GMAT Essays (AWA)

"A business should not be held responsible for providing customers with complete information about its products or services; customers should have the responsibility of gathering information about the products or services they may want to buy."

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Shopping for a product involves choosing from an ocean of options. We make these choices every day when we buy anything from a can of milk to a music system. However, purchasing a cheaper and perishable commodity such as milk is different from purchasing a long term product such as a music system. Some say that the responsibility of gathering the complete information about a product lies solely with the consumer where as others opine that it is the responsibility of the business to provide the required information to the consumer.

No doubt, the best way to have a good deal is to do a proper research before stepping into a store but the responsibility to provide information about the products lies with the business. A customer can make the best informed decision only if all the required details are easily accessible.

I wanted to buy a laptop for my personal use. I visited a store and checked out Dell, HP, Acer, IBM products. One that struck my attention was HP HDX16 T. It had a big 16 inch screen, very beautiful exteriors, impressive configuration and a decent screen resolution. The salesperson recommended the product as a hot deal. It was my first laptop and so my experience and information was limited. I had explained my requirements and expected him to guide me. I was happy with the purchase until I had to carry it during travel. I then realized that it was a bit too heavy at 10 pounds. I realized that he hid an important piece of information to earn commission. Needless to say, now I prefer other stores over that one.

When a product is manufactured, the design is done keeping an audience in mind. What suits one customer may not be useful to another. It is the business that has the detailed information about the situations where it would serve the best and the conditions where it would not be suitable. Therefore, the onus to communicate all this information to the consumer lies with the business. Selling a wrong product just to increase sales does long term damage to the brand name and profits. Also, the business loses on repeat customers.

This is not to say that the customer has no responsibility what so ever. The customer should do his homework, clearly identify his requirements and analyze the options before making the final decision. Whether a front loading or top loading machine would work better is a decision that the customer alone can make but what is the difference between them in terms of water usage and power consumption is what the business is expected to explain.

In sum, it can be said that though the customer is expected to know his requirements clearly, the responsibility to provide detailed information about the product lies with the business. This is for the benefit of all involved.