Consumers Union (CU)

Consumer Advocacy & Product Reviewsconsumersunion.org

Consumers Union, doing business as Consumer Reports, is an independent nonprofit founded in 1936 that delivers advertising-free product testing, ratings, and policy advocacy to general consumers across categories including Cars, Electronics, Health, and Money, funded by memberships, donations, and B2B licensing.

Company typePrivate
Founded1936
HeadquartersYonkers, United States
Headcount501–1,000
GTM typeB2B and B2C
OfferingDigital Commerce or Content

What Consumers Union (CU) does

Consumers Union (CU), doing business as Consumer Reports, is an independent, nonprofit member organization founded in 1936 and headquartered in Yonkers, New York, with a workforce of 501-1,000 employees and an advocacy presence in Washington, D.C. The organization conducts rigorous, advertising-free product testing and ratings across categories including Appliances, Babies & Kids, Cars, Electronics, Health, Home & Garden, and Money, and supplements these with policy advocacy across Cars, Energy, Food, Money, Tech & Privacy, Product Safety, and Health. Its core products are independent product reviews, the CR Advocacy Program, CR Magazine, CR Video, CR Store, and CR Newsletters, supported by a digital membership platform and enterprise offerings including a Data Intelligence platform (data.consumerreports.org) and a Brand Licensing program.

The business model is member-and-donor-funded rather than investor-funded: revenue derives from voluntary memberships, donations, magazine and merchandise sales through the CR Store, advertising-free enterprise brand licensing, and emerging B2B data products. Distribution is multi-channel — digital membership self-serve, owned e-commerce storefront, OEM/white-label brand licensing, and direct enterprise sales for data intelligence — alongside an extensive owned-media footprint across eight social platforms, newsletters, and video. Customer segments are horizontal and consumer-focused: a general consumer public plus issue-focused sub-segments; no enterprise anchor customers are named in the source data.

The organization's competitive position rests on its non-commercial funding model (eliminating manufacturer conflicts of interest), 90-year brand equity, decades of proprietary testing data, and institutional access to federal and state policymakers. Recent strategic activity centers on extending brand authority into AI-related policy frameworks (the Consumer Finance AI Standard), state-level pricing regulation advocacy (New Jersey Fair Price Protection Act), and expanding B2B monetization through Data Intelligence and Brand Licensing. No proprietary AI/ML technology, patents, or AI-specific senior hires are disclosed in the available source material.

Consumers Union (CU) firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Consumers Union (CU)
Legal name: Consumer Reports, Inc.
Website: https://consumersunion.org
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1936
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 501–1,000 employees
Short description: Consumers Union, doing business as Consumer Reports, is an independent nonprofit founded in 1936 that delivers advertising-free product testing, ratings, and policy advocacy to general consumers across categories including Cars, Electronics, Health, and Money, funded by memberships, donations, and B2B licensing.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Consumers Union (CU) industry classification

Industry

Product category: Consumer Advocacy & Product Reviews
akta.pro primary industry: Consumer Protection & Product Safety Regulators (BPAIAOAE)

Keywords

Product testing reviews
Consumer advocacy
Consumer ratings
Nonprofit publishing
Marketplace fairness

Where Consumers Union (CU) is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Yonkers
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Consumers Union (CU) business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B and B2C
Offering type: Digital Commerce or Content
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Consumers Union (CU) product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Consumers Union, operating as Consumer Reports, is an independent nonprofit member organization that produces independent product testing, ratings, and reviews across categories including Appliances, Cars, Electronics, Health, Home & Garden, and Money. The organization pairs consumer journalism and rigorous research with policy advocacy across issue areas including Cars, Energy, Food, Money, Tech & Privacy, Product Safety, and Health.

Product overview

Consumers Union (CU), operating as Consumer Reports, is a single unified nonprofit organization offering independent product testing, ratings, and consumer advocacy. The core offering consists of Consumer Reports Reviews & Advice covering Appliances, Babies & Kids, Cars, Electronics, Health, Home & Garden, and Money categories. Supporting offerings include CR Magazine, CR Store, Newsletters, and Video content. The organization also operates an Advocacy Program addressing Cars, Energy, Food, Money, Tech & Privacy, Product Safety, and Health issues, alongside business platforms for Data Intelligence and Brand Licensing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Consumer Reports Reviews & Advice

Companies that use Consumers Union (CU)

Customer profile

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Consumers Union (CU) technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Consumers Union (CU) partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Consumers Union (CU) competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

Which?: UK-based independent nonprofit consumer advocacy and product testing organization offering reviews, ratings, and policy advocacy. Closest international analogue to Consumer Reports in mission, model, and offerings.
J.D. Power: Provides independent automotive quality, satisfaction, and reliability ratings backed by consumer survey data. Highly comparable as a subscription/data-driven consumer ratings organization, though narrower in vertical focus.
Good Housekeeping Institute: Operates a product testing lab and the Good Housekeeping Seal, the most direct U.S. analogue to CR's endorsement function. Embedded within Hearst but mirrors the lab-based ratings model.
Better Business Bureau (BBB): Nonprofit focused on marketplace trust, business reliability ratings, and consumer protection. Comparable mission in advancing fair and honest marketplace practices, though focused on business accreditation rather than product testing.

Emerging players

Trustpilot: Open consumer review platform aggregating user-generated reviews across categories. Adjacent as a marketplace trust signal but crowdsourced rather than independently tested, making it a partial substitute.
Wirecutter (The New York Times): Product recommendation publication owned by The New York Times that competes directly with Consumer Reports in categories like appliances and electronics. More digital-native, journalist-driven rather than lab-based.
Reviewed (USA Today): Gannett-owned product testing and reviews vertical. Competes in similar consumer electronics and appliance categories with an editorial-led testing approach.

Regional players

CHOICE (Australian Consumers Association): Australia's leading independent nonprofit consumer testing and advocacy organization. Direct mission and model analogue to CR but serves Australian consumers exclusively.

Others

Angi (formerly Angie's List): Consumer reviews and ratings platform for home services. Adjacent marketplace trust brand relevant to CR's home and services coverage, though commercially operated.

Broad incumbents

Underwriters Laboratories (UL): Global safety science organization providing testing, certification, and standards across product categories. Comparable as a product safety and certification authority but commercially focused rather than consumer-member-funded.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Consumers Union (CU) financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Consumers Union (CU) leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Consumers Union (CU) funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Consumers Union (CU) M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Consumers Union (CU)

What does Consumers Union (CU) do?

Is Consumers Union (CU) a public or private company?

Consumers Union (CU) is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was Consumers Union (CU) founded?

Consumers Union (CU) was founded in 1936. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.

Where is Consumers Union (CU) based?

Consumers Union (CU) is headquartered in Yonkers, United States, in the North America region.

Who are Consumers Union (CU)'s main competitors?

Direct peers on record are Which?, J.D. Power, Good Housekeeping Institute and Better Business Bureau (BBB). Emerging players are Trustpilot, Wirecutter (The New York Times) and Reviewed (USA Today). CHOICE (Australian Consumers Association) is listed as a regional player. Angi (formerly Angie's List) is listed as an others. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is listed as a broad incumbent.

Does Consumers Union (CU) have an API?

No public API is recorded for Consumers Union (CU).

What industry is Consumers Union (CU) in?

Consumers Union (CU)'s product category is Consumer Advocacy & Product Reviews. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAIAOAE, Consumer Protection & Product Safety Regulators.