Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Aggressiv marknadsföring

Bengtsson, Linda LU (2012) JURM02 20121
Department of Law
Abstract
Marketing through aggressive methods has traditionally been considered inappropriate and prohibited in Sweden. It was first when Sweden adopted Marketing Act (2008:486) an explicit prohibition of aggressive commercial practices was introduced. The reason was that the Directive 2005/29/EC “the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive” - explicitly prohibiting aggressive commercial practices – was implemented. Since then, commercial practices are considered aggressive according to Marketing Act if it involves harassment, coercion, physical violence, threats or other aggressive means. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the understanding of aggressive commercial practices in Swedish law and the impact of the rule given in... (More)
Marketing through aggressive methods has traditionally been considered inappropriate and prohibited in Sweden. It was first when Sweden adopted Marketing Act (2008:486) an explicit prohibition of aggressive commercial practices was introduced. The reason was that the Directive 2005/29/EC “the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive” - explicitly prohibiting aggressive commercial practices – was implemented. Since then, commercial practices are considered aggressive according to Marketing Act if it involves harassment, coercion, physical violence, threats or other aggressive means. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the understanding of aggressive commercial practices in Swedish law and the impact of the rule given in Swedish case law. To fulfill this purpose the implications of aggressive marketing by § 7 Marketing Act are interpreted in light of the directive. This is an explanation of the meaning of the concepts of harassment, coercion and undue influence, certain guiding factors to be considered and the impact of aggressive methods in the so called black list, which shall in all circumstances be considered unfair. A key part of this thesis is how the concept of "undue influence" with the requirement "exploiting a position of power" should be interpreted. One interpretation is that exploiting a position of power is constituted when the trader in different ways have a psychological power against the consumer and significantly limits the consumer's ability to make an informed decision. To investigate the effect in practice, cases of the The Swedish Market Court were examined and analyzed. In addition, older cases are presented that I find to have aggressive elements and could have been tested on the current prohibition, such as advertising that plays on fear.

The conclusion is that harassment, coercion and undue influence are difficult to identify and their scope overlap. My opinion is that these concepts should be more clearly defined and that the Market Court should interpret their meaning. The most important issue is instead where the line between legal practices and aggressive commercial practices should be set. This is determined by assessing whether the practice significantly impairs the average consumer's freedom of choice and thereby causes him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise, the so-called transaction test. Where the limit is for different situations is unclear, pending the guiding judgments from the Market Court and in particular from European Court of Justice. I am critical towards that the definition of "undue influence" is not explained in the Swedish legal text. For the study of case law, it is concluded that very few cases of aggressive commercial practices, as provided in § 7 Marketing Act, have been decided in the Swedish Market Court. However, there are several older cases that can be classified as aggressive. Therefore, crucial to the effect is how the various concepts that constitute aggressive commercial practices will be interpreted and that the Court takes every opportunity to formulate indicative sentences. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Marknadsföring genom aggressiva metoder har traditionellt ansetts otillbörligt och förbjudet i Sverige. Det var först genom tillkomsten av Marknadsföringslagen (2008:486) som det infördes ett uttryckligt förbud mot aggressiv marknadsföring. Anledningen var att direktivet 2005/29/EG om otillbörliga affärsmetoder, som uttryckligen förbjuder aggressiva metoder, skulle implementeras. Sedan dess ska marknadsföring anses vara aggressiv om den innefattar trakasserier, tvång, fysiskt våld, hot eller annat aggressivt påtryckningsmedel. Syftet med uppsatsen är att redogöra för och analysera innebörden av aggressiv marknadsföring i svensk rätt och vilken effekt bestämmelsen fått i svensk rättspraxis. För att uppfylla syftet redogörs utförligt för... (More)
Marknadsföring genom aggressiva metoder har traditionellt ansetts otillbörligt och förbjudet i Sverige. Det var först genom tillkomsten av Marknadsföringslagen (2008:486) som det infördes ett uttryckligt förbud mot aggressiv marknadsföring. Anledningen var att direktivet 2005/29/EG om otillbörliga affärsmetoder, som uttryckligen förbjuder aggressiva metoder, skulle implementeras. Sedan dess ska marknadsföring anses vara aggressiv om den innefattar trakasserier, tvång, fysiskt våld, hot eller annat aggressivt påtryckningsmedel. Syftet med uppsatsen är att redogöra för och analysera innebörden av aggressiv marknadsföring i svensk rätt och vilken effekt bestämmelsen fått i svensk rättspraxis. För att uppfylla syftet redogörs utförligt för innebörden av aggressiv marknadsföring genom att 7 § MFL tolkas i ljuset av direktivet. Detta innebär en förklaring av begreppen trakasseri, tvång och otillbörlig påverkan, vissa vägledande omständigheter som ska beaktas samt betydelsen av de aggressiva metoderna i svarta listan som under alla omständigheter är otillbörliga. En central del i uppsatsen är hur begreppet ”otillbörlig påverkan” med rekvisitet ”utnyttjande av maktställning” ska tolkas. En tolkning är att utnyttjande av maktställning föreligger genom att näringsidkaren på olika sätt har ett psykologiskt maktövertag gentemot konsumenten och förhindrar dennes förmåga att fatta ett välgrundat affärsbeslut. För att undersöka effekten i praxis har avgöranden från Marknadsdomstolen undersökts och analyserats. Även äldre fall presenteras som enligt min egen uppfattning har aggressiva inslag och hade kunnat prövas utifrån dagens förbud, exempelvis marknadsföring som spelar på rädsla.

Slutsatsen är att begreppen trakasseri, tvång och otillbörlig påverkan är svåridentifierade och överlappar varandra. Min åsikt är att begreppen borde definieras tydligare och att Marknadsdomstolen måste tolka deras innebörd. Den viktigaste gränsdragningsfrågan blir istället var gränsen går mellan legala affärsmetoder och aggressiv marknadsföring. Detta avgörs genom en bedömning av om konsumentens valfrihet avsevärt inskränks och om konsumentens förmåga att fatta ett annat affärsbeslut påverkas, det s.k. transaktionstestet. I MFL beskrivs testet som att metoden i märkbar mån ska påverka konsumentens beslut. Var gränsen går för olika situationer är oklar i väntan på vägledande avgöranden från Marknadsdomstolen och framförallt från EUD. Jag är kritisk till att definitionen av ”otillbörlig påverkan” inte finns med i den svenska lagtexten för att förklara det motsvarande begreppet ”annat aggressivt påtryckningsmedel”. För undersökningen av rättspraxis är slutsatsen att ytterst få fall av aggressiv marknadsföring, som föreskrivet i 7 § MFL, har prövats i Marknadsdomstolen. Avgörande för effekten blir därför hur de olika begreppen som utgör aggressiv marknadsföring kommer att tolkas samt att domstolen tar vara på möjligheten att formulera vägledande domar. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Bengtsson, Linda LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Aggressive Commercial Practices
course
JURM02 20121
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Aggressiv marknadsföring, Direktivet 2005/29/EG om otillbörliga affärsmetoder, Marknadsrätt, Marknadsföringsrätt
language
Swedish
id
3049537
date added to LUP
2012-11-01 10:14:28
date last changed
2012-11-01 10:14:28
@misc{3049537,
  abstract     = {{Marketing through aggressive methods has traditionally been considered inappropriate and prohibited in Sweden. It was first when Sweden adopted Marketing Act (2008:486) an explicit prohibition of aggressive commercial practices was introduced. The reason was that the Directive 2005/29/EC “the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive” - explicitly prohibiting aggressive commercial practices – was implemented. Since then, commercial practices are considered aggressive according to Marketing Act if it involves harassment, coercion, physical violence, threats or other aggressive means. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the understanding of aggressive commercial practices in Swedish law and the impact of the rule given in Swedish case law. To fulfill this purpose the implications of aggressive marketing by § 7 Marketing Act are interpreted in light of the directive. This is an explanation of the meaning of the concepts of harassment, coercion and undue influence, certain guiding factors to be considered and the impact of aggressive methods in the so called black list, which shall in all circumstances be considered unfair. A key part of this thesis is how the concept of "undue influence" with the requirement "exploiting a position of power" should be interpreted. One interpretation is that exploiting a position of power is constituted when the trader in different ways have a psychological power against the consumer and significantly limits the consumer's ability to make an informed decision. To investigate the effect in practice, cases of the The Swedish Market Court were examined and analyzed. In addition, older cases are presented that I find to have aggressive elements and could have been tested on the current prohibition, such as advertising that plays on fear.

The conclusion is that harassment, coercion and undue influence are difficult to identify and their scope overlap. My opinion is that these concepts should be more clearly defined and that the Market Court should interpret their meaning. The most important issue is instead where the line between legal practices and aggressive commercial practices should be set. This is determined by assessing whether the practice significantly impairs the average consumer's freedom of choice and thereby causes him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise, the so-called transaction test. Where the limit is for different situations is unclear, pending the guiding judgments from the Market Court and in particular from European Court of Justice. I am critical towards that the definition of "undue influence" is not explained in the Swedish legal text. For the study of case law, it is concluded that very few cases of aggressive commercial practices, as provided in § 7 Marketing Act, have been decided in the Swedish Market Court. However, there are several older cases that can be classified as aggressive. Therefore, crucial to the effect is how the various concepts that constitute aggressive commercial practices will be interpreted and that the Court takes every opportunity to formulate indicative sentences.}},
  author       = {{Bengtsson, Linda}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Aggressiv marknadsföring}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}