CONSUMER RIGHTS AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE IN APPAREL PURCHASE AND CONSTRUCTION IN IBADAN METROPOLIS

Abstract

There has been an absence of serious enforcement of law(s), standards or rules guiding the rights of consumers as regards the occurrence of breach of consumer rights in apparel construction or purchase in Nigeria. Hence, this study aimed at assessing the awareness and knowledge of consumer rights in clothing construction and purchases in Ibadan metropolis. New-Gbagi and Aleshinloye markets were purposively selected because of their prominence as clothing markets in Oyo State. The population of the study was 91,935 registered apparel practitioners (haberdashers and tailors) from the two markets; a sample of 124 apparel practitioners were selected using stratified random sampling technique, while an equal number of consumers were selected using convenient sampling since the total number of consumers could not be determined. Results revealed that about half (53.7%) of the apparel practitioners were aware of consumer rights in clothing construction and purchases, although, almost all (98.1%) of them do not observe it. Almost all (95.4%) the consumers in this study know that there are consumer rights in clothing construction and purchase, also, majority (75%) of the haberdashers informed that they have no knowledge of the standards for apparel sales. This study developed a consumers’ right model that can be adopted for apparel construction and purchase in the Nigerian community; the model indicates the flow chart of performance standards for sewn garments and purchased fabric with opportunities for consumers to seek redress for any infringement on their rights.