and intelligible language,” traders, consumers, and enforcement authorities all require more legal certainty as to what amounts to compliance with these requirements. Based on the stakeholders’ suggestions, an interdisciplinary literature review, findings from doctrinal, comparative legal research, and a conducted quantitative study, the paper recommends empirically motivated, multimodal guidelines to implement textual, contextual, and technical measures.
ISSN:0168-7034
1573-0700
DOI:10.1007/s10603-023-09543-w