EXAGGERATION OF INFORMATION AS AN EXCLUDING FACTOR IN THE QUALIFICATION OF ADVERTISING AS AN UNFAIR COMMERCIAL PRACTICE

Abstract

The article offers a legal analysis of advertising as a form of commercial activity and examines its qualification as an unfair commercial practice under Georgian consumer protection legislation and the standards of the UCPD Directive. It demonstrates that the assessment of advertising as unfair depends on two essential prerequisites: (1) a dishonest act by the trader (a breach of professional diligence) and (2) an adverse change in the consumer’s economic behavior. The article argues that the term “good faith” in Article 24 of the Georgian Law on Consumer Protection should be replaced with “professional diligence” in order to eliminate conceptual inconsistency and align the national framework with UCPD standards. The paper further identifies two distinct benchmarks: the average consumer for the general market and the vulnerable consumer in contexts requiring special protection. It also highlights a legislative shortcoming, namely the use of the term “conclusion of the deal” instead of “transactional decision,” which unduly narrows the scope of consumer protection.
The third part of the article examines exaggerated advertising, showing that its legal assessment depends on the subjective perception of the average consumer, which is closely linked to cultural and linguistic context. The article concludes that once commercial communication is classified as exaggerated advertising, it inherently excludes both dishonesty and the capacity to adversely influence the consumer’s economic behaviour and, therefore, cannot satisfy the criteria for an unfair commercial practice