Individual demand
Topic: Consumer Behaviour, Demand and Elasticity · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 9 "The Price Puzzle: What Drives the Market"
Meaning
Individual demand is the quantity of a good that one consumer is willing and able to buy at different prices, with other factors held constant. Those other factors are her income, the prices of related goods and her tastes. It is the building block of market demand. Adding all individual demands at each price gives the market total.
Example
At ₹150 per kg Srivalli buys 1 kg of mangoes. At ₹100 she buys 2 kg, and at ₹50 she buys 3 kg. This is her individual demand. Alex, Israt and other buyers each have their own individual demand for mangoes.
Don't confuse with
- Market demand: the total quantity bought by all consumers at each price. It is found by adding individual quantities at each price (horizontal summation). Prices are never added.