Press Release: Why Consumers behave the way they do: Commissioner Kuneva hosts high level conference on Behavioural Economics

EU Commissioner for Consumers, Meglena Kuneva, welcomed top international academic, business and political experts to a conference in Brussels to discuss the role that Behavioural Economics can play in the development of policies that better serve the consumer. Behavioural Economics is a relatively new, but rapidly expanding discipline that combines economics and experimental research on behaviour in order to examine and explain why consumers choose to shop and buy the way that they do, what influences them in their purchasing decisions and how these affect the market. The European economy needs empowered consumers to boost its performance and drive competition. However, the complexity of today's markets may limit the ability of consumers to make optimal choices. Today's conference focused on examples of where behavioural economics has already led to better policies which reflect these complexities, and participants were invited to debate how behavioural economics can help to shape EU legislation in the future. This event could be the starting point of a increasing use of behavioural tools to improve policymaking in Europe.

European Commission: MEMO/08/748: Questions and Answers on Behavioural Economics http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/748&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: SPEECH/08/660: Behavioural Economics Conference http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/660&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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