Rational consumer is a consumer of goods and services who strives to achieve the greatest possible total utility from the consumption of goods and services. In other words, a rational consumer within his limited budget chooses goods and services in such a way that their usefulness to him is maximum.

The concept of a rational consumer follows from the analysis of consumer behavior. In most cases, a person seeks to obtain the greatest satisfaction from the available Money. At the same time, he has to give up something in favor of acquiring something else, more important.

The rational consumer does not buy any one type of product, but a variety of products. This is due to the fact that the needs of people, on the one hand, are diverse, and on the other hand, they have limits to their saturation. For example, a person does not require five loaves of bread a day. In addition, people's needs are different depending on their individual characteristics. So rational behavior different people different. If, for example, buying a toy for a child is rational, then for an adult it is doubtful.

The behavior of a rational consumer is associated with such concepts as total utility and marginal utility. Utility- This is a quantitative characteristic of the level of satisfaction of a particular need. The assessment of utility is largely subjective, so it is found by comparison. So for a particular person, the utility from the acquisition of one product is compared with the utility from the acquisition of another. The more a person has any good or the less the need for it, the less will be the utility of this good for a particular person.

General utility is the result of successive consumption of units of the same good. The more units of a good are consumed, the more satisfaction from this good increases. At the same time, the moment may come when the subsequent excessive use of the good will no longer lead to an increase in overall utility, but to its decrease. For example, eating each next candy, the child is more and more satisfied. However, after the nth candy, he may become ill.

In other words, the consumption of each subsequent unit of the good brings less utility. And this is where the concept comes from. marginal utility, which is the utility added to the total utility that arises from the consumption of each subsequent unit of the good. The marginal utility of each successive unit of the good consumed decreases.

The behavior of a rational consumer differs in that he seeks to increase the total overall utility from the consumption of various goods and services. In doing so, he measures marginal utilities. A rational consumer acquires the set of goods that bring him the greatest satisfaction. To do this, he compares the marginal utilities of goods. Weighted marginal utility is the ratio of marginal utility to the price of a good. If the price of a good is too high, then marginal utility will also decrease, as in the case of saturation.

At the same time, a rational consumer seeks to achieve a situation where the marginal utilities of different goods are approximately equal. In accordance with this, a person redistributes his funds.

A fully rational consumer can exist only in conditions of freedom of consumer choice, or the so-called consumer sovereignty. Only in this case, a person can dispose of his funds as he wants in accordance with his personal needs. The protection of consumer sovereignty is assumed by the state. Consumer protection includes preventing counterfeit goods from entering the market, misleading the consumer, etc.

The concept of a rational consumer. Consumer equilibrium and the utility maximization rule.

SLIDE Rational consumer - this is a subject that seeks to maximize the satisfaction of needs (maximization of utility) in the process of consuming various goods at limited prices and income, while it has complete information about all choices.

Central to consumption theory is marginal utility concept . Its foundations were developed in the middle of the 19th century.

The main provisions of the theory of buyer behavior: SLIDE

1. Evaluation of the utility of a good is always subjective. The same good has different utility for different consumers. Each individual acquires goods according to his own taste. For example, coffee drinkers rate the health benefits of coffee high, while for some consumers it has low health benefits.

2. When evaluating a good, consumers take into account the degree of its rarity and the importance of the need that it satisfies. For example, the need for a warm headdress can be satisfied with the help of products made from various furs. It is clear that in cold climatic conditions utility fur hat high. At the same time, the utility of a sable hat, which has a higher rarity, is estimated higher than that of a rabbit.

3. The usefulness of a good also depends on the degree of development of the need and the level of its satisfaction at the moment. The utility of a good decreases as the consumption of the good increases. Let's illustrate this dependence with an example. Suppose the consumer has 5 apples for dessert. The first apple gives him the greatest benefit, since he has not yet had enough of this product. The second apple has a slightly lower utility, the third one even less, the fourth apple may no longer be necessary for him, and the fifth one can be expected not to benefit, but to harm.

SLIDE The utility a consumer derives from each additional unit of a good is called marginal utility . It is designated MU (marginal utility).

SLIDE The utility of each subsequent unit of the good is less than the utility of the previous unit. The decrease in the marginal utility of a good as the quantity consumed increases is called the law of diminishing marginal utility.

SLIDE General utility a certain number of goods (we denote it TU - total utility) is defined as the sum of the marginal utility of each of them.

Let's go back to the apple example and try to define total utility and marginal utility.

SLIDE If we quantify the utility of consuming apples, Let's take an abstract unit as a unit of utility - for example, "util". Let us assume that the consumer values ​​the first apple at 10 utils, the second at 8 utils, and the third at 6 utils. The fourth apple is relatively redundant, its utility is zero. The fifth apple has a negative utility of -5.

Table 1 - Total and marginal utility of apples (in utils)

The total utility of the first two apples is 16 utils (10 + 6). The total utility of three apples is 18 utils (10 + 6 + 2). The fourth apple will add nothing to the overall utility, the fifth will reduce it.

Plot total and marginal utility curves(On the horizontal axis is the amount of consumed goods (Q), on the vertical - respectively, the total utility (TU) and marginal utility (MU)).

SLIDE You can use a graphic to show the relationship between total utility and marginal utility more clearly. On fig. 1a shows the total utility curve, and Fig. one, b - marginal utility curve.

Rice. 1. - Total (a) and marginal (6) utility

The data presented in the table and shown in the graphs show that the marginal utility of individual goods decreases as their number increases. SLIDE Total utility increases as long as marginal utility is positive. The rate of increase in total utility slows down with the addition of each new good.

SLIDE The theory of marginal utility studies the behavior of a typical (average) buyer in the market. Proponents of this theory take initial provisions of the theory of marginal utility:

First of all , the average buyer has a limited cash income and tries to use it to the best advantage.

Secondly , this buyer has a fairly distinct system of preferences in relation to goods and services offered on the market. It is assumed that the buyer imagines what marginal utility he will derive from each subsequent unit of the good that he intends to buy.

Thirdly , the individual consumer cannot influence the prices of goods.

With these a priori conditions in mind, let's look at how a typical consumer behaves in the market.

SLIDE Obviously, a buyer with a limited income will be able to purchase a limited number of goods in the market. He will seek to acquire such goods and services that will bring him the greatest utility.

To make an optimal choice of goods, the buyer must compare the weighted marginal utilities of different goods.

weighted marginal utility is the ratio of the marginal utility of a good to its price.

Let's say a customer has to make a choice between juice and mineral water. He estimates the usefulness of juice at 10 utils, and mineral water at 6 utils. If a glass of juice costs 25 cents and a glass of mineral water costs 10 cents, then the weighted utility of juice is 10/25 and mineral water is 6/10. Under these conditions, the buyer will receive great utility from a glass of mineral water.

SLIDE Utility maximization rule requires that the consumer, in the distribution of his income, ensure the equality of the weighted marginal utilities of the goods included in the purchased bundle. This rule can be written as an equation:

where MU 1 , MU2,..., MU n- marginal utility of goods; R g, R 2,..., R p - corresponding prices of goods 1, 2, ..., P.

This rule can be used not only in the implementation of consumer choice, but also in the distribution of limited resources between alternative areas of use.

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Introduction

1. Consumer choice and consumer demand

1.1 Rational consumer behavior

1.2 Classification of types of demand

1.3 Utility function

2. Consumer preferences

2.1 Indifference curve

3. Equilibrium of the consumer. budget line

3.1 Budget line

3.2 Income-consumption curve

3.3 Engel curves

3.4 Price-consumption curve

3.5 Contemporary consumer choice theory

Conclusion

Introduction

Consumer behavior is the activity directed directly at obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services, including the decision-making processes that precede and follow these actions.

As long as humanity exists, so many of its needs exist. As humanity develops, there is an increase in the set and quality of its needs, which predetermines the requirements for goods and services that take place or are necessary for society and each individual. L.P. Kurakov draws attention to the insoluble contradiction in the development of human activity and human needs, “when the development of needs brings to life new types of human activity, and the latter, in turn, cause the emergence of new needs, etc. to infinity".

The object of "Consumer Behavior" in the individualistic tradition is a person. In sociology, one of the areas public life- the process of consumption, which exists along with production, distribution. But the object is not the whole person, but only his behavior, and not in all its manifestations, but only in the market and only as a consumer. From the point of view of the sociological tradition, the subject is the behavior of various social communities in the process of consumption.

By consumer analysis, researchers understand a system of methods for studying existing and forecasting future needs, requests and preferences of potential consumers, identifying factors that affect changes in requests and preferences, consumer behavior in the market as a whole, and identifying the causes of unmet needs. Consumer analysis consists of the study of the following elements:

market participants (who buys in the market?);

market items (what products and items are bought and sold in the market, what unmet needs exist?);

the goals set by market participants (why do they buy?);

organizations present in the market (who interacts with consumers in the market?);

Market operating processes (how are purchases made?);

acquisition opportunities (when are purchases made?);

Distribution channels (where are the purchases made?).

The quality of consumer behavior research involves the use of system analysis, since it allows us to consider any market situation as an object for study with a wide range of internal and external cause-and-effect relationships. Experts draw attention to the fact that through scientific research it is possible to understand the motivation and behavior of consumers. Modeling consumer behavior is one of the key problems for both theorists and practitioners. With the help of the model, specialists seek to answer the main questions: why does the buyer behave in this situation in this way, and in another - in a different way?; what factors dominate in the mechanism of decision-making on the first and repeated purchases or rejection of them?

A model is a simplified representation of reality, including only those aspects of it that are important to the creator of the model. Other aspects that are outside his area of ​​interest may be ignored. When modeling consumer behavior, the researcher excludes from the analysis those aspects human behavior that are not related to consumer behavior or appear to be insignificant.

By studying consumer behavior, we create ideal models, isolating from reality only what we consider causes and their consequences. Therefore, the main function of the model is explanatory. Simplifying reality, we try to answer the question with the help of the model: why does the buyer behave in this situation in this way, but in another way? Social processes can be modeled in different ways. Their model can be represented on a computer by means of multimedia, expressed as a diagram
mms, tables, schemes. At the heart of the book D.F. Angela, R.D. Blackwell, P.W. Miniard "Consumer Behavior" are four leading position:

consumer-owner;

To succeed in business, you need to understand the motivation of the consumer and his behavior;

consumer behavior is influenced;

· Working with the consumer, it is necessary to observe social legality and ethical sensitivity.

They emphasize that “understanding consumer motivations and behaviors and taking them into account when developing products and marketing activities is not a matter of choice, but an absolute necessity for survival in a competitive environment.” Moreover, “the consumer is independent in his choice, but marketing can affect both motivation and behavior if the proposed product or service is designed to meet the needs and expectations of the consumer.”

The concepts of rational choice and rational consumer behavior play a crucial role in economic theory. The concept of rationality in economics is used in a different sense than in other social sciences, in which it means "reasonable", "adequate to the situation." Rational behavior from an economic point of view implies compliance with its reasonable, from an economic point of view, interests. It is believed that a rational consumer seeks to maximize the overall utility of the goods he consumes.

The utility of a good is the ability of an economic good to satisfy one or more human needs.

Of course, for each person the usefulness of a particular product is different, it is not easy to measure it, etc. - The theory of utility has a lot of complex and even contradictory moments, but there are regularities that are common to all consumers associated with utility.

Rational behavior is consumer behavior aimed at maximizing the utility of consumed goods.

Rational behavior is otherwise called functional behavior, and the demand determined by this behavior will also be functional.

Functional rational behavior is called because the consumer, by increasing the value of utility, thus maximizes the utility function.

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Yu.E. Krivonos
Economic theory
Lecture notes. Taganrog: TTI SFU, 2009.

Section 2. Microeconomics

Topic 2

rational consumer (2)

Theory of consumer behavior

2.2.1. Principles of rational behavior of consumers.

Market demand is formed on the basis of decision-making by many individual consumers, which is of great importance for the development of the production of goods.

Each consumer, relying on his income, seeks to acquire various goods in such quantities and proportions that would bring him maximum satisfaction from their use. This behavior of the consumer in the market is called rational.

consumer behavior- the process of forming consumer demand for goods and services, which determines the development of their production and supply on the market.

The theory of consumption proceeds from the fact that in the behavior of the consumer there are typical common features:

- consumer demand depends on the level of income;

- each consumer seeks to obtain maximum utility;

- the average consumer has a system of preferences;

- consumer demand is affected by the presence or absence of "related" goods.

Therefore, it is possible to form the basic principles of rational behavior of consumers in the market:

1. Limited income.

2. Rationality.

3. Systematic preferences.

4. Sovereignty.

The preference of consumers of goods is very difficult to take into account for reasons of the so-called Consumer Interaction Effects. Consider its types:

"Snob Effect" - purchases are made to emphasize their social position.

"The Veblen Effect" - purchases are made underline and defiantly.

"Implied quality effect" - goods of the same quality are sold in different stores at different prices.

"Effect of joining the majority" - the desire to be "not worse than others."

"irrational demand" - purchases are made only because someone bought it.

"speculative demand" - arises in conditions of shortage of goods.

The success or failure of the producer depends on the total behavior per second of the consumers. Such a phenomenon is called sovereignty consumer. It consists in the ability of the consumer to influence the producer. Necessary condition consumer sovereignty is the freedom of consumer choice.

Rational consumption

Page 1

Rational consumption is the consumption of goods and services by the population that corresponds to scientifically based ideas about its reasonable limits. It ensures the full satisfaction of the rational needs of the population, creates conditions for the all-round harmonious development of the individual. Its quantitative dimensions for individual material goods and services are established by developing special norms for rational consumption, and its general scale is established with the help of rational consumer bundles and rational consumer budgets.

The theory of rational consumption, the foundations of which were laid by S. Mayer and others in the framework of the development of a rational consumer budget, considers the possibility of determining consumption targets.

The norms of rational consumption are the amounts recommended by science for the consumption of certain material goods and services necessary to satisfy reasonable human needs. They are developed for basic food products (they are usually called physiological norms), for clothing, as well as for some types of material services, mainly of a production nature. For durable goods (DCI), there are standards for the rational provision of the population.

For the rational consumption of artificial fertilizers, it is necessary to know their composition and compare their price with the price of manure, according to the content of nutrients.

The main requirement for the rational consumption of fuel and energy is the maximum possible reduction of heat losses in all areas of economic activity and, consequently, heat losses of buildings. This economy should not worsen any of the considered requirements.

The problem of developing guidelines for rational consumption in our country has been largely resolved. We have developed norms and standards for rational consumption, which, with minor adjustments, can be recognized as such guidelines (see.

Rational consumer behavior

When assessing the value of rational water consumption in the housing stock, it is necessary to establish the permissible values ​​of water losses or, what is the same, to regulate the values ​​of factors affecting the value of water losses.

The most important task of organizing the rational consumption of energy in the industrial.

An important means of systematic organization of rational consumption working capital is a scientifically substantiated establishment of a measure of the maximum consumption of material elements revolving funds per unit of output or per unit of useful production work of a given quality. In this regard, the rationing of the production consumption of raw materials, materials, fuel and electricity is of particular importance. The consumption rate is a planned task that determines the maximum amount of specific types of raw materials, materials, fuels and energy resources of a fixed quality that can be spent to produce a unit of output.

All the above-mentioned normative indicators of rational consumption are developed for the future and are refined as they approach it. They are only advisory in nature, they serve as a guideline in the direction of which it is advisable to develop consumption. Normative indicators of rational consumption are used in the practice of planning the development of the production of consumer goods and services, as well as the standard of living of the population.

In this case, the principle of stability of rational consumption of resources is fulfilled subject to the dimensionless ratio.

This approach links efficiency with the rational use of resources. Unlike the two previous ones, it is aimed at taking into account changes in public opinion in the external environment, including political and social factors, and supported social groups values. The resources consumed by NPOs are always limited and scarce. Therefore, the evaluation of the effectiveness of the administration is often associated with the ability to find new sources of resources, most often financial. However, the dominance of resource problems in management, which is so typical for commercial organizations, in the case of NPOs can lead to a weakening of attention to current, operational activities and declared strategic goals.
goals. So, for example, a public organization (the Center for the rehabilitation of drug addicts) will not be interested in reducing them, since the funding of the organization (the Center) is determined by the number of drug addicts admitted for treatment.

It is also unacceptable, when solving the problem of rational consumption of fuel and energy, to take into account only energy aspects without taking into account capital costs for building structures and building equipment.

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There is a hypothesis about the rationality of the consumer: the consumer behaves in such a way as to maximize utility with limited income. Consumer behavior is subject to the laws discovered by the German economist G. Gossen.G. Gossen's first law: in the process of consumption, the utility of each subsequent unit of consumed goods decreases. The second law D.

Rational consumer and producer behavior - description, features and typical features

Gossen determines the conditions for maximizing the total utility of the consumed goods. According to this law, the best distribution of consumer income is such that the last unit of money spent on the purchase of each type of product brings the same marginal utility. The so-called consumer equilibrium is reached. In a formalized form, the general utility maximization rule looks like this:

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Is competition good or bad? What makes people use loans, overpaying bank interest? How to ensure that our expenses are not more than income? All these questions are answered by the section of economics that studies the rational behavior of the producer and consumer in the modern world.

Economics about people

From the point of view of this science, all types of human behavior are divided into four types - production, distribution, consumption and exchange. The economic system itself is based on production, the purpose of which is to produce profit by exchanging goods for money. The other side of this coin is consumption. It is conditioned by a certain law called "rational consumer behavior", which means thoughtful and dictated by reasonable reasons.

The actions of the consumer and the producer as two interdependent aspects in the economy

Production and consumption are interrelated processes that regulate each other. The rational behavior of a consumer, employee, owner, family man, citizen comes from making decisions consistent with the income of each economic entity. The consumer not only chooses certain market offers, but also influences producers with his choice (or lack of it). In some areas of the economy, competition is so strong that marketers have introduced the concept of "consumer dictate". Indeed, in the competitive race, only those entrepreneurs survive who were able to understand well the typical features of the rational behavior of the consumer - their client.

The consumer as a driver

So, the consumer is the one who is the subject of consumption: buys, uses a product or service. In fact, this is any representative of humanity, but also - legal entities, associations, etc. The purpose of consumption is to extract the maximum profit from the use of the product. Limiters in this case are - prices, budget, assortment, etc. Due to their action, both the consumer and the manufacturer are forced to develop certain strategies of behavior or rational choice.

The usefulness of rational consumer behavior for the economy also depends on the type of economic activity of the country. If this is a command-administrative type, then the regulation of the consumer's choice is very high - for example, he cannot freely choose housing, a car, medical services. If we are talking about a market economy, then the consumer has full sovereignty and independently makes decisions, managing his financial resources.

To each according to his needs

How broad our purchasing needs can be understood by remembering which of our needs we provide by choosing certain goods: physiological, cultural, social, communicative, security needs or self-realization. Everyone has their own products and their own business niches that produce them. Competently make a choice, consuming something, knowledge of economics and marketing helps.

The bulk of the population of our planet are people with one way or another limited financial opportunities. Therefore, each of us had to think about the questions: "How to spend our finances correctly? What needs to be purchased in the first place, and what should be postponed for now? How to reduce costs? best quality at an affordable price?" All these questions are answered by the theory of rational consumer behavior. Next, we will consider the components of the considered section of the economy in more detail.

Stages of rational behavior

The first stage is the understanding of the need to acquire something. The second stage is the search for information about the necessary product. Then comes the evaluation and analysis of this information, all possible purchase options. And finally - making a decision.

In this regard, several types of financial expenses are distinguished with rational consumer behavior: mandatory (minimum, most necessary) expenses - for food, clothing, travel, utility bills, etc. - and arbitrary: for hobbies, goods high level consumption, travel, etc. Another type is the savings of the subject under consideration.

Types of reasonable behavior of the consumer of goods and services from the side of the economy

Types of rational consumer behavior are divided into:

• behavior dictated by self-interest;
• behavior pursuing situational goals (directly at the moment of choice);
• full rationality, assuming that a person studies information on a product or service for a long time and maximizes the benefit received;
• limited rationality, when the collection or analysis of information is difficult due to various reasons (physical, social and other factors);
• formal (weak) rationality, especially if it is limited by factors beyond human control.

Mutual Effects

The plan of each individual subject provides for activity within the framework of his preferences. There are certain consumer interaction effects:

Snob effect. A situation is created when a purchase is made to emphasize one's social position.

The effect of joining the majority. An expression of a desire not to be inferior to people who are "successful". It is characterized by irrational demand. A purchase is made only because it was made by another person whom the buyer appreciates and respects. There is also a speculative demand that occurs when there is a shortage of goods.

The perceived quality effect. Goods that have the same characteristics in different stores are sold at different prices.

Veblen effect. A situation in which things are ostentatiously and emphatically purchased that have a very high price and are not available to most people.

Behavioral analysis of the consumer visually

An example of rational consumer behavior looks like this. Suppose you are considering purchasing washing machine. First of all, you seek to evaluate all the possible offers of the market. studying advertisements, assortment, prices, unique trade offers (discounts, promotions, the possibility of free installation or delivery), reviews. As a result, you choose the store that offers the best (but not the lowest) price, while providing the maximum warranty period, free delivery, installation and post-warranty service. Another option: if you are extremely limited in funds, then do not pay attention to warranty offers, but choose the machine at the lowest price.

The situational rational economic behavior of the consumer is illustrated by the following example. Suppose your phone is broken and you are expecting an important call. You have no time to study the market, one information is important for you - how quickly you can fix your gadget. Therefore, you choose the nearest repair service, the master of which promises to fix your phone today. The price of such a service in this case fades into the background.

Rational Producer Behavior

A manufacturer is a person or organization that manufactures and sells goods or provides services in order to generate income from the rational behavior of the consumer. The costs of acquiring production resources are called costs. Profit is formed by the difference between income and costs. Its maximum value is the goal of the manufacturer. To increase profits, he seeks to lower production costs. This is facilitated by saving on raw materials, production equipment with new technology, reducing energy costs, etc. Each manufacturer answers three main questions for himself: what, how and for whom he produces his product or provides a service.

To determine what to produce, an analysis of the demand market, rational consumer behavior in the desired sector of the economy, production and advertising costs, etc. is carried out. The volume of production and its methods are determined. For example, you can manually harvest crops by hiring and paying for work a large number workers, or use agricultural machinery by buying or leasing it. Also, the manufacturer needs to decide for which segment of the population he produces his product. Thus, targeting the broad masses implies a larger volume of goods at a lower price than targeting sections of society with incomes above the average.

What does the manufacturer want?

In general, the rational behavior of the producer is the answer to the question: "How to get from a limited amount of resources highest profit?" private option This question arises when one or another entrepreneur comes to the need for expansion - how, with the resources available to him, to achieve an increase in the volume of output?

For example, this problem can be solved by expanding production volumes due to quantitative changes (increase capacities, the number of used natural resources and workers), or - by improving the productivity (productivity) of resources. In countries with developed economies, they prefer to use the second way to solve the problem. It means an increase in labor productivity (the amount of goods produced in one unit of time by one worker). Against the background of the depletion of mineral resources and the rise in prices for products made from them, this path looks optimal.

How and due to what is the increase in labor productivity? Firstly, specialization in any kind of activity helps. By performing the same small operation, the worker acquires better skills, and his productivity increases. Secondly, the use modern technologies allows you to increase the volume of production of certain goods for the same period of time. Thirdly, this factor is influenced by professional training and quality education of employees. Product quality is in close connection with the level of professionalism of those who work on it.

One study by a Brooklyn Institution scholar found that 28 percent of the increase in US national income from 1929 to 1982 was generated by technological advances, 19 percent was due to capital injections, and 14 percent was due to increased education and training of workers.

What conclusions can be drawn?

So, the behavior of consumers and producers is due to reasonable reasons that ensure the most successful economic strategy. characteristic feature rational consumer behavior is the comparison and analysis of market offers and the ability to make financial savings. And for the manufacturer, the most important thing is to find a balance between the costs of providing the market with their product or service and its price, while keeping in mind the competitiveness of their niche and current demand to your offer.

Economic Behavior- the image, method, nature of the economic actions of citizens, workers, managers, production teams in certain emerging conditions of economic activity. A rational person performs a certain action as long as the benefits exceed the costs.

Types of rational behavior:

1. Rational behavior dictated by self-interest;

2. Rational behavior, in which the goals that are directly at the moment of choice are pursued.

In general, rationality involves obtaining the maximum benefit at the minimum cost.

1. Complete (unlimited, strong) rationality assumes that a person uses all available information the best way and maximize its profit.

2. Limited (semi-strong) rationality reflects the difficulties in collecting and analyzing information and the limited cognitive abilities of a person, which leads to the use of not all the completeness of the available information. Limitations can be caused by physical, biological and social factors.

3. Organic (procedural, weak) rationality suggests that the rationality of choice can be limited by formal and informal rules.

Some economists also distinguish deliberate rationality.

Consumer- this is the one who acquires and uses goods, orders works and services for personal household needs, not related to making a profit. The consumer is each of us, the firm, the organization and the state as a whole. Consumption- use, use. The use of products, things, goods, goods and services in order to meet needs.

Types of consumption:

1) production (spending, use of resources in the production process);

2) non-productive (final consumption of goods by people, the population to meet vital needs).

Purpose of the consumer- extracting maximum utility from the consumption of goods and services. Restrictions on the way to achieve the goal of the consumer: consumer, family budget(balance of cash income and expenses of the family); prices for goods and services; range of products and services offered. T. Veblen introduced the theory of commitment to "prestigious", conspicuous consumption and accumulation of capital, i.e., the consumption of goods and services in order to obtain the effect of demonstrating their use.

Rational consumer behavior This is thoughtful behavior that involves comparing the results of an action with costs. In command economies, consumer behavior is regulated. In a market economy, the consumer has freedom of economic behavior.

Consumer Sovereignty- the right of the owner of any kind of resources to independently make decisions related to the disposal of these resources and their use.

Stages of rational consumer behavior:

1) awareness of the need to purchase; 2) search for information about a product or service; 3) evaluation of possible purchase options; 4) decision making.

Consumer income- this is the amount of money received for a certain period of time and intended for the purchase of goods and services for the purpose of personal consumption. Nominal income- income calculated in purely monetary terms, without taking into account the purchasing power of money, price levels, inflation.

The main sources of nominal (cash) consumer income:

1) wage; 2) social payments of the state (allowances, pensions, scholarships); 3) income from entrepreneurial and other activities; 4) income from property (payment for renting an apartment, interest on money capital, dividends on securities).

Real income- the number of goods and services that can be purchased for the amount of nominal income. Real income depends on the volume of final income (nominal income - income tax) and the level of prices for goods and services.

Types of consumer spending:

1) mandatory, minimum necessary expenses (food, clothing, transport, public utilities); 2) arbitrary (tourism, books, paintings, cars).

In a household, the income received is divided into two parts: a) is used to buy goods and pay for services necessary to meet the personal needs of people; b) the second part forms savings.

Ways to place savings: savings account in a savings bank; purchase of securities; purchase of real estate; life, health, property insurance.

Standard of living- this is the level of well-being of the population, the degree of satisfaction of the basic vital needs of people. Indicators: 1) consumption per capita, 2) real incomes of the population, 3) provision of housing, 4) indicators of the development of education, healthcare, social security.

The standard of living is characterized by a special indicator - human development index (human development index), calculated on the basis of three values: 1) GDP per capita, 2) average duration life and 3) level of education.

Human Development Index (HDI)– index for comparative assessment of the economic potential of different countries. When calculating the HDI, the following indicators are taken into account: average life expectancy at birth; the level of literacy of the adult population of the country; the total share of students.

The quality of life consists of the standard of living, working conditions and safety, cultural level, physical development, etc.

Rational Producer Behavior

Purpose of the producer in a market economy- Getting more profit at the lowest cost. The rational organization of economic activity requires the manufacturer to address a number of issues: how, with limited resources, to achieve the goals of their production? How to combine production resources so that costs are minimal? How to increase the volume of output with available resources? An indicator of the efficiency of resource use is performance- 1) the volume of goods and services created per unit of costs; 2) the amount of benefits that can be obtained from the use of a unit of a certain type of resource during a fixed period.

Ways to increase productivity: 1) expansion of the use of economic resources (extensive way - a quantitative change in resources: an increase in production capacity, the amount of natural resources used, the number of employed workers); 2) increasing the efficiency of their use (intensive way - improving the quality characteristics of resources, improving their productivity or productivity).

Labor productivity- productivity of labor, measured by the number of products produced per unit of time.

Factors (ways) of labor productivity growth: 1) division of labor, or specialization; 2) use of new equipment or technology; 3) the level of education and professional training of employees; 4) the effectiveness of management decisions.

Business – economic activity people, the purpose of which is profit, income or other personal gain, aimed at the performance of commercial transactions for the exchange of goods or services. Entrepreneurship- initiative independent activity of people, carried out on their own behalf, at their own risk and aimed at generating income, profit from the use of property, the sale of goods, the provision of services.

Types of business: industrial entrepreneurship (production of goods, services, information, spiritual values); commercial entrepreneurship (consists in operations and transactions for the resale of goods, services and is not related to the production of products); financial entrepreneurship (a kind of commercial entrepreneurship); intermediary entrepreneurship (manifested in activities that connect the parties interested in a mutual transaction); insurance entrepreneurship (a special form of financial entrepreneurship, which consists in the fact that the entrepreneur receives an insurance premium, which is returned only upon the occurrence of an insured event).

Forms of entrepreneurship

1. On the basis of business objects

BUT) Small business(up to 50 people):

– Franchising- a system of small private firms that enter into a contract for the right to use the brand name of a large firm and their activities in a certain territory and in a certain form.

– venture firm – commercial organization engaged in the development of scientific research for their further development and completion. Venture capitalists do business on innovation.

B) Medium business (up to 500 people) is fragile, as it has to compete with both large and small businesses, as a result of which it either develops into a large one, or ceases to exist altogether. The only exceptions are firms that are monopolists in the production of any specific product that has its own permanent consumer.

AT) Big business (up to several thousand people) - is more durable than medium or small. Its monopoly position on the market gives it the ability to produce cheap and mass products.

2. By type of firms

BUT) Sole proprietorship or private enterprise A business owned by one person. He has unlimited property liability, and he has little capital.

B) Partnership or partnership A business owned by two or more people. They make joint decisions and bear personal financial responsibility for the conduct of the case.

AT) cooperative- similar to a partnership, but has a larger number of shareholders.

G) Corporation- a set of persons united for joint business activities. The right to property of a corporation is divided into parts by shares, so the owners of corporations are called shareholders, and the corporation itself is called joint stock company(AO).

Basic principles governing entrepreneurial activity: freedom of entrepreneurial activity; initiative and independent activity; profit as the main goal of entrepreneurial activity; legal equality various forms property; legality in entrepreneurial activity; freedom of competition and restriction of monopolistic activity; government regulation ( direct– registration and licensing of enterprises, product certification; indirect- concessional loans, tax incentives).

Entrepreneurship Functions:resource(combination of natural, investment, labor resources into a whole); organizational(the use by entrepreneurs of their abilities to obtain high income); creative(use of innovation in activities).

social relations