- This article is about consumers in the economic sense. For the article about consumers in biology, see Heterotroph. A heterotrophs, or chemoorganotrophy ( Greek heterone = (another and trophe = nutrition is an Organism that requires
Consumers refers to individuals or households that use goods and services generated within the economy. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many Social, Microeconomic and Government models An economic system is a System that involves the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services between The concept of a consumer is used in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.
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Consumer in economics and marketing
A consumer is a person who uses any product or service. Typically when business people and economists talk of consumers they are talking about person as consumer, an aggregated commodity item with little individuality other than that expressed in the buy/not-buy decision. A commodity is anything for which there is demand but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market As commonly used, individual refers to a Person or to any specific object in a collection However there is a trend in marketing to individualize the concept. In popular usage "marketing" is the promotion of products especially Advertising and Branding However in professional usage the term has a wider meaning of Instead of generating broad demographic profile and psychographic profiles of market segments, marketers are engaging in personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization. A demographic or demographic profile is a term used in Marketing and Broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a Market In the field of Marketing, Demographics, opinion research and social research in general psychographic variables are any attributes relating to personality A market segment is a subgroup of people or organizations sharing one or more characteristics that cause them to have similar product needs Personalized marketing (also called Personalization, and sometimes called One-to-one marketing) is an extreme form of Product differentiation. Permission marketing is a term used in E-marketing. Marketers will ask permission before they send advertisements to prospective customers Mass customization, in Marketing, Manufacturing, and Management, is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output [1]
In free market or capitalist economies, consumers are presumed to dictate what goods are produced and are generally considered the center of economic activity. A free market is a Market in which property rights are voluntarily exchanged at a price arranged completely by the mutual consent of sellers and buyers Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Individual consumption of goods and services is primarily linked to the consumer's level of disposable income, and budget allocations are made to maximize the consumer's marginal utility. In economics consumption is the primary motivating force in the wealth or utility maximizing paradigm Disposable income is Gross income minus Income tax on that income In Economics, the marginal utility of a good or of a service is the Utility of the specific use to which an agent would put a given increase [2] In 'time series' models of consumer behavior, the consumer may also invest a proportion of their budget in order to gain a greater budget in future periods. Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in Business management, Finance and Economics, related to saving This investment choice may include either fixed rate interest or risk-bearing securities. Interest is a fee paid on borrowed capital Assets lent include Money, Shares, Consumer goods through Hire purchase, major assets Security is the condition of being protected against danger loss and criminals
Consumer in law and politics
Within law, the notion of consumer is primarily used in relation to consumer protection laws, and the definition of consumer is often restricted to living persons (i. Consumer protection is a form of Government Regulation which protects the interests of Consumers For example a government may require businesses to disclose detailed e. not corporations or businesses) and excludes commercial users. [3] A typical legal rationale for protecting the consumer is based on the notion of policing market failures and inefficiencies, such as inequalities of bargaining power between a consumer and a business. [4] As potential voters are also consumers, consumer protection takes on a clear political significance.
Concern over the interests of consumers has also spawned much activism, as well as incorporation of consumer education into school curricula. There are also various non-profit publications, such as Consumer Reports and Choice Magazine, dedicated to assist in consumer education and decision making. Consumer Reports is an American Magazine published monthly by Consumers Union. CHOICE Magazine is a publication of the Australian Consumers' Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1959 to research and advocate on behalf of Australian
See also
- Consumers' cooperative
- Consumer debt
- Consumerism
- Consumer theory
- Consumption
- Mass customization
- Coolhunting
- ConsumerSearch
References
- ^ Cross, Robert G. A consumers' cooperative is a Cooperative business owned by its customers for their mutual benefit. Consumer debt is Consumer credit which is outstanding In macroeconomic terms it is debt which is used to fund consumption rather than Consumerism is the equation of personal Happiness with the purchase of material possessions and consumption. Consumer theory is a theory of Microeconomics that relates Preferences to consumer demand curves. In economics consumption is the primary motivating force in the wealth or utility maximizing paradigm Mass customization, in Marketing, Manufacturing, and Management, is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output Coolhunting is a term coined in the early 1990s referring to a new breed of Marketing professionals called coolhunters. ConsumerSearch is an English-language search engine for Consumer product Reviews, plus a Database of reports on consumer products and services published (1997). Revenue management: hard-core tactics for market domination. Broadway Books, 66-71. ISBN 0-553-06734-6.
- ^ Brown Partworks Ltd. (2000). Economics, Volume Five - Economic Theory. Grolier Educational, 16. ISBN 0-7172-9570-2.
- ^ Krohn, Lauren (1995). Consumer protection and the law: a dictionary. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-87436-749-2.
- ^ An Institutional Analysis of Consumer Law. Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. Retrieved on 2007-01-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 904 - Sergius III comes out of retirement to take over the papacy from the deposed Antipope Christopher.
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