Consumer
Topic: Consumer Behaviour, Demand and Elasticity · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 5 "Consumer Rights"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Introduction (Statistics for Economics)"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Use of Statistical Tools"
Meaning
A consumer is a person who buys goods or uses services for her own use, her family's use, or as a gift. She does not buy them to resell them or to use them in a business. Economics studies the consumer to understand how households spend a limited income across many goods. In Class 12, "goods" covers both goods and services.
Example
A family in Pune buys 10 kg of rice for its kitchen, so it is a consumer of that rice. A wholesaler who buys 10 tonnes of the same rice to sell to shops is not a consumer in this sense, because the rice is bought for resale.
Don't confuse with
- Buyer: every consumer is a buyer, but not every buyer is a consumer. A trader or firm that buys for resale or business use is a buyer and not a consumer.