A consumer is a person who buys goods and services for their own use e.g. me when I buy new clothes to wear them.
A consumer need is anything that I cannot do without and that I need in order to survive e.g. food, warmth, shelter, clean water, basic clothing.
A consumer wants is something that I would like to have but I don’t need to survive (it is non-essential) e.g. the latest fashion in clothes, the most up to date mobile phone, jewellery, make up….
A budget is a plan of how much money I am going to receive (income) and how I am going to spend it (fixed, irregular and discretionary expenditure). I should never spend more than I can afford.
A false economy is when we purchase a cheaper product, which turns out to be more expensive in the long run e.g. buying cheaper yoghurts and realising I don’t like the taste and not eating any of them/not servicing the car for 150 Euro and later spending 2000 Euro on car repairs.
Calculation of unit price = price divided by quantity = unit price.
A Brand is a distinctive name, logo, design etc that producers/manufacturers put on their products, services or businesses in order to make their business stand out from others and to attract customers to buy their products e.g. Tayto Crisps verses O’ Donnell’s crisps, Ryanair versus Aer Lingus……(TIP: There is often no real difference between the brands. The difference is perceived(imagined) by the consumer due to clever advertising.
Conspicuous consumption refers to spending in an extravagant way with the deliberate intention of trying to impress others e.g. buying the most expensive designer clothes just to impress your friends, having the latest iPhone to impress others
Impulse purchases happen when consumers make a sudden, unplanned decision to buy a good or service e.g. when I see an item in a shop window perhaps on sale and I buy it without thinking about do I need it? Is it a good value for money? Could I get it cheaper elsewhere….
Special Pricing is making a price sound and looks better than it is e.g. E9.95 looks better than E10.