Consumer Reports, known as CR and legally as Consumer Reports, Inc., formerly Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (CU), is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to independent product testing and rating, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. In 2025, Phil Radford became the organization’s president and chief executive officer (CEO).
Founded in February 1936, the organization has more than five million members and publishes content through both its website and a magazine, also called Consumer Reports. These are subscription-based and provide reviews, ratings, recommendations, and advice across a wide range of products and services. The organization has also been included in other digital platforms.
Consumer Reports has a policy of independence, purchasing products anonymously at retail locations, and refusing traditional advertising. Throughout its history, the organization has influenced consumer protection legislation and contributed to product recalls and redesigns.
History
Founded in 1936, CR was created to serve as a source of information that consumers could use to help assess the safety and performance of products. Since that time, CR has continued its testing and analysis of products and services and advocated for the consumer in legislative and rule-making areas. Among the reforms in which CR played a role were the advent of seat belt laws, exposure of the dangers of cigarettes, and more recently, the enhancement of consumer finance protection, the increase of consumer access to quality health care, and data privacy and security protections. Consumer Reports advocacy efforts focus on improving product safety and public health, saving people money, including energy and utilities, and ensuring consumers’ digital privacy and security.
Founding and early years In 1927, F.J. Schlink and Stuart Chase published their best-selling book, Your Money's Worth, which saw massive readership due to the consumer movement. The demand for brand research led to Schlink to found the company Consumers' Research in 1927. The company was responsible for publishing Consumers’ Research Bulletin (previously named Consumer Club Commodity List). The subscriber count in 1933 was reported to be over 42,000. It was in this year, that Consumer Research moved its operations to New York City. Following this move, employees began to unionize, citing unfair pay. Schlink proceeded to fire the strikers. The former Consumers' Research employees, teamed up with "journalists, engineers, academics, and scientists" to found the company Consumers Union—now known as Consumer Reports—in February 1936.Derdak, Thomas, and Laura Rydberg. "Consumers Union". International Directory of Company Histories, edited by Jay P. Pederson, vol. 118, St. James Press, 2011, pp. 115-119. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX1722000031/GVRL?u=euge94201&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=ccebf4ee. Accessed 1 Nov. 2023. Over 250 Consumer Reports employees are represented by The Consumer Reports Guild. It has been represented by the NewsGuild of New York, the local branch of the NewsGuild-CWA, since 1951.
Consumers Union differentiated themselves from Consumers' Research by establishing a community amongst readers. Within the overall mission of creating more informed consumers, Consumers Union united with women's clubs and citizen groups, creating a progressive message. Consumers Union would surpass Schlink's Consumers' Research in subscribers by 1940, accumulating a readership of 71,000.
Resistance Numerous businesses and corporations set out to suppress the actions of Consumers Union. In an effort to suppress the critiques of Consumers' Union, The New York Herald Tribune established an institute with the goal of demonstrating that the efforts of consumers groups were futile, in that businesses already conducted extensive product-testing.
Additional suppression came later from the House Un-American Activities Committee (created in 1938), which placed Consumers Union on a list of "subversive" organizations. This was because of the organization’s association with labor leaders, and its refusal to use advertising, with the latter point seen as a plot against free enterprise. Consumers Union was later removed from the list, and the plot against it instead served to bolster public opinion for Consumers Union.
Consumer advocacy In World War II, Consumers Union took a stance in support of the war effort. They urged their supporters to put aside their personal interest by consuming less, and following the government ordered policies of consumption. They were also critical of businesses who saw the war period as an opportunity to advertise their products and as a result were wasting paper.
In the 1950s, now known as Consumer Reports, the organization conducted reviews of seat belts in cars and showed their importance. They also reported on the dangers of cigarettes. The Surgeon General’s 1964 smoking report cited Consumer Reports research.
In 2000, due to years of tests showing that many SUVs were prone to rollovers during sharp turns, Consumer Reports testified before Congress that all cars should undergo a rollover test as part of a national safety testing protocol. A rollover test became part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s assessment of new cars.
In 2017, Consumer Reports led a consortium that established a Digital Standard benchmark by which digital products could be measured.
The organization has also been involved with other issues, including:
Technology
Sprint T-Mobile merger: The organization spoke against this merger citing the need for consumer choice and industry competition. T-Mobile’s acquisition of Mint: Consumer Reports joined other consumer advocates in calling on the FCC to impose a phone unlocking condition after T-Mobile proposed an acquisition of Mint Mobile.
Net neutrality: The organization supported net neutrality protections to remain in place to provide consumers with better options.
Right to repair: Consumer Reports’ advocates helped pass the U.S.’s first "right to repair" law in New York. This law gives consumers more choice in how they can get tech products fixed, rather than requiring them to work with only manufacturers or a manufacturer’s preferred repair service. Data privacy Cambridge-Analytica data scandal: The organization supported stronger privacy laws in the wake of the Cambridge-Analytica data scandal. State Data Privacy Act: Consumer Reports and EPIC crafted a proposed State Data Privacy Act to improve consumer privacy protections in the absence of a federal law. Artificial intelligence AI-Powered voice cloning: Consumer Reports raised concerns about consumer protection in light of the many AI-powered voice cloning tools available. The organization called on the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to expand enforcement and restrictions. Consumer Reports won an Anthem award for their investigation which showed AI voice cloning tools can be misused by scammers for identity theft and fraud. Financial fairness Car insurance: Consumer Reports and ProPublica reported that racial disparities exist in car insurance premiums. Food safety Heavy metals in baby food: Consumer Reports was involved in the passage of a law requiring manufacturers to test baby food for heavy metals. After the law was passed, the organization, along with Unleaded Kids, investigated baby food companies to determine if they were abiding by the law and if more work was needed. Heavy metals in protein supplements: Consumer Reports tested 23 protein supplements and found more than two-thirds contained more lead in a single serving than is safe for daily consumption according to Consumer Reports' food safety experts. Later, the organization tested five protein powders not included in the first tests. These five had levels of lead within the Consumer Reports' safe daily or near-daily consumption limits. The organization is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to limit lead in protein powders.
Education and research In 2019 and 2020, Duke University acquired the Consumer Reports' archive for the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History. The archive, which spans more than eight decades, includes artifacts, research files, testing information, published articles, and photographs to support the study of scientific product testing, consumer behavior and safety, advertising and marketing, journalism, consumer advocacy, rule- and law-making, and broader cultural and political history.
In 2025 and 2026, Duke University Libraries hosted two exhibits from the Consumer Reports collection. One exhibit displayed the role of product testing photography in communicating information and another recounted the organization's history with governments, youth education, product testing, and advocacy and legislative efforts.
Rating method and impact Consumer Reports formerly used a modified form of Harvey balls for qualitative comparison. The round ideograms were arranged from best to worst. On the left of the diagram, the red circle indicated the highest rating, the half red and white circle was the second highest rating, the white circle was neutral, the half black circle was the second-lowest rating, and the entirely black circle was the lowest rating possible.
As part of a wider rebranding of Consumer Reports in September 2016, the appearance of the magazine's rating system was significantly revamped. The Harvey balls were replaced with new color-coded circles: green for excellent; lime green for very good; yellow for good; orange for fair; and red for poor. It was stated that this new system will help improve the clarity of ratings tables by using a "universally understood" metaphor.
Rating and review methods As of 2025, Consumer Reports had published more than 10,000 independent ratings and reviews of products and services.
Consumer Reports’ methods are transparent, allowing both consumers and industry professionals to understand how scores are calculated. The organization uses secret shoppers to purchase all rated products at online and retail prices on behalf of the organization. They do so anonymously, and CR accepts no free samples in order to limit bias from bribery and to prevent being given better than average samples.
Once purchased, Consumer Reports has dozens of specialized labs to review everything from exercise equipment to phones and TVs to food. Every purchased product goes through rigorous, standardized tests. CR also regularly collects data from member surveys, and factors that information into its ratings.
For most of CRs history, it minimized contact with government and industry experts "to avoid compromising the independence of its judgment". In 2007, in response to errors in infant car seat testing, it began accepting advice from a wide range of experts on designing tests, but not on final assessments. Also, at times CR allows manufacturers to review and respond to criticism before publication, and implement product changes. This sometimes leads to redesigns or recalls.
Some objective and comparative tests published by Consumer Reports are carried out under the umbrella of the international consumer organization International Consumer Research & Testing. Consumer Reports also uses outside labs for testing, including for 11 percent of tests in 2006.
Impact of testing and investigations
Consumer Reports’ independent testing and investigations have led to manufacturer recalls, redesigns, and software fixes. Here are a few examples:
Automotive
Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon