Preview

Rational Consumer

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1036 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Rational Consumer
In economics a rational consumer is defined as the people who act in a rational way and make rational choices, namely spending their money wisely. Utility is a term used to measure the amount of pleasure a consumer gains from a good or service they choose to invest in, thus spending our money wisely, in economic terms is a method of maximizing our own utility. However in today’s world different societies and individuals have failed to distinguish the different between a want and a need, which has consequently made itself apparent through the fact that human beings are not rational. In order to be a rational consumer people must understand that a need is something that you need to survive, whereas a want isn’t a vital necessity needed to survive. Moreover, in order to get what we want we ignore the difference between the two and invest in products or services that do not provide us with high amounts of utils, yet we continue to make irrational choices. Therefore there are many factors concerning the reasons as to why human beings are not rational and how they are evident in the world today.

One of the underlying reasons as to why human beings are not rational is the fact that some do not live on the margin, thus they have more than enough money to buy everything they need and want. Although this does seem justified considering the wealthier status will have more money coming to them, it also shows how lazy and irrational human beings are. The lack of knowledge that surrounds individuals is evident through the products we buy at a ridiculous price when we could buy them somewhere else at a much cheaper price. Therefore, instead of taking the time to evaluate and compare the different prices of the same product we chose to buy it the first time we see it, thus making it an irrational decision. Through this it can also be said that without knowledge or awareness of alternative prices one can’t rely on themselves to judge whether or not a good or service will

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Eco 561

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The principles of economics influence people’s lives every day. Consumers make purchases driven by need for food, gasoline, and a myriad of other goods and services to sustain their daily lives. Economists have made a career developing theories attempting to quantify the rationale of consumption.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2. Humans are not perfectly rational; they engage in calculations of cost and benefit transactions.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Consuming has always played an important part in the shaping of society. It is through consumption that society is able to grow; providing economic stability, numerous jobs and services to the masses. Over the years, people began to consume not only the goods that they needed to live, but many more luxury goods to complement their lifestyles. Society today places a high value on owning many things, and is more dependent than ever on the population’s spending to maintain a healthy economic environment. A society of this type is known as a consumer society.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Today’s market is based upon the idea that humans are rational and are capable of making sensible decisions. This provides the foundation for economic theories and predictions. In Predictably Irrational, author Dan Ariely offers a powerfully contrasting view. He argues that, “We are really far less rational than standard economic theory suggests. Moreover, these irrational behaviors of ours are neither random nor senseless. They are systematic, and since we repeat them again and again, they are as well predictable.” Ariely proves why the majority of customers will choose the third offer over the first two, whether or not they need both the print and Internet subscription.…

    • 1328 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    * Rational people think at the margin people think about whether it’s worth the price to continue getting what they really want like coke versus the Shasta cola is it worth paying the three extra dollars…

    • 782 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Commodity Chain Analysis

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Consumption is an important domain of social life. Consumption is defined as individuals’ autonomous decisions in light of personal self-interest by the economist. However, Consumption is more than just the purchase of things. According to Campbell (1995, p. 101) consumption implies ‘the selection, purchase, use, maintenance, repair and disposal of any given product or service’. That is, consumption involves ‘bundle of social relations’ (Watts, 1999). Warde (2010) by extension adds that consumption is the process of acquisition, appropriation and appreciation of goods, services and experiences over which the consumer has some measure of control. Similar to broad meaning of consumption, commodity, which is the basic unit of consumption, means…

    • 1417 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A consumer society is best defined as the process in which goods and services are bought and used to satisfy people’s perceived needs (J.Obelkevich. 1994). The image of this consumer society can be described as one of individualism and freedom but it can also be marked by social divisions, inequalities and exclusions. This essay examines the relationships there are between consumerism, the social divisions this engenders and ultimately the choices, if any, this offers to people. It shows how our choices can be defined by the type of people we are, the way that we are perceived by others and our ability to consume.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rational choice is a function of a person’s perception of conventional alternatives and opportunities. Benefits include not only monetary gains, but psychological rewards such as excitement and…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mind over Money

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The main idea of this is that humans mind is acting irrational when it comes to money. For example before people make a purchase, they work out exactly what things are worth to them. The main model of consumer behavior assumes that we never buy anything until we’ve calculated the impact, for example, the retirement fund, even adding the interest rate to the math to know how much money we are getting and start planning on what to spend it on.…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Key Philosophers

    • 4709 Words
    • 19 Pages

    1. Individuals are rational beings; They have a conception of laws or principles, the ability to make choices on the basis of reason and act on those choices. It is rationality that distinct us humans from other parts of nature, and also what enables us to understand the correctness of moral laws. With this sense of rationality a person can choose to do what is right in spite of the influence of desires and appetites.…

    • 4709 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Consumerism in America

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages

    wants, and money is spent on the most silly and necessary items. There is nothing wrong with spending extra money on items to make life more convenient, but with the help of clever advertisers, money is spent wastefully and carelessly. People who spend money extravagantly and unwisely lead to a culture that has become wasteful.…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The blunt reality is that our economic wants for exceed the productive capacity of our scarce (limited) resources. We are forced to make choices. This unyielding truth underlies the definition of economics, which is the social science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal (best) choices under conditions of scarcity (McConnell, Brue, & Flynn, 2012). Scarce economic resources mean limited goods and services. Scarcity restricts options and demands choices. Because we “can’t have it all’, we must decide what we will have and what we must forgo. At the care of economics is the idea that “there is no free lunch”. You may be treated to lunch, making it “free” from your perspective, but someone bears a cost.…

    • 4682 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    According to Dunn (1994:330), rationality is a self conscious process of using explicit reasoned arguments to make and defend knowledge claims. The rational model of policy and decision making, although heavily criticized, is the most widely used and/or discussed model. The purpose of this short essay is to explore the reasons. It starts the discussion with the definition of the rational model, and then the rational comprehensive theory, and thereafter the concept of bounded rationality. Just before the conclusion, the paper discusses some criticisms of the rational model.…

    • 2813 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethical Consumerism

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What is ethical consumerism? Ethical consumerism is the purchasing of products and services produced in a way that minimizes social and environmental damage while avoiding products and services having a negative impact on society or the environment (http://www.scribd.com/doc/19589310/Contract-Law). Ethically made products are those that are produced with the least harm to the environment, animals, and humans. There are four types of ethical buying. The first one is positive buying as in energy saving light bulbs. The second is negative purchasing which is avoiding products that disapprove of, such as battery eggs or gas-guzzling cars. The third one is company-based purchasing. You choose whether or not you support a company based on what it produces. The last one is the fully-screened approach. The fully-screened approach is a combination of the first three. When purchasing products or services the consumer should consider the quality of the product, the conditions in which the products produced and if any harm is caused to the environment. When items are sold at really low prices, it should make the consumer stop and think, “Is this really a bargain?” How consumers spend money influences social and economic justice, the environment, animal welfare, and democratic freedoms. As consumers, we have an ethical obligation to society. As consumers, we should only buy products that are safe to use or healthy to consume, In order to do that, we must not buy from companies that exploit humans or animals maintain and increase social poverty, inequality and deprivation (http://www.atheistnexus.org/group/consumerethics). We must identify companies that value their employees and customers, pay fair wages, and provide a safe and healthy work environment, and maintain sustainable business and environmental practices and practice positive buying. Positive buying is favoring ethical products, and businesses that operate on principles based…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Notes on Economics

    • 1823 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Does the fact that some people make apparently irrational choices invalidate the rationality assumption in Econ? No.…

    • 1823 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays