There are three issues that are resolved by consumers in an industry committing themselves to becoming informed buyers.. 1) Obviously, the consumer themselves are better able to avoid the issue of sellers exploiting their ignorance.. 2) You, as an informed consumer will help me as another consumer get better value given that the sellers may feel less incentive to exploit others thanks to your vigilance.. 3) Informed buyers pressure sellers to focus on adding value to compete instead of investing in non value added activiteis like competing for attention, asking for political protection or other things to gain rents. This is usually overlooked but is hugely relevant given the fact that other countries are eating the US's lunch in many industries. A good example of consumer ignorance and generally accepted industry practices can be found in Freakonomics and the Real Estate industry.