MCS 3040 Chapter Notes - Chapter 24: Price Discrimination, Consumer Protection, Fax

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Marketing and Consumer Studies
• Course: MCS 3040
• Professor: Joseph Radocchia

Document Summary

Sales & marketing: price, distribution & risk management. Legal regulation of price is to stop practices that create an uneven playing field between market participants and therefore harming competition. The federal competition act prohibits unfair pricing practices, including those involving the producer and its commercial purchaser. Objective is to create a level playing field. Act seeks to ensure that commercial customers aren"t subject to unfair differential treatment that could really reduce competition in the marketplace. Some businesses will manipulate the market by conspiring w/ direct competitors to control prices. The penalties for conviction have been increased recently to a max of 14 years and/or a fine of million. For this criminal offence to be proven, it must be established that there was an agreement to conspire to set prices and also that the agreement lessened competition. If the conspiracy is considered sufficiently serious, violators can be incarcerated with jail time up to 1 year.