Manifestations of rational consumer behavior are examples. The theory of rational behavior of the consumer. Economics about people

Inflation is a characteristic feature of the economic history of all countries of the world. It fundamentally transforms the rules of economic exchange and has a powerful impact on consumer behavior.
Rising prices are one of the main concerns for Russians. To the question: "What problems of our society worry you the most and do you consider them the most acute?" in January 1997, 55.1%, and in January 1998, 58% of the respondents noted an increase in prices. These are sentiment indicators of a fairly stable period. It is not the rise in prices itself that causes concern, but their growth against the background of the lack of growth in wages or the slow pace of its growth.
During periods of rapid price growth in 1992-1993, since August 1998, this factor has become the main headache for consumers, a factor without which no economic decision is made.
The first phase of consumer reaction. “Experience shows that the population as a whole very slowly understands the situation and finds a way out of it. At first, a change in habits takes place even in reverse direction and alleviate the situation of the government. The population is so accustomed to the idea that money is the ultimate measure of value that in the initial period of price increases it considers it to be transitory and therefore saves money and refrains from spending, in the belief that it has become the owner of more real value in money form than before. So in 1923, the classic English writer characterized the reaction to inflation. economic theory J. Keynes (Keynes 1993).
The second phase of consumer reaction. "But sooner or later the second phase comes. The population comes to the conclusion that paper holders bear a special tax and cover government expenses, and they begin to change their habits and try to minimize their paper cash" (Keynes 1993).
This is achieved in various ways:
(1) money is placed in various things, such as jewelry or household items;
(2) the population can reduce the amounts earmarked for household expenses and the average time during which these amounts are spent.
Thus, John Keynes gives an example from the history of early Soviet Russia during the period of inflation: a merchant, having sold a pound of cheese, rushed to the market with his rubles in order to immediately replenish the stock, exchanging money for cheese before it rises in price again. There was even an anecdote about a gentleman who, when ordering beer in a cafe, immediately ordered another glass, preferring to drink settled beer, but to avoid the risk of price increases. In Vienna of the same period, money changers were set up at every turn, where you could change the local currency a few minutes after receiving it into Swiss francs (Keynes 1993). Moscow and other large cities after 1992 also began to shock the abundance of exchange offices, giving foreigners the impression that the whole country was about to go abroad.
In their desire to quickly get rid of the money that is melting before our eyes, part of the population finds itself in a situation where there is a regular shortage of cash to meet even the most urgent needs. Here it is necessary to borrow, but who lends in a period of inflation without sacrificing their own interests?
Another consequence of the desire to get rid of cash is that goods that were usually acquired as a result of more or less long-term savings become unavailable. All the money is spent on current consumption, on trifles, sometimes even completely unnecessary, which can be bought immediately after receiving a salary.
From the same interest "to get rid of money" follows the desire to buy many consumer goods in large quantities, which allows you to get away from inflation and not face the problem of hunger. Most often it is the purchase of food for the future.
In general, the behavior of people during inflation resembles their behavior during the period of the domination of the administrative system with its characteristic deficit: both here and there there is a desire to turn their money of little value into a commodity. However, there is a significant difference: inflation in a market economy significantly limits demand by a constantly rising price level, preventing a total shortage.
A natural consequence of inflation is the flight from inflation-affected money by converting it into a stable foreign currency. As a result, a foreign currency acquires the functions of a means of payment in a foreign territory, the functions of a store of value, and so on. In the context of inflation, the demand for gold and other valuables, which are used as a means of accumulation and flight from inflation, increases sharply.

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 a competitive race, only those entrepreneurs survive who were able to understand well the typical features of rational behavior consumer - your 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 it comes from 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 possibilities. Therefore, each of us had to think about the questions: "How to spend our finances correctly? What needs to be purchased first and what should be postponed for now? How to reduce costs? How to choose a product or service best quality on 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, there are several types of financial expenses with rational consumer behavior: mandatory (minimum, most necessary) expenses - for food, clothing, travel, payment utilities etc. - and arbitrary: for hobbies, high-level consumer goods, travel, etc. Another type is the savings of the subject in question.

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 thinking about purchasing a 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 shipping, 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 savings on raw materials, production equipment 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 is made of the demand market, the rational behavior of the consumer in the desired sector of the economy, the costs of production and advertising, etc. The volume of production and its methods are determined. For example, you can harvest crops manually by hiring and paying a large number of workers, or you can use agricultural equipment by buying or renting 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 manufacturer is the answer to the question: "How limited quantity resources to get the most profit?" A particular version of this question arises when one or another entrepreneur comes to the need to expand - 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. The quality of a product is closely related to 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 vocational training 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.

Obviously, the main limitation for any consumer is the size of his income. Since the needs are diverse and unlimited, and income (ie, the amount of money available to the consumer) is limited, the buyer is forced to constantly make a choice from the huge number of goods offered to him on the market. It is natural to assume that, in making this choice, the consumer seeks to acquire the best set of goods available with a given limited income.

There is no objective criterion to determine which set of goods is best for a given consumer. And only because the consumer chooses the “best set” of goods from his individual (i.e., subjective) point of view (remember the surprisingly accurate aphorism of K. Prutkov: “everyone thinks the best is what he has a desire for”).

Of course, the subjective approach is not flawless: a person is a complex being and does not always behave rationally in this sense. Of course, the concept of rationality of the consumer simplifies the mechanism of his economic behavior, and yet the majority of consumers really strive to get maximum satisfaction from their limited income.

It should be especially emphasized that behaving rationally in the market does not at all mean necessarily being tight-fisted and petty-prudent. One should not think that a person who has spent his fortune on “a million scarlet roses” for his beloved is an irrational consumer, and another who has put money into commercial Bank at high interest rates - on the contrary, a rational consumer. The theory of consumer behavior recognizes both as a rational consumer, if only they really chose the best (from their subjective point of view) variant of consumer behavior. This means that each consumer has a kind of individual scale of preferences and, realizing it with a limited income, seeks to achieve the highest possible degree of satisfaction.

Rational consumer behavior is to maximize utility with limited income.

Ticket

There are two main approaches to the definition of utility:

1) quantitative (cardinal). Here we are talking about the traditional version of consumer choice theory;

2) ordinal (ordinalist).

The utility a consumer derives from an additional unit of a good is called the marginal utility (MU). In turn, the sum of the utilities of the individual parts of the good gives the total utility (TU). Then marginal utility is the increase in total utility with an increase in the consumption of a good by one unit.

The overall utility of the good

The curve of general utility starts from the origin, since the need begins to be satisfied after a certain amount of consumption. This curve slopes positively, since as the amount of the good increases, total utility increases.

Using the cardinal (quantitative) theory of utility, one can characterize not only total utility, but also marginal utility, as an additional increase in a given level of well-being obtained by consuming an additional amount of a good of a given type and unchanged quantities of consumed goods of all other types.

marginal utility

Most goods have the property of diminishing marginal utility, according to which the greater the consumption of a certain good, the smaller the increment in utility received from a single increment in the consumption of this good. This explains why the demand curve for these goods has a negative slope. Figure 8 shows that for a hungry person, the utility of the first slice of bread he consumes is high (QA), but as his appetite is saturated, each subsequent slice of bread brings less and less satisfaction: the fifth slice of bread will provide only QB of utility.

Ticket

ORDINALIST (ORDINAL) UTILITY - subjective utility, or the satisfaction that the consumer receives from the good he consumes, measured on an ordinal scale.

The ordinal (ordinal) theory of utility is an alternative to the cardinal (quantitative) theory of utility.

Marginal utility cannot be measured; The consumer does not measure the utility of individual goods, but the utility of sets of goods. Only the order of preference for bundles of goods is measurable. The criterion of the ordinal (ordinal) theory of utility involves the ordering by the consumer of his preferences regarding goods. The consumer systematizes the choice of a set of goods according to the level of satisfaction. For example, the 1st set of goods gives him the greatest satisfaction, the 2nd set - less satisfaction, the 3rd set - even less satisfaction, etc. Therefore, such a systematization gives an idea of the preferences of consumers in relation to a set of goods. However, it does not give an idea of the differences in satisfaction with these sets of goods. In other words, from a practical point of view, the consumer can tell which set he prefers over another, but cannot determine how much one set is better than another.

The ordinal (ordinal) theory of utility is based on several axioms. Note that among economists there is no unity regarding the number and name of axioms. Some authors name four axioms, others - three axioms. Here we highlight the following axioms.

1. Axiom of complete (perfect) ordering of consumer preferences. A consumer who makes a purchase can always either name which of the two sets of goods is better than the other, or recognize them as equivalent. So, for sets A and B, or A > - B, or B > - A, or A ~ B, where the sign "> -" expresses a preference relation, and the sign " ~ " - a relation of equivalence or indifference.

2. The axiom of transitivity of consumer preferences means that in order to make a certain decision and implement it, the consumer must consistently transfer preferences from some goods and their sets to others. So, if A > - B, and B > - C, then always A > - C, and if A ~ B and B ~ C, then always A ~ C. From the presented ranking it follows that A delivers more satisfaction than B , and B is greater than C. Therefore, A gives more satisfaction than C. Transitivity also implies that if the consumer does not distinguish between alternatives A and B and between B and C, then he should always not distinguish between A and V.

3. The axiom of unsatisfactory needs states that consumers always prefer more of any good to less. This axiom does not fit anti-goods that have negative utility, since they lower the level of well-being of a given consumer. So, air pollution, noise reduce the level of utility of consumers.

36 ticket The indifference curve depicts alternative sets of goods that provide the same level of utility (Fig. 8.1)

Indifference curves have the following properties.1. An indifference curve located to the right and above the other curve is more preferable for the consumer.2. Indifference curves always have a negative slope, because rational consumers will prefer more of any bundle to less.3. Indifference curves are concave due to decreasing marginal rates of substitution.4. Indifference curves never intersect and usually show decreasing marginal rates of substitution of one good for another.5. Sets of benefits on curves more distant from the origin are preferable to sets of benefits located on curves less distant from the coordinates. To describe a person's preferences for all sets of food and clothing, one can draw a family of indifference curves, which is called an indifference curve map. Indifference curve map - way graphic image utility functions for some particular consumer (Fig. 8.2). On fig. 8.2 shows four indifference curves that form a family - a map of indifference curves. Sets on indifference curves more distant from the origin deliver greater utility to the consumer and are therefore preferable to sets on less distant curves. On fig. 8.2 U4>U3>U2>U1.

Rice. 8.2. Map of indifference curves

An indifference curve map gives an idea of the tastes of a particular consumer, since it illustrates the rate of substitution for two goods at any level of consumption of these goods. When it comes to the fact that the tastes of consumers are known, then the whole map of indifference curves is meant, and not the current ratio of units of two goods. In the map of indifference curves, each curve joins points of equal utility.

The main working concept of the ordinal (ordinal) theory of utility is considered to be the marginal rate of substitution MRS.

The marginal rate of substitution (MRS) measures how many units of one good a consumer must give up in order to acquire an additional unit of another good. In other words, it is the ratio of the marginal utility of two goods.

Read the text and complete tasks 21-24.

The needs of society, its different strata, each individual are so diverse that no government agency cannot take them into account in full and in the appropriate quality. Each item purchased by a person for personal use contains a combination of elements that are included in the final increment of his consumer wealth. As a person's means increase, he, first of all, requires new qualities in the objects he uses. And only with the help of the market is it possible to have flexible and effective control over the correspondence of demand to the total individual needs formed by human capital. Needs related to economic fundamentals human capital, the nature of distribution, the balance of supply and demand and other problems.

The market reveals real needs, and consumption depends on its development. In other words, the market is a wealth accumulator, the main social institution, an indisputable truth for the growth of consumption. Being ultimate goal, consumption has an active impact on production, because the consumer ... buying the proposed product of labor or refusing it, encourages economically correct and punishes the erroneous behavior of producers. As a result, they are forced to lead competition for the consumer, who decides independently in the market conditions what, when and how much to buy.

Obviously, the main limitation for any consumer is the size of his income, and for the production process - his capabilities. Since the needs are diverse and unlimited, and the income is limited, the individual is forced to constantly make a choice from the huge number of goods offered on the market. Naturally, making this choice, he seeks to acquire the best set of goods from those available to him, i.e. seeks to achieve the highest possible degree of satisfaction, in other words, to maximize utility with a limited income.

(G.S. Khafizova)

Explanation.

The correct answer must contain the following elements:

1) the answer to the first question:

The main limitation for any consumer is the amount of his income;

2) answer to the second question:

As a person's means increase, he, first of all, requires new qualities in the objects he uses;

3) answer to the third question:

Buying or rejecting the offered product of labor, the consumer encourages economically correct and punishes the erroneous behavior of producers.

Response elements can be presented both in the form of quotations and in the form of a concise reproduction of the main ideas of the relevant text fragments.

Source: USE 2016 in social studies. (part C, option 513)

ALL LESSONS IN ECONOMY
Grade 10

LESSON #12. SIGNS OF A RATIONAL CONSUMER

The purpose of the lesson: to consider the signs of rational and irrational consumer behavior; continue to develop the ability to calculate total and marginal utility; develop curiosity and independence; cultivate frugality.

Basic concepts: rational consumer behavior.

Type of lesson: lesson learning new material.

II. Updating the basic knowledge and skills of students

1. Give examples when the same product in different situations can be of great utility and may be generally unnecessary? (medication)

2. If one family drinks tea in the morning and another prefers juices, who is more rational? (Both families act rationally, because rationality involves choosing what brings personal benefit to everyone. Each family, probably based on their own tastes and limited incomes, made a rational choice in which their benefits exceed the costs.)

III. Learning new material

In our lesson we will talk about rational consumer behavior.

Principle one. People choose. Choice is always associated with costs. This means that every person, making a choice, always concedes something. The choice actually involves two actions. When more than one alternative is available, choose one at the same time and discard the other. The old saying "I have no choice" just doesn't apply to economic analysis: there are always alternatives, because there are no irreplaceable things! However, sometimes the costs associated with the rejection of one of the alternatives are so large or so small that it seems to us that there is only one alternative. An example would be choosing something for dessert when there are only two alternatives: wormy apples and chocolate cake. The costs associated with giving up wormy apples are so small that it seems like there is only one alternative - chocolate cake.

In a market economy, choice plays a very important role. Consumers need to choose which goods and services to buy, bearing in mind that once the decision is made, they will have to forego other goods. The manufacturer must determine what goods to produce, and to produce efficiently. If the manufacturer makes the wrong decisions, he will not be able to stay in business.

It should be remembered that the use of resources is a waste. Using resources for one purpose, we lose the ability to use them for other purposes. Thus, in the economy it is always necessary to analyze the opportunity costs - the costs of producing a good, estimated in terms of the lost opportunity to use the same resources for other purposes. Opportunity cost in monetary terms is the sum of alternative cash costs and lost cash income.

Opportunity costs can act as the difference between the income that could be obtained with the most profitable of all alternative ways of using resources, and the actual profit.

The concept that has become one of the main ones in the economy (opportunity cost) was introduced by Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926). In translation in the literature, there are such options: the costs of alternative opportunities, the costs of missed opportunities, opportunity cost, opportunity cost. The choice is based on Wieser's law: the real value of any thing is the lost utility of other things that could be produced (acquired) with the help of resources spent on the production (acquisition) of a certain thing.

The second principle. People behave rationally. At any hour of the day, people have to choose. What to wear? Study or go for a walk? Find a job or keep studying? Regardless of age, wealth and place of residence, all people must make a choice, and their own life and the lives of people associated with them depend on the choice. Economists believe that all economic activity population, private companies and the state is based on private solutions individual people. When we understand how and why the choice occurs, then we are close to understanding and predicting economic phenomena.

Of course, not everyone will make the same choice as another, because people have different values. In other words, everyone has their own choice, but everyone has to choose. Unites all people rational behavior associated with the choice of alternatives. This behavior is called economic: people choose the option that seems best to them because it carries the least cost and the greatest benefit compared to other options.

Thus, rational behavior is manifested in the fact that people make decisions in order to get the most pleasure or to most fully achieve their own goals. Consequently, consumers try to spend their income rationally in order to get the most benefit or enjoyment from goods and services within their income range.

Rational behavior means that people will make different choices because their conditions (constraints) and available information are different. You may have thought you'd get higher education before looking for a job, and another graduate decided to go to work immediately after graduation high school. Why such a different choice? Your ability is obviously better, and your parents' income is higher than that of your classmate. You may be better informed and more aware that graduate-educated workers earn significantly higher incomes and have more stable jobs than those with general secondary education. So, you choose college, while your classmate with less ability and financial ability and less informed chooses a job. Both choices are rational, but based on different possibilities and information.

Of course, rational decisions can change if circumstances change. Let's say the government decides that the training of workers with a higher specialized education is a national priority. As a result, the state provides greater financial support to students. In these new conditions, your classmate may choose to study rather than work after graduating from high school.

IV. Lesson summary

Students draw conclusions about rational consumer behavior.

Rational behavior means that people will make different choices because their options (limitations) and available information are different.

Rational behavior is manifested in the fact that people make decisions in order to get the most pleasure or to achieve their own goals as fully as possible.

The real value of any thing is the lost utility of other things that could be produced (acquired) with the help of resources spent on the production (acquisition) of a certain thing.

V. Homework

Consider Adam Smith's paradox: "Why is water, which is so necessary that life is impossible without it, has such low price, while diamonds, which are not needed at all, have such a high price?”

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