Consumers' Institute of New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Consumers' Institute of New Zealand is a non-profit organisation which was founded in 1959, and has the stated aim of "getting New Zealand consumers a fair deal". It is a member of Consumers International.
The Institute publishes a magazine (entitled Consumer), from which it derives the majority of its funding — it does not accept money in return for advertising in any form. It is governed by a board of 7 members who are elected once every 3 years. Subscription to either the magazine or its online counterpart (Consumer Online) constitutes membership of the Institute and eligibility for voting in the elections.
[edit] 2006 Rebranding
Earlier in the year the organisation re-branded itself as "Consumer" and launched revamped versions of Consumer magazine and its website www.consumer.org.nz. [1]
Critics point out that users of the Consumers Institute website, and readers of its re-branded magazine, are unaware that Consumer is essentially a commercial publisher generating profits as a private business. The publishing business generates profits through subscriptions. [2]
The 2006 re-branding also compounded confusion amongst the New Zealand public that the magazine is published by the New Zealand Governments Ministry of Consumers Affairs'. The ministry now has a disclaimer on their website site that reads “We don't publish Consumer magazine, it's published by the Consumers' Institute”[3]
Subscribers of the magazine are its ultimate owners and elect the board. Profits are reinvested in the magazine and website. It and the AA magazine Directions are the only significant publications in the country owned collectively by their members.
