표시광고법의 성격과 보호대상으로서의 소비자 개념의 개선

In order to establish a perfectly competitive market, both the supplier and the consumer need complete information, but in reality, in most cases, information asymmetry occurs between the two, especially in the field of labeling and advertising performed by suppliers. Therefore, government intervention is necessary to compensate for this, and most developed countries do this through various institutional regulations on labeling and advertising of suppliers. Korea also enforces these regulations through the 「Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising」. According to Article 1 of the Act, the Act prevents unfair labeling and advertising that deceive consumers or mislead consumers. It stipulates that it aims to establish a fair trade order and protect consumers by promoting provision. The law aims to establish a fair trade order along with consumer protection, but the definition of who the consumer is a protected object is not clear. In this Act, consumers are defined as those who use or use products produced or provided by business operators, etc. This is different from the consumer concept of other consumer protection acts enforced by the Fair Trade Commission. The important factors in the difference are whether the goods are ultimately used, raw materials, capital goods, or whether they are used in production activities for similar purposes. These differences lead to different Act enforcement targets and controversy over the Characteristic of the 「Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising」. There is. Therefore, in this paper, we examine the concepts of consumers stipulated in various laws on consumer protection, and analyze how differences in consumer concepts affect the Characteristic of the law. Next, after discussing the possibility of confusion in legal use due to this, from a theoretical and practical point of view, we will also look at the regulations on labeling and advertising of major countries. Lastly, while focusing on establishing a consumer concept that fits the legal Characteristic of the Act, we would like to propose a desirable improvement plan in the direction of accommodating the realistic demands of protecting the economically underprivileged, such as general consumers or small business owners equivalent thereto.