Sirena studies consumer protection
Pietro Sirena, Dean of Bocconi Law School, Full Professor of Bocconi University and member Baffi Centre is also the principal investigator of “CoPE Project (Consumer Protection Effectiveness) - Towards a Digital Effectiveness of Consumer Protection Through Self-Executing Remedies and ADR Systems: An Empirical Approach to European Private Law” research project. We have asked him some questions about the project.
When have you started this research project?
The research project started in 2022.
Who is funding this research project?
Ministero Università e Ricerca (MUR) and PRIN financed within the Next Generation EU initiative are financing this project.
What are the research questions?
The main assumption of the project is that innovative technologies may significantly rise the effectiveness of consumer protection in two ways: favoring self-help instruments and out-of-court settlement of consumers' disputes with the suppliers of goods and services; gathering information scattered on the marketplace about unfair contract terms and unfair dealing, and funneling it to the jurisdiction and/or agencies endowed with supervisory powers. Therefore, a combination of private enforcement of consumers’ rights and public enforcement of market regulation is recommended as a response to the criticism voiced by a strand of law and economics literature about the inefficiency and inefficacy of the information rules provided for by European private law. The research project envisages to combine a horizontal approach with a vertical approach to analysis.
What is the impact of the project?
The project will have a strong impact on legal methodology applied to sources of law and their interpretation. The project moves from the assumption that law is a social fact and, therefore, includes among its sources the values expressed by the facts and the instances of the citizens. The goal pursued is to effect trues changes and improvements in the design of the legal rules and the management of each case of consumer protection by the competent authority. The research is consistent with the core principles underlying the Italian-European legal system (effectiveness, subsidiarity, solidarity), from which new concepts and new methods of implementation are derived. The cognitive diagnosis of social needs and tasks, which it is envisaged to undertake, is expected not only to redesign the boundaries of disciplinary sectors and give rise to further methodological implications but also to provide innovative answers to the unprecedented challenges that the present time poses to the law.
Why this topic matters for people?
Firstly, in general terms, the research will contribute to obtain a parameter on the basis of which the effectiveness of the reference legislation can be properly assessed, i.e. allowing one to verify the achievement of the effects intended or hoped by the legislature with regard to certain regulatory provisions. From this perspective, the research will contribute to indirectly ascertain the actual degree to which consumers are aware of the instruments of self-protection and the mechanisms for settling disputes with suppliers of goods and services; this will provide useful data in understanding the effectiveness of the rules governing the usual judicial forms of protection with respect to alternative dispute resolution procedures.
The research also responds to European policies, set out in particular in the New Consumer Agenda 2020-2025), which aim to ensure a very high level of consumer protection, also in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. With particular regard to e-commerce platforms and the provision of other online services, the recent proposal of a Digital Services Act has also called for the creation of specific alternative dispute resolution systems, encouraging consumer access to these procedures.
Overall, the most important expected achievements are the following: The promotion of an active role of the consumer as made possible by increasingly complete information on the durability, reparability, and sustainability of products; the promotion of business commitment to sustainable consumption actions that go beyond legal obligations; the empowerment of consumers in the context of a wide-ranging digitalization of the protection apparatus set up by the legislature in their favor.
Which data are you analysing?
The collection of the data to be used will distinguish between:
Consumer self-protection and out-of-court exercise of rights;
Court litigation;
ADR systems.
Therefore, the target of the survey consists of: a) citizens-consumers; b) legal professionals and agencies (judges, lawyers, notaries, supervisory authorities); c) ADR systems (in particular, Arbitro Bancario Finanziario, Arbitro per le Controversie Finanziarie, Corecom, etc.); d) businesses; e) consumer associations (e.g., Consiglio Nazionale dei Consumatori e degli Utenti, Associazione Nazionale Consumatori, Altroconsumo, Adiconsum, etc.).
The research aims, at the outset, to collect empirical data regarding a specific legal issue through the administration (also online) of questionnaires to consumers, legal practitioners, ADR bodies, businesses operating in the reference sector, and consumer associations. To this end, it will be necessary to carry out preliminary focus groups and semi-structured exploratory interviews with some highly representative witnesses. On the basis of this preliminary information, ad hoc questionnaires will be drawn up and submitted to larger samples of subjects belonging to the different categories, with the aim of collecting and processing quantitative data. The interviews and focus groups will help to single out the main themes around on which the broad-range data collection will be focused, conducted by means of a sample survey. A multi-method research strategy, combining and integrating qualitative and quantitative paradigms (Mixed Methods Research), responds to the need to involve the different categories of subjects who are well-versed in the topics to be investigated and lends itself to being organized and managed according to the different needs of the sector considered.
At least 2 focus groups and 2 interviews will be organized for each of the five above-mentioned target-categories in order to involve 50 to 60 highly representative witnesses. The contents of the focus groups and interviews will be transcribed, and a content analysis
will be carried out.
Subsequently, a sample survey will be conducted for the five target categories.
At the end of this further phase, it will be possible to carry out a multivariate analysis (by means of Machine Learning (ML) analysis software, e.g. Bayesian Network) in order to identify the main critical issues and problems underlying a given regulation and to extract application trends, also with regard to the newest and most controversial issues in consumer law. These findings will allow the research teams to design a system of alternative dispute resolution based on a combination of private enforcement and public enforcement. For that purpose, a standardized analysis of existing litigation will be conducted, also using algorithms of AI or the implementation of chatbot fed through algorithms of ML.
What is the state of the project at the moment?
We are now in the final stage of the Project. On 28 January 2026, the final Conference was held to disseminate the results of the research carried out by each research Unit and the data collected through questionnaires sent to consumers and judicial operators. Thanks to the collaboration of experts and the application of an empirical methodology, we were able to critically analyze the information obtained considering current practices.
Is there any conclusion that you can share regarding your research?
The study of critical issues relating to the use of artificial intelligence systems for the purpose of resolving disputes between consumers and professionals has shown that, in addition to the risks inherent in the automation that characterizes the latest technologies, there are significant benefits that AI can bring to ensuring effective consumer protection. Algorithmic systems can provide considerable support in simplifying the litigation process, for example by reducing the time needed to analyze documentation and facilitating the submission of appeals. In a broader perspective, every stage of interaction between consumers and professionals (from simple requests for clarification to the filing of appeals for the resolution of disputes) can be greatly facilitated by integrating existing processes with innovative technological solutions. However, this should not replace human judgement and, above all, should not involve autonomous final decisions that have a significant impact on the consumer's position.