Consumer 7818 225502013 2008-07-14T01:01:49Z Dan88888 4344075 /* Consumer in law and politics */ :''This article is about consumers in the economic sense. For the article about consumers in biology, see [[Heterotroph]].'' '''Consumers''' refers to individuals or [[household|households]] that use [[Good (economics)|goods and services]] generated within the [[economic system|economy]]. The concept of a consumer is used in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary. ==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. However there is a trend in [[marketing]] to individualize the concept. Instead of generating broad [[demographic profile]] and [[Psychographic|psychographic profile]]s of [[market segment]]s, marketers are engaging in [[personalized marketing]], [[permission marketing]], and [[mass customization]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Cross|first=Robert G.|title=Revenue management: hard-core tactics for market domination|publisher=Broadway Books|date=1997|pages=66-71|id=ISBN 0-553-06734-6}}</ref> In [[free market]] or [[capitalism|capitalist]] economies, consumers are presumed to dictate what goods are produced and are generally considered the center of economic activity. Individual [[Consumption (economics)|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]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Brown Partworks Ltd.|title=Economics, Volume Five - Economic Theory|publisher=Grolier Educational|date=2000|pages=16|id=ISBN 0-7172-9570-2}}</ref> In 'time series' models of consumer behavior, the consumer may also [[investment|invest]] a proportion of their budget in order to gain a greater budget in future periods. This investment choice may include either [[interest|fixed rate interest]] or risk-bearing [[security|securities]]. ==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.e. not corporations or businesses) and excludes commercial users.<ref>{{cite book |author=Krohn, Lauren |title=Consumer protection and the law: a dictionary |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1995 |isbn=0-87436-749-2}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://law.vanderbilt.edu/journals/journal/35-01/overby.htm|title=An Institutional Analysis of Consumer Law|accessdate=2007-01-29|publisher=Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law}}</ref> 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, and ''[[Consumer Direct]]'' in the UK. ==See also== {{wikibooks|Category:Consumer}} *[[Consumers' cooperative]] *[[Consumer debt]] *[[Consumerism]] *[[Consumer theory]] *[[Consumption (economics)|Consumption]] *[[Mass customization]] *[[Coolhunting]] *[[ConsumerSearch]] ==References== <references /> [[Category:Economics terminology]] [[Category:Consumer theory]] [[Category:Marketing]] [[af:Verbruiker]] [[bn:ভোক্তা]] [[ca:Consumidor]] [[de:Verbraucher]] [[es:Consumidor]] [[fr:Consommateur]] [[ko:소비자]] [[id:Konsumen]] [[it:Consumatore]] [[lt:Vartotojas]] [[nl:Consument]] [[ja:消費者]] [[no:Forbruker]] [[pl:Konsument (ekonomia)]] [[pt:Consumidor]] [[ru:Потребитель]] [[sk:Spotrebiteľ]] [[uk:Споживач]] [[zh:消费者 (经济)]]