The Five Ethical Theories Of Consumer Rights And Consumer Law

Consumer rights and consumer law are designed to hold sellers of goods and services accountable when they seek to profit by taking advantage of a consumer’s lack of information or bargaining power (The Law, n.d.). Consumer rights laws exist at both the federal and state level, and they are enforced by government agencies, offices of attorneys general and through individual and class action lawsuits filed by victims, who are the diamond consumers in this case (The Law, n.d). Consumer Protection Act in the State of Texas is called Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), which is located in Chapter 17 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code (The DTPA, n.d.). The DTPA protects the consumers who purchase a new product in Texas by giving

The practice of intentionally selling a low graded diamond for a higher grade, and hence a higher price and profits, would not have good supports from any of the five ethical theories for many good reasons. First, the free market theory, which states that the goal of any business is to bring as much profit to its shareholders as long as the actions do not infringe on anyone’s rights, violates the buyers right to the information that justifies the value and transaction. Second, in any given society, there are more diamond buyers as there are diamond sellers, whose support fails from the utilitarian theory, which states that in any given situation, the actions must produce the greatest goods for the greatest number of people. Third, Kantian deontology theory states that an act must be performed because it is appropriate for everyone, meaning that the seller owes a duty to the buyer in selling a new product for what it is, and not for what the product is not. Fourth, Virtue ethics theory stresses the character trait of good sellers, who are expected to sell goods in an honest and principal way, which are desirable for a given society. Finally, ethics of care analysis has no support for the seller in this case as well because deceitful selling practices harm relationships between a buyer and seller as well as other stakeholders. Violation of the consumer protection law and RICO causes EGL and major retailers to violate all the five ethical theories for obvious