American Council On Consumer Interests
American Council on Consumer Interests is a 501c3 nonprofit professional membership organization, founded in 1953, that serves academic researchers, educators, and consumer-policy professionals worldwide through the peer-reviewed Journal of Consumer Affairs, an annual conference, mentorship, and awards programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1953
- HeadquartersBritton, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What American Council On Consumer Interests does
American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) is a 501c3 nonprofit professional membership organization founded in 1953 (originally as the Council on Consumer Information, renamed in 1969). It serves academic researchers, educators, graduate students, and consumer-policy professionals across more than a dozen countries, with the stated mission of promoting consumer interest through policy-relevant research and education. ACCI operates without proprietary technology products, relying instead on third-party platforms including Wiley Online Library for journal distribution, MemberClicks for membership administration, and QuestionPro for survey software.
Its core offerings are the peer-reviewed Journal of Consumer Affairs (JCA, published since 1967 with a 2023 Impact Factor of 2.5), an annual multidisciplinary conference rotating through U.S. cities, a portfolio of 15+ named awards and fellowships sponsored in part by FINRA, NEFE, CFP Board, and the Kansas State University Foundation's Morse Consumer Movement Archives Endowment, a 12-month Early-Career Professional Development Mentorship Program, and a niche job board. ACCI generates revenue through four streams: recurring membership dues (Professional $125, Student $25, Retiree $55, Organizational $500 per year, with reduced rates for lower-income nations), $125 journal submission fees (waived for members), conference registration, and conference sponsorships. The organization is governed by an eleven-member Board of Directors and managed by an Executive Director; it maintains mailing addresses in Britton, SD and Tarpon Springs, FL.
American Council On Consumer Interests firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- American Council On Consumer Interests
- Legal name
- American Council on Consumer Interests
- Website
- https://consumerinterests.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1953
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- American Council on Consumer Interests is a 501c3 nonprofit professional membership organization, founded in 1953, that serves academic researchers, educators, and consumer-policy professionals worldwide through the peer-reviewed Journal of Consumer Affairs, an annual conference, mentorship, and awards programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
American Council On Consumer Interests industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Association and Academic Membership Services
- NAICS
- Educational Services (611), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)
Keywords
Where American Council On Consumer Interests is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Britton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
American Council On Consumer Interests business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Membership Dues: Primary revenue stream from annual membership fees. Professional members pay $125/year, students pay $25/year, retirees pay $55/year, and organizational memberships cost $500/year. Reduced rates are available for members in lower-income nations per World Bank classification.
- Journal Submission Fees: Authors pay a $125 submission fee to the Journal of Consumer Affairs. This fee is waived if any author is a current ACCI member. Reduced submission fees are available for authors from lower-income nations.
- Conference Registration: Revenue generated from annual conference registrations, though specific pricing details are not publicly disclosed.
- Conference Sponsorships: Sponsorship opportunities for the annual conference provide revenue through various sponsorship tiers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Professional Membership for working professionals |
| Subscription | Annual | Student Membership for enrolled students |
| Subscription | Annual | Retiree Membership for retired professionals |
| Subscription | Annual | Organizational Membership for institutions |
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 2 Nation Reduced Rates |
| Subscription | Annual | Tier 3 Nation Reduced Rates |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
American Council On Consumer Interests product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ACCI is a 501c3 nonprofit professional membership organization that advances consumer interests through peer-reviewed research dissemination, an annual multidisciplinary conference, and awards programs. Its core offerings include membership subscriptions (Professional, Student, Retiree, Organizational tiers), the Journal of Consumer Affairs published via Wiley, the ACCI Annual Conference, awards recognizing research and education excellence, an Early-Career Mentorship Program, a Job Board, and Consumer Interests Annual conference proceedings.
Product overview
ACCI is a membership-based nonprofit organization (501c3) that does not offer a commercial technology product or SaaS platform. Its core offerings are professional services including: the Journal of Consumer Affairs (JCA) - a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal published by Wiley; Annual Conferences for presenting research on consumer and family economic issues; an Awards Program recognizing research and service; an Early-Career Professional Development Mentorship Program; a Job Board for the consumer interests field; and various membership tiers. ACCI operates through third-party platforms including Wiley for journal publishing, QuestionPro for surveys, and MemberClicks for membership management.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Journal of Consumer Affairs (JCA) The flagship peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published by ACCI since 1967, featuring cutting-edge scholarship on consumer and family economic issues, consumer behavior, and implications of business practices and government policies for consumers' well-being. Distributed through Wiley Online Library to institutional subscribers and ACCI members worldwide.
- ACCI Annual Conference A multidisciplinary conference where high-quality scholarship on consumer and family economic issues is presented and discussed, held annually in various U.S. locations (2027: Atlanta, GA; 2026: Long Beach, CA; 2025: Pittsburgh, PA). Includes registration fees, sponsorship opportunities, and a venue partner contract.
- Membership Programs Annual membership tiers including Professional ($125/year), Retiree ($55/year), Student ($25/year), and Organizational ($500/year) with access to journal, conferences, awards, voting rights, and other member benefits. Reduced rates available for members in lower-income nations.
- Early-Career Professional Development Mentorship Program A 12-month mentorship program pairing early-career professionals with experienced mentors in consumer science, including virtual orientation, conference meetings, and professional development workshops.
- ACCI Awards Program Various awards recognizing research, service, and education in consumer interests, including the Distinguished Fellow Award, Richard L.D. Morse Awards (Applied, Early-Career, Mid-Career), CFP Board Financial Planning Paper Award, NEFE Paper Award, Robert O. Herrmann Dissertation Award, Stewart M. Lee Consumer Education Award, and student conference scholarships.
- ACCI Job Board Online job board for posting and searching positions in the consumer interests field, with free access for job seekers and discounted pricing for organizational members (50% discount, $50 per posting).
- JCA Special Issues Themed issues of the Journal of Consumer Affairs focusing on specific topics such as equity and resilience, emerging technologies, and well-being of older adults.
- Consumer Interests Annual (CIA) Conference proceedings containing papers and abstracts from past ACCI Annual Conferences, available in searchable PDFs from 1957 to present.
Quantifiable outcome
- Journal Impact Factor 2.5 (2023), ranking 154/302 Business and 152/597 Economics
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use American Council On Consumer Interests
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
American Council On Consumer Interests technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
American Council On Consumer Interests partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Wiley (Wiley Online Library)coreACCI's Journal of Consumer Affairs is published through Wiley's online platform. Wiley provides hosting, distribution, and digital access management for the journal, making it available to institutional subscribers and ACCI members worldwide.
- FINRA Investor Education FoundationcoreFINRA Investor Education Foundation sponsors the annual Undergraduate Student Poster Competition, providing recognition and prizes for undergraduate research in consumer-related topics.
- National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE)coreNEFE sponsors the NEFE Paper Award ($1,500 and certificate), with awardees featured in NEFE's digest publication distributed to approximately 6,000 subscribers including extension agents.
- CFP BoardcoreCFP Board established and funds the CFP Board's ACCI Financial Planning Paper Award, recognizing scholarly papers on financial planning issues.
- Consumer Movement Archives at Kansas State UniversitycoreThe Consumer Movement Archives (CMA) at Kansas State University Libraries is the premiere research collection documenting consumer advocacy in the United States. CMA was established by Richard L. D. Morse and supports ACCI's awards programs.
- Consumers UnionminorConsumers Union provided the initial $7,000 grant in 1953 that enabled ACCI's founding planning activities, recruitment of members, publication of newsletters, and organization of the first annual conference.
- Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta at Centennial Olympic ParkminorThe conference hotel for ACCI 2027 Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA. ACCI has negotiated a room rate of $219 + tax for conference attendees.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
American Council On Consumer Interests competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Consumer Federation of America: CFA is an advocacy-oriented consumer federation with consumer policy research output. Its consumer-policy mission aligns closely with ACCI's focus on consumer well-being, though CFA's primary mode is advocacy rather than peer-reviewed academic publishing.
- Financial Planning Association: FPA is a practitioner-facing professional association for financial planners with practitioner-focused content and continuing education. It is comparable to ACCI as a professional society in the financial-services space and through its CFP Board-aligned ecosystem, though its members are practitioners rather than researchers.
Broad incumbents
- American Economic Association: AEA is the largest academic economics association, publisher of the American Economic Review and host of the AEA annual meeting. JCA's economics ranking (152/597) places ACCI in overlapping scholarly territory, and AEA serves a similarly structured academic membership.
- American Council on Education: ACE is a broad higher-education policy association representing U.S. colleges and universities. While not consumer-research focused, ACE's higher-ed policy advocacy and university-institutional membership model are structurally comparable to ACCI's academic-society structure.
- American Marketing Association: AMA is the largest professional association for marketers, publishing multiple journals (including JM, JMR, JCR) and hosting major academic conferences. It is a broad incumbent whose consumer-research editorial interests overlap with ACCI's niche focus on consumer policy and well-being.
Direct peers
- Academy of Financial Services: AFS is an interdisciplinary academic association of financial planning, insurance, and personal finance scholars, publishing the Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning and holding an annual conference. Strong overlap with ACCI in financial-capability and consumer-finance research, and in conference-driven academic society model.
- International Association for Research in Economic Psychology: IAREP is an international scholarly society studying economic psychology and consumer behavior, publishing the Journal of Economic Psychology and running an annual conference. Its mission, journal-conference-membership structure, and international membership base closely parallel ACCI's.
- Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals: SOCAP is a professional association for consumer/customer experience leaders in corporations, focused on consumer affairs practice rather than academic research. Its consumer-centric mission, corporate membership model, and conference programming make it a thematic and structural peer to ACCI.
- Association for Consumer Research: ACR is the leading international association dedicated to consumer behavior research, publishing the Journal of Consumer Research and hosting annual conferences. It directly parallels ACCI in mission, membership model, journal-conference-association structure, and academic consumer-research audience.
- Society for Consumer Psychology: Division 23 of the American Psychological Association focused on consumer psychology research. Comparable to ACCI as an academic society publishing a peer-reviewed journal, running an annual conference, and serving a researcher-educator member base studying consumer behavior.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
American Council On Consumer Interests social profiles
Digital presenceAmerican Council On Consumer Interests financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
American Council On Consumer Interests leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles17 records
American Council On Consumer Interests funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
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American Council On Consumer Interests M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
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Frequently asked questions about American Council On Consumer Interests
What does American Council On Consumer Interests do?
ACCI is a 501c3 nonprofit professional membership organization that advances consumer interests through peer-reviewed research dissemination, an annual multidisciplinary conference, and awards programs. Its core offerings include membership subscriptions (Professional, Student, Retiree, Organizational tiers), the Journal of Consumer Affairs published via Wiley, the ACCI Annual Conference, awards recognizing research and education excellence, an Early-Career Mentorship Program, a Job Board, and Consumer Interests Annual conference proceedings.
Is American Council On Consumer Interests a public or private company?
American Council On Consumer Interests is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was American Council On Consumer Interests founded?
American Council On Consumer Interests was founded in 1953. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is American Council On Consumer Interests based?
American Council On Consumer Interests is headquartered in Britton, United States, in the North America region.
How does American Council On Consumer Interests make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Membership Dues are the primary driver. The others are journal Submission Fees, conference Registration and conference Sponsorships.
Who are American Council On Consumer Interests's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Consumer Federation of America and Financial Planning Association. Broad incumbents are American Economic Association, American Council on Education and American Marketing Association. Direct peers are Academy of Financial Services, International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals, Association for Consumer Research and Society for Consumer Psychology.
Does American Council On Consumer Interests have an API?
No public API is recorded for American Council On Consumer Interests.
What industry is American Council On Consumer Interests in?
American Council On Consumer Interests's product category is Professional Association and Academic Membership Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHACAA, Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies). Its NAICS code is 611.