The word “consumers” is plural, so we only need to add an apostrophe if we want to express possession. It already ends in an s so we don’t need to add another s
The apostrophe goes after the s so the correct spelling is consumers’
For example, we could say “The consumers’ rights were violated.” In this sentence, the apostrophe shows that the rights belong to the consumers.
Here are some other examples of this:
- Employees’ paychecks: These paychecks belong to the employees.
- Teachers’ salaries: These salaries belong to the teachers.
- Students’ grades: These grades belong to the students.
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 57 in the category of DETERMINERS that are possessive is defined as
PLURAL NOUN + S’
Here are some examples of sentences using the most frequent collocates of the 3 most common nouns in this structure: students', customers', and parents':
- Students’
- grades: The students’ grades were all above average.
- safety: The students’ safety is our top priority.
- needs: The students’ needs are constantly changing.
- concerns: The students’ concerns were addressed at the meeting.
- future: The students’ future is bright.
- Customers’
- satisfaction: We are committed to our customers’ satisfaction.
- needs: We strive to meet our customers’ needs.
- feedback: We value our customers’ feedback.
- concerns: We take our customers’ concerns seriously.
- loyalty: We appreciate our customers’ loyalty.
- Parents’
- concerns: The parents’ concerns were heard at the meeting.
- input: We value the parents’ input.
- support: We appreciate the parents’ support.
- expectations: We understand the parents’ expectations.
- well-being: We are committed to the students’ well-being.
To search for plural noun ending in S + possessive ‘
we find 25 examples in iWeb corpus for
*s_NN2 _GE
1 STUDENTS’ 101378
2 CUSTOMERS’ 52666
3 PARENTS’ 52218
4 KIDS’ 51230
| KIDS’ CLUB
|
1494 |
5 WORKERS’ 46708
6 GIRLS’ 36994
7 CLIENTS’ 36509
Has he been playing the stock market with his clients‘ funds?
8 USERS’ 31229
9 OTHERS’ 29346
10 MEMBERS’ 28805
11 BOYS’ 28739
12 PATIENTS’ 28322
13 EMPLOYEES’ 25783
14 PLAYERS’ 24240
15 TEACHERS’ 20929
16 FARMERS’ 19056
17 FRIENDS’ 17621
18 COMPANIES’ 17449
19 PEOPLES’ 15587
20 CONSUMERS’ 14890
21 ARTISTS’ 13928
22 VICTIMS’ 13551
23 VETERANS’ 12478
24 LADIES’ 12100
25 CITIZENS’ 11586
B2 nouns in the above.
citizens, clients, consumers, victims