the history of consumer organizations internationally is closely tied to the history of the consumer movement in the united states, which set the precedent and model for product testing elsewhere. whereas initially in the consumer movement consumer organizations only sought to have products conform to minimal safety standards, quickly consumers began to demand comparative information about similar products within a category. comparative information seeks to say that similar products are comparable, whereas, from an industry marketing perspective, the leading manufacturers' interest is in product differentiation to claim that their brand of product is desirable for reasons unrelated to the objective value it has for consumers.