Consumer Behavior

• Consumer Preferences
• Budget Constraints
• Consumer Choice
• Revealed Preference
• Marginal Utility and Consumer Choice
 Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is best understood in three distinct steps:

1. Consumer Preferences

2. Budget Constraints

3. Consumer Choices
 Consumer Preferences
Market Baskets
● market basket (or bundle) List with specific quantities of one or more
goods.

TABLE 3.1 ALTERNATIVE MARKET BASKETS

MARKET BASKET UNITS OF FOOD UNITS OF CLOTHING

A 20 30
B 10 50
D 40 20
E 30 40
G 10 20
H 10 40
Some Basic Assumptions about Preferences

• Completeness: Preferences are assumed to be complete.

• consumers can compare and rank all possible baskets.
• For any two market baskets A and B, a consumer will prefer A to B, will
prefer B to A, or will be indifferent between the two.
• Being Indifferent means a person will be equally satisfied with either
basket.
• More is better than less: Goods are assumed to be desirable—i.e.,
to be good. Consequently, consumers always prefer more of any good
to less. In addition, consumers are never satisfied or satiated; more is
always better, even if just a little better.
Indifference Curves

DESCRIBING INDIVIDUAL
PREFERENCES
Because more of each good
is preferred to less, we can
compare market baskets in
the shaded areas.
Basket A is clearly preferred
to basket G, while E is clearly
preferred to A.
However, A cannot be
compared with B, D, or H
without additional information.

● indifference curve Curve representing all combinations of market baskets

that provide a consumer with the same level of satisfaction.
AN INDIFFERENCE CURVE
The indifference curve U1 that
passes through market
basket A shows all baskets
that give the consumer the
same level of satisfaction as
does market basket A; these
include baskets B and D.
Our consumer prefers basket
E, which lies above U1, to A,
but prefers A to H or G, which
lie below U1.
Indifference Maps

● indifference map Graph containing a set of indifference curves

showing the market baskets among which a consumer is indifferent.

AN INDIFFERENCE MAP
An indifference map is a set
of indifference curves that
describes a person's
preferences.
Any market basket on
indifference curve U3, such
as basket A, is preferred to
any basket on curve U2
(e.g., basket B), which in
turn is preferred to any
basket on U1, such as D.
INDIFFERENCE CURVES
CANNOT INTERSECT
If indifference curves U1 and
U2 intersect, one of the
assumptions of consumer
theory is violated.
According to this diagram, the
consumer should be
indifferent among market
baskets A, B, and D. Yet B
should be preferred to D
because B has more of both
goods.
The Shape of Indifference Curves

THE MARGINAL RATE OF

SUBSTITUTION
The magnitude of the slope of
an indifference curve
measures the consumer’s
marginal rate of substitution
(MRS) between two goods.
In this figure, the MRS
between clothing (C) and
food (F) falls from 6 (between
A and B) to 4 (between B and
D) to 2 (between D and E) to
1 (between E and G).
The Marginal Rate of Substitution

● marginal rate of substitution (MRS) Maximum amount of a good

that a consumer is willing to give up in order to obtain one additional unit of
another good.

CONVEXITY

Observe that the MRS falls as we move down the indifference curve. The
decline in the MRS reflects our fourth assumption regarding consumer
preferences: a diminishing marginal rate of substitution. When the MRS
diminishes along an indifference curve, the curve is convex.
Perfect Substitutes and Perfect Complements

● perfect substitutes Two goods for which the marginal rate of substitution
of one for the other is a constant.

● perfect complements Two goods for which the MRS is zero or infinite; the
indifference curves are shaped as right angles.

BADS

● bad Good for which less is preferred rather than more.

FIGURE 3.6
PERFECT SUBSTITUTES AND PERFECT COMPLEMENTS

In (a), Bob views orange juice and In (b), Jane views left shoes and right shoes
apple juice as perfect substitutes: He as perfect complements: An additional left
is always indifferent between a glass shoe gives her no extra satisfaction unless
of one and a glass of the other. she also obtains the matching right shoe.
 EXAMPLE 3.1 DESIGNING NEW AUTOMOBILES (I)

Preferences for automobile attributes can be described by

indifference curves. Each curve shows the combination of
acceleration and interior space that give the same
satisfaction.

FIGURE 3.7
PREFERENCES FOR AUTOMOBILE ATTRIBUTES

Owners of Ford Mustang coupes (a) are The opposite is true for owners of
willing to give up considerable interior space Ford Explorers. They prefer interior
for additional acceleration. space to acceleration (b).
UTILITY AND UTILITY FUNCTIONS

● utility Numerical score representing the satisfaction that a

consumer gets from a given market basket.
● utility function Formula that assigns a level of utility to individual
market baskets.

FIGURE 3.8
UTILITY FUNCTIONS AND
INDIFFERENCE CURVES
A utility function can be
represented by a set of
indifference curves, each with
a numerical indicator.
This figure shows three
indifference curves (with
utility levels of 25, 50, and
100, respectively) associated
with the utility function:

u (F,C ) =
FC
ORDINAL VERSUS CARDINAL UTILITY

● ordinal utility function Utility function that generates a ranking of

market baskets in order of most to least preferred.

● cardinal utility function Utility function describing by how much one

market basket is preferred to another.

EXAMPLE 3.2 CAN MONEY BUY HAPPINESS?

FIGURE 3.9
INCOME AND HAPPINESS
A cross-country comparison
shows that individuals living
in countries with higher GDP
per capita are on average
happier than those living in
countries with lower per-
capita GDP.
3.2 Budget Constraints
● budget constraints Constraints that consumers face as a result
of limited incomes.

The Budget Line

● budget line All combinations of goods for which the total amount of money
spent is equal to income.

PF F  PC C I (3.1)

TABLE 3.2 MARKET BASKETS AND THE BUDGET LINE

MARKET BASKET FOOD (F) CLOTHING (C) TOTAL SPENDING
A 0 40 $80
B 20 30 $80
D 40 20 $80
E 60 10 $80
G 80 0 $80

Market baskets associated with the budget line F + 2C = $80

FIGURE 3.10
A BUDGET LINE
A budget line describes the
combinations of goods that
can be purchased given the
consumer’s income and the
prices of the goods.
Line AG (which passes
through points B, D, and E)
shows the budget associated
with an income of $80, a price
of food of PF = $1 per unit,
and a price of clothing of PC =
$2 per unit.
The slope of the budget line
(measured between points B
and D) is −PF/PC = −10/20 =
−1/2.
C ( I / PC )  ( PF / PC ) F (3.2)
The Effects of Changes in Income and Prices

FIGURE 3.11
EFFECTS OF A CHANGE IN
INCOME ON THE BUDGET
LINE
INCOME CHANGES
A change in income (with
prices unchanged) causes the
budget line to shift parallel to
the original line (L1).
When the income of $80 (on
L1) is increased to $160, the
budget line shifts outward to
L2.
If the income falls to $40, the
line shifts inward to L3.
FIGURE 3.12
EFFECTS OF A CHANGE IN
PRICE ON THE BUDGET
LINE
PRICE CHANGES
A change in the price of one
good (with income
unchanged) causes the
budget line to rotate about
one intercept.
When the price of food falls
from $1.00 to $0.50, the
budget line rotates outward
from L1 to L2.
However, when the price
increases from $1.00 to
$2.00, the line rotates inward
from L1 to L3.
3.3 Consumer Choice

The maximizing market basket must satisfy two conditions:

1. It must be located on the budget line.

2. It must give the consumer the most preferred combination of goods and
services.
FIGURE 3.13
MAXIMIZING CONSUMER
SATISFACTION
A consumer maximizes
satisfaction by choosing
market basket A. At this
point, the budget line and
indifference curve U2 are
tangent.
No higher level of
satisfaction (e.g., market
basket D) can be attained.
At A, the point of
maximization, the MRS
between the two goods
equals the price ratio. At B,
however, because the
MRS [− (−10/10) = 1] is
greater than the price ratio
(1/2), satisfaction is not
maximized.
Satisfaction is maximized (given the budget constraint) at the point where

MRS = PF/PC (3.3)

● marginal benefit Benefit from the consumption of one additional unit

of a good.

● marginal cost Cost of one additional unit of a good.

So, we can then say that satisfaction is maximized when the marginal benefit
—the benefit associated with the consumption of one additional unit of food—is
equal to the marginal cost—the cost of the additional unit of food. The
marginal benefit is measured by the MRS.
 EXAMPLE 3.3 DESIGNING NEW AUTOMOBILES (II)

Different preferences of consumer groups for automobiles can affect their

purchasing decisions. Following up on Example 3.1, we consider two groups of
consumers planning to buy new cars.

FIGURE 3.14
CONSUMER CHOICE OF AUTOMOBILE ATTRIBUTES
The consumers in (a) are willing to trade Given a budget constraint, they will choose
off a considerable amount of interior a car that emphasizes acceleration.
space for some additional acceleration. The opposite is true for consumers in (b).
Corner Solutions

● corner solution Situation in which the marginal rate of substitution

for one good in a chosen market basket is not equal to the slope of the budget
line.

FIGURE 3.15
A CORNER SOLUTION
When a corner solution
arises, the consumer
maximizes satisfaction by
consuming only one of the
two goods.
Given budget line AB, the
highest level of satisfaction is
achieved at B on indifference
curve U1, where the MRS (of
ice cream for frozen yogurt) is
greater than the ratio of the
price of ice cream to the price
of frozen yogurt.
 EXAMPLE 3.4 CONSUMER CHOICE OF HEALTH CARE

FIGURE 3.16
CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR
HEALTH CARE VERSUS OTHER GOODS
These indifference curves show the trade-
off between consumption of health care
(H) versus other goods (O). Curve U1
applies to a consumer with low income;
given the consumer’s budget constraint,
satisfaction is maximized at point A.
As income increases the budget line shifts
to the right, and curve U2 becomes
feasible. The consumer moves to point B,
with greater consumption of both health
care and other goods.
Curve U3 applies to a high-income
consumer, and implies less willingness to
give up health care for other goods.
Moving from point B to point C, the
consumer’s consumption of health care
increases considerably (from H2 to H3),
while her consumption of other goods
increases only modestly (from O2 to O3).
 EXAMPLE 3.5 A COLLEGE TRUST FUND

FIGURE 3.17
A COLLEGE TRUST FUND
When given a college trust
fund that must be spent on
education, the student moves
from A to B, a corner solution.
If, however, the trust fund
could be spent on other
consumption as well as
education, the student would
be better off at C.
 Revealed Preference
If a consumer chooses one market basket over another, and if the
chosen market basket is more expensive than the alternative, then
the consumer must prefer the chosen market basket.

FIGURE 3.18
REVEALED PREFERENCE:
TWO BUDGET LINES
If an individual facing budget
line l1 chose market basket A
rather than market basket B,
A is revealed to be preferred
to B.
Likewise, the individual facing
budget line l2 chooses market
basket B, which is then
revealed to be preferred to
market basket D.
Whereas A is preferred to all
market baskets in the green-
shaded area, all baskets in
the pink-shaded area are
preferred to A.
REVEALED PREFERENCE:
FOUR BUDGET LINES
Facing budget line l3, the individual
chooses E, which is revealed to be
preferred to A (because A could have
been chosen).
Likewise, facing line l4, the individual
chooses G, which is also revealed to
be preferred to A.
Whereas A is preferred to all market
baskets in the green-shaded area, all
market baskets in the pink-shaded
area are preferred to A.
 REVEALED PREFERENCE FOR RECREATION

REVEALED PREFERENCE FOR RECREATION

When facing budget line l1, an individual chooses to use a health club for 10 hours
per week at point A.
When the fees are altered, she faces budget line l2.
She is then made better off because market basket A can still be purchased, as
can market basket B, which lies on a higher indifference curve.
3.5 Marginal Utility and Consumer Choice
● marginal utility (MU) Additional satisfaction obtained from
consuming one additional unit of a good.

● diminishing marginal utility Principle that as more of a good is consumed,

the consumption of additional amounts will yield smaller additions to utility.

0 MU F (F )  MU C (C )

 (C / F ) MU F / MU C

MRS MU F / MU C (3.5)

MRS PF / PC (3.6)
MU F / MU C PF / PC

or MU F / PF MU C / PC (3.7)

● equal marginal principle Principle that utility is maximized when the

consumer has equalized the marginal utility per dollar of expenditure across all
goods.
 MARGINAL UTILITY AND HAPPINESS

What, if anything, does research on consumer satisfaction tell us about the

relationship between happiness and the concepts of utility and marginal utility?

MARGINAL UTILITY AND HAPPINESS

A comparison of mean levels of satisfaction with life across income classes in the
United States shows that happiness increases with income, but at a diminishing rate.
Rationing

FIGURE 3.22
INEFFICIENCY OF
GASOLINE RATIONING
When a good is rationed, less
is available than consumers
would like to buy. Consumers
may be worse off.
Without gasoline rationing, up
to 20,000 gallons of gasoline
are available for consumption
(at point B).
The consumer chooses point
C on indifference curve U2,
consuming 5000 gallons of
gasoline.
However, with a limit of 2000
gallons of gasoline under
rationing, the consumer
moves to D on the lower
indifference curve U1.
FIGURE 3.23
COMPARING GASOLINE
RATIONING TO THE FREE
MARKET
Some consumers will be
worse off, but others may be
better off with rationing. With
rationing and a gasoline price
of $1.00, she buys the
maximum allowable 2000
gallons per year, putting her
on indifference curve U1.
Had the competitive market
price been $2.00 per gallon
with no rationing, she would
have chosen point F, which
lies below indifference curve
U1.
However, had the price of
gasoline been only $1.33 per
gallon, she would have
chosen point G, which lies
above indifference curve U1.