Consumer
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225502013
2008-07-14T01:01:49Z
Dan88888
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/* 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==
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[[Category:Economics terminology]]
[[Category:Consumer theory]]
[[Category:Marketing]]
[[af:Verbruiker]]
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[[de:Verbraucher]]
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[[fr:Consommateur]]
[[ko:소비자]]
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[[it:Consumatore]]
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[[ja:消費者]]
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[[ru:Потребитель]]
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[[uk:Споживач]]
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