We are taught from our childhood to put our best foot forward; walk straight, have a good eye contact, give a firm shake hand, speak confidently, dress up properly etc, etc. And, when you do all that and you know what you are talking is right your confidence is mistaken many times as arrogance. I have been on the both sides of tables as a panelist conducting interviews and as a candidate answering interviews. I think confidence is perceived as arrogance by people who feel threatened by your confidence and when that happens, perception of arrogance serves as a defense mechanism.

There is really a very thin line between the two, and especially in a job interview situation. Confident people radiate, they are happy to talk about their achievements, their experience, and their view point easily without any hesitation; which is not perceived positively always. When the listener – it could be your teacher, interviewer, your friend, your colleague, your sibling, your neighbor anybody, if the listener disagrees with your view points, or they dislike you, or are jealous of you it’s an easy way to dismiss you as arrogant person. Many times people feel intimidated in presence of confident people.

Superiority is the main quality of an arrogant person. Arrogant people are single-minded; they either think that they are superior to others or inferior to them. This arrogance may be nothing more than a way to cover the feelings of inferiority they experience when dealing with someone else. It seems they feel better when they tear others down. On the contrary, confident people are high-minded, because they can feel good without having a desire to offend others. They usually see people’s potential and can help them succeed in something. It is always nice to have confident boss at work.

Remember this – it is all in your tone and the words you choose when you speak to others. If you are negative towards others to talk down to them then you come across as arrogant. If you are positive and more inclusive then it seems to be confidence. Confidence is certainly a wrong belief that one is always right in every situation. A confident person welcomes alternative perspectives and opinions. A confident person rarely will be found lecturing or preaching to others on how they are wrong. Believing you are always right and unable to accept influence from others can make one detestable to be around. Confident people are humble enough to accept to be wrong and are ok with it. A truly self-confident person is able to show openness and admit to past mistakes.

An arrogant person feels smart when someone else feels stupid. Their sense of pride depends on thinking less of someone else. You will see them correcting other’s grammar, punctuation, pronunciation, in short, showing flaws of others. As if it’s the only way they can feel an approximation of confidence. Arrogance is about intent; it is the tendency of a person to look down on others.

But, a confident person feels competent from the inside out. They use their talents to genuinely try to be of use, or to succeed at the task at hand. They might seek external validation, but they don’t depend on it to define their sense of their ability or nature.

Eye contact is crucial part of any conversation. When a confident person talks he will make eye contact with you and make you feel as though you are the most important person in the room. On the contrary, an arrogant person will all the time be looking past you for someone else to talk to.

Before he became one of America’s ultimate success stories, the great inventor, scientist, diplomat, and the expert connector of people and ideas, Benjamin Franklin was convinced that he was a moral mediocrity.

The truth is that no one is naturally humble. Becoming humble, in fact, is an laborious process. Do you know that George Washington, for example, had to struggle his entire life to become and stay humble. As a young man, his ego was enormous. Like the young Benjamin Franklin, his ambition outstripped his accomplishments.

Napoleon Bonaparte who created the great citizen army and swept through Europe, in fact refused to acknowledge that his forces were getting to thin and he was defeated. This shows his arrogance. Similarly, Hitler, Catherine the great, Cleopatra, Stalin all of these pretty much interesting historical figure were totally arrogant actually.

Power goes to head. Even the smallest dose of power can change a person. You must have seen it in so many people around you. Someone gets a promotion or a bit of fame and then, suddenly, they’re a little less friendly to the people beneath them.

Bear this in mind always – while you are busy in creating your enduring brand, your ability to understand and adapt to the varied realities around you is very important. You might find it difficult to serve in your job while still remaining true to who you are and what you believe.   Trying to achieve this balance means that you are more interested in getting it right than being right.

Hope you have become aware of the fine line between arrogance and confidence. Try to be confident, because everyone wants to hang around people who make other feel secure and positive. If you try to become confident, your relationship skills will be your greatest asset. Since the line in confidence and arrogance is thin; always be sure that you don’t sound or look arrogant. Confidence smiles while arrogance smirks.

Consumerism promotes both social as well as economic conditions which encourages the buying of goods and services in ever-greater amounts. And, consumerism implies better economy of a nation. The term refers to the consumer protection which seeks to defend and inform consumers to be informed of practices as honest advertising and packaging, product guarantees, fair price, and enhanced standards of safety. In this regard it is a movement or an array of policies having a mission of regulating the products, methods, services, and standards of sellers, manufacturers and advertisers in the buyers’ interests. As per economics definition, consumerism means economic policies of laying importance on consumption. In a sense, it is believed that the consumers are free to make choice and should dictate the society’s economic structure. The term “consumerism” had been first used in the year 1915 and referred to “advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers” defined in Oxford English Dictionary. Consumer protection plays a crucial role in building a fairer, safer world.

In the developing countries, consumers are yet to grow to be mature in their decision making. Consumers need to think seriously regarding their requirements. Most of the products are purchased by the consumers based on herd mentality; if neighbors buy something, or friends buy then even I want to buy. Also, there are many products in the market that signifies the status symbol like food processor, microwave, home theatre, dining tables etc and the consumers are ready to purchase these products even without having much demand. Some life-events influence consumer behavior; these life events which otherwise can be rationally handled; need, arousal, information, search need to be evaluated while looking at alternatives which does not happen.

In India there are strong and clear laws to defend consumer rights. Out of the various laws that have been enforced to protect the consumer rights in India, the most important is the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. According to this law, everybody, including individuals, a firm, a Hindu undivided family and a company, have the right to exercise their consumer rights for the purchase of goods and services made by them. It is noteworthy that, as consumer, one knows the basic rights as well as about the courts and procedures that follow with the infringement of one’s rights.

In general, the consumer rights in India are listed below:

• The right to be protected from all kind of hazardous goods and services: Goods or services that can be proved hazardous to the safety or life of a person offered for sale, unknowingly or knowingly, that cause injury to health, safety or life. According to the Consumer Protection Act 1986, the consumer right is referred to as ‘right to be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and property’. It is applicable to specific areas like healthcare, pharmaceuticals and food processing; this right is spread across the domain having a serious effect on the health of the consumers or their well being viz. Automobiles, Housing, Domestic Appliances, and Travel etc. When there is violation of the right then there occur medical malpractice lawsuits in the country. It is estimated every year that thousands or millions of citizens of India are killed or seriously injured by immoral practices by doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and the automobile industry. Still the government of India, known for its callousness, does not succeed in acknowledging this fact or making a feeble effort for maintaining statistics of the mishaps
• The right to be fully informed about the performance and quality of all goods and services: The right to information is defined as ‘the right to be informed about the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods or services, as the case may be so as to protect the consumer against unfair trade practices’ in the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. In the market place of India, consumers get information by two ways namely advertising and word of mouth however these sources are considered to be unreliable but still this word of mouth is quite common here. Because of this, the Indian consumers hardly have precise and complete information for assessing the true value, safety, suitability, reliability of any product. Usually the hidden costs can be found, lack of suitability, quality problems and safety hazards only after the purchase of the product.
• The right to free choice of goods and services.
• The right to be heard in all decision-making processes related to consumer interests.
• The right to seek redressal, whenever consumer rights have been infringed.
• The right to complete consumer education.

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and several other laws like the Weights, Standards & Measures Act need be formulated further to make sure that there is fair competition in the market and free flow of correct information from goods and services providers to the ones who consume them. In fact, the degree of consumer protection in any country is regarded as the rightly gauged which accelerates progress of the country. There is high level of sophistication gained by the goods and services providers in their marketing and selling practices and different types of promotional tasks viz. advertising resulted in an increasing requirement for more consumer awareness and protection. The government of India has realized the condition of Indian consumers therefore the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has incorporated the Department of Consumer Affairs as the nodal organization to protect the consumer rights, redress the consumer grievances and promote the standards governing goods and services provided in India.

If there is infringement of rights of consumer then a complaint can be made under the following circumstances and reported to the close by designated consumer court:

• The goods or services purchased by a person or agreed to be purchased by a person has one or more defects or deficiencies in any respect.
• A trader or a service provider resorts to unfair or restrictive practices of trade.
• A trader or a service provider if charges a price more than the price displayed on the goods or the price that was agreed upon between the parties or the price that was stipulated under any law that exist.

Consumers International (CI), the global federation of consumer organisations, set out to consider the state of consumer protection around the world through a global survey of its member organisations. Seventy consumer groups from 58 countries participated in this research, which covers a wide range of consumer protection issues. The results provide an discerning global snapshot of consumer protection across a wide spectrum of countries, and an invaluable contribution to CI’s work on consumer justice and protection. The results of this survey also come at an important time in the ongoing international development of consumer protection. The key principles of consumer safety were initially being protected at an international level in the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP). Since being established in 1985, the UNGCP now forms the basis of consumer protection legislation in many countries around the world. CI and its member organisations are contributing to this process to ensure that the guidelines are revised to reflect the reality faced by consumers in the 21st Century.

Conclusion: While the business world is experiencing the how consumerism is changing the way the world shops because of the consumer’s ability to get information about whatever he wants, whenever he wants and this power has given the consumer an unprecedented strength. In markets with highly transparent prices, they are kings. And we see highly transparent markets only in developed countries. The implications for business are colossal; threatening for some and welcoming for others. For instance, the huge increase in choice makes certain brands more valuable, while some lose their value. And as old business divisions crumble, a strong brand in one sector can kill other brand’s potential. Look at how Apple has used its iPod to take away business for portable music players from Sony; Starbucks is aiming to become a big noise in the music business by installing CD-burners in its cafés; and Dell is moving from computers into consumer electronics.