Preview

Difference Between Cardinal and Ordinal Utility

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1170 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Difference Between Cardinal and Ordinal Utility
Introduction.

QN:A We all know that consumer is the one who uses goods and services to satisfy his/her wants.
She /he is assumed to be rational meaning that he/she earns at utility maximization, giving his/her income and commodity prices.
There several theories that have been developed to try and explain the behavior of a consumer, however they can be categorized in to two:
 Cardinal utility theory:- it argues that a consumer has the capacity to measure the level of satisfaction that she derives from consumption of a given quantity of a commodity.
 Ordinal utility theory:- it argues that a consumer cannot measure satisfaction numerically or subjectively instead she can rank the different baskets or bundles so as to choose the best basket.

Difference between cardinal and ordinal utility
The basic concept in this approach is utility which refers to satisfy power that a good or service consumed possesses in this approach, it is assumed that a consumer assigns a cardinal major which can be counted .
This means that a consumer can tell exactly how much satisfaction she can derive from consumption of a certain goods.
The theory assumes a cardinal measure in units called utils, using an instrument called utilometer ,however some economics have suggested that utility can be measured in monetary units by the amount of money offered for a commodity.
On the other hand the ordinal utility approach which argues that a consumer can’t measure satisfaction numerically or subjectively.
The ordinal utility is also commonly known as indifference curve theory because its analysis is based on on indifference curve.
Indifference curves are psychological levels of satisfaction hence are more hypothical then real.

differences between these two theory are The major:-

1. In ordinal utility theory , the consumer can’t be measured numerically the level of satisfaction derived from consumption of a good but can instead arrange

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Utility Theory

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As consumers, we are constantly forced into making choices. They face a variety of goods and services which can be purchased, but often are limited by the amount of money with which those purchases can be made. The utility theory, also sometimes referred to as the consumer behavior theory, is often used to explain the behavior of individual consumers and the amount of satisfaction a consumer derives from the consumption of goods and services. The theory of consumer behavior explains how people can best utilize their resources to achieve the highest level of satisfaction possible. According to Mr. Hirschey, the utility theory hinges on three basic assumptions: First, more is better, is described as consumers preferring more of a particular good or service. The second is that consumer preferences are complete, which allows the consumer to prioritize the assumed benefits of consumption. Finally, preferences are transitive, which enables the consumer to make a decision based on the desirability of consumption of a particular good or service. All of these assumptions help businesses gain a better understanding of the consumer they wish to attract, while providing economists and those that study consumers a better understanding of the habits of consumers. There are a several other concepts of importance that are observed; the first approach is the marginal utility. According to the marginal utility theory, consumers should benefit from consumption of an extra unit of goods or services. For example, let’s look at the consumption of a candy bar. Let’s say a consumer purchases a candy bar every Friday for a month. If you were to survey this individual every week we would expect to see an increase in satisfaction each week. The second point is the law of diminishing marginal utility. The law of diminishing marginal utility states that, as a consumer consumes more of a specific product or service,…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Holiday Decision-making

    • 2094 Words
    • 9 Pages

    • To describe a range of theories related to consumer buyer behaviour and their role in analysing markets…

    • 2094 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    The Psychology Of Selling

    • 1657 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In order to get deeper understanding of underlying consumer behavior, we have to define consumers at first. According to Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard and Hogg (2010), a consumer is generally a person who identifies a need or desire, makes a purchase and then disposes of the product during the consumption process. Hence, consumer behavior is comprised with a series of processes and then one purchasing decision outcome influences the next time repurchasing decision, which runs like a wheel.…

    • 1657 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The ability to rank means that the individual can assess the relative amount of satisfaction that would result from each bundle of goods. For example, suppose that B is considered the most desirable bundle, and that C and A are viewed as providing equal but lesser amount of satisfaction than B. Using the terminology of the theory of consumer choice, it is said that B is preferred to both C and A, and that the consumer is indifferent between C and A.…

    • 3998 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    This paper examines elements of the complex place/role/influence of psychology in the history of consumer choice theory. The paper reviews, and then challenges, the standard narrative that psychology was "in" consumer choice theory early in the neoclassical revolution, then strictly "out" during the ordinal and revealed preference revolutions, now (possibly) back in with recent developments in experimental, behavioral, and neuroeconomics. The paper uses the work of three particular economic theorists to challenge this standard narrative and then provides an alternative interpretation of the history of the relationship between psychology and consumer choice theory.…

    • 2705 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Utility Study

    • 2538 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Utility is defined as the “satisfaction gained by consumers from consumption of goods and services” or it can also be defined as the “ability of a good to provide satisfaction to its customers.” From the definition, we can declare that before a customer purchase a good or services, they used satisfaction level as the guideline to assist them in making decision of purchasing. After purchasing, the evaluation level is also based on the satisfaction level when they are enjoying the product or services.…

    • 2538 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility, that is, its contribution to happiness or pleasure as summed among all persons. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends justify the means. Utility — the good to be maximized — has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus sadness or pain), though preference utilitarians like Peter Singer define it as the satisfaction of preferences. It may be described as a life stance with happiness or pleasure as ultimate importance.…

    • 5761 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Indifference Curve and Units

    • 3606 Words
    • 15 Pages

    D. total utility associated with the consumption of a certain number of units of a good divided by the number of units consumed.…

    • 3606 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    M E Assignment A

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to this analysis the consumer can state which combination of goods he prefers without describing the quantum of his preferences. That is he can rank the combination of goods in scale of preferences. If the various combinations marked A, B, C, D, etc. the consumer can tell whether he prefers a particular combination or he is indifferent between them. He can only tell that in terms of satisfaction whether he gets higher satisfaction, lower or equal satisfaction to another combination.…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    – A curve that defines the combinations of 2 or more goods that give a consumer the same level of satisfaction. Good Y III. II. I.…

    • 1253 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The basic concept in this approach is utility, which refers to the satisfying power that a…

    • 5314 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    welfare economics

    • 1053 Words
    • 8 Pages

    • The social welfare function is analogous to the indifferencecurve/budget constraint equilibrium for an individual,…

    • 1053 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Utilitarianism: Bentham – Hedonic Calculus Bentham was a hedonist – he believed that pleasure is good in itself, and other things are good in so far as they bring about pleasure and the absence of pain. “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.” You could work out which action to perform by calculating which option brought about the greatest amount of pleasure: Duration – how long does the pleasure last? Remoteness – how distant is the pleasure?…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lex Service plc

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Utility or satisfaction that the consumer have. The utility fuction measures the amount of satisfaction that the individual get from the consumption.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lecture 1 Microeconomics

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Lecture 1 Introduction ©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. & ©Y.E.Riyanto Lecture 1 1 Themes of Microeconomics  Microeconomics deals with limits that economic agents (consumers, workers, firms, etc) face: Limited budgets Limited time Limited ability to produce  How do we make the most of limits?  How do we allocate scarce resources? ©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. & ©Y.E.Riyanto Lecture 1 2 Themes of Microeconomics Limited resources (constraints) Choices must be made Unlimited wants Maximizing your objective (e.g. utility & profits)…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics