The Illinois State Board of Education in cooperation with the Illinois Consumer Education Association produced this lesson plan book as a resource for teachers as they implement the consumer education mandate in secondary schools. Classroom instruction ideas, techniques, and lessons were provided by teachers from Illinois. A committee of consumer…

A study of women's information-seeking behavior with regard to the purchase of cosmetics was conducted to determine the effects on their behavior of six individual variables (ambiguity about cosmetic products, price consciousness, income, amount of money spent on cosmetics, age, and education) and six social variables (perceived social utility of…

Family role theory is the framework used to guide this study of how mother's employment and age of younger child affect mother's time in meal preparation and cleanup, expenditures for meals away from home, and meals shared by the family both at home and away. (SSH)

Two students (ages 18 and 20) with moderate mental retardation were taught to use a pocket calculator to make purchases. Progressive time delay and general case programing methods were used. Results indicated that the purchasing behaviors generalized to two untrained community sites and to untrained items and were maintained four weeks after…

Describes five in-class exercises for use in consumer behavior classes that encourage student involvement in group and class discussions, promote student interest in course material, and stimulate critical thinking. Explains that the exercises can be adapted for other related courses and are equally successful with students of varying abilities.…

This 4-H manual provides instructions and materials for a consumer education activity. It contains a wide range of activities and learning opportunities for a hypothetical buying situation with several choices or alternatives provided. The manual is designed to teach the participant how to rank the choices and develop oral reasons for that…

This document consists of a handbook for consumers and a teacher's guide to the handbook. The first part of the handbook gives advice on how to be a smart consumer and includes information on how to get the most for the money, handle a complaint, write a complaint letter, use the handbook, select child care, protect personal property, choose a…

This study explored trends in how Americans spent disposable personal income (DPI) on recreational activities from 1929 to 1979. Statistics were compiled from the Economic Report of the President and the United States Department of Commerce. Twelve classifications of recreation expenditures are presented: (1) books and maps; (2) magazines,…

The purpose of this consumer education module is to provide information and skills, and the ability to raise questions and find answers, while seeking the best automobile or motorcycle buy available for the money. The module may be used for a full or part semester course. The five sections (cars and the consumer, renting and leasing cars, cars and…

Utilizing a 77-item questionnaire, the marketing and credit practices of the Spanish American poor in New Mexico were examined. Randomly selected from the Community Action Program files, approximately 100 households in Las Cruces, the main urban center, and 60 households in the small rural communities of Dona Ana and La Mesa (30 in each) were…

Most adults are both learners and consumers of goods and services across their life span. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the body of literature that analyzes consumer behavior in the light of lifelong learning. Learning activities, whether formal or experiential, have both costs and benefits. Interviews with hundreds of persons,…

Generation Y wants to know why! Today's youth are curious, they want the facts, they want the hard data, and most of all they want the truth. Advertisements and creative marketing tactics do not easily sway this group. They do their research before they believe most things they hear and see. Purchasing behaviors of Generation Y show that the group…

Ten units on practical business are presented in this instructor and student guide. Each instructional unit contains objectives, suggested activities, information sheets, assignment sheets, transparency master, a test, and test answers. Unit topics are (1) before you buy (comparative shopping and wise purchasing techniques); (2) when things go…

A study examined historical changes in the content of consumer education and factors associated with these changes. Analysis was based on key writings on consumer education and an examination of fifteen high school texts published between 1938 and 1978. Only a few topics--budgeting, savings and investment, life insurance, and housing--received…

Consumer education has traditionally addressed activities related to the purchase of goods while the human services (e.g., health, education, and social welfare) have received far less attention. This condition stems from several factors, including the "doing good" attitude of human service providers and the role of government as the provider of…