Understanding Consumer from Different Aspects

May 6
07:28

2010

Nyamache

Nyamache

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The term consumer has different meanings. To the mental health it means someone with mental illness and is undergoing treatment while to economics it means the aggregate commodity item.

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From my commerce understanding,Understanding Consumer from Different Aspects Articles a consumer is an individual who buys products for his own consumption. While on the other hand a customer is a person who may or may not purchase products for his own consumption.

Today I am going to talk about the consumer, forget about the customer I have just mentioned. The term "consumer" is a mechanistic term used by economists or those speaking of economic issues to denote someone who buys things in the economy.  As such, it is also a political term, as politics and economics are inseparable.

Business people and economists talk of consumers as an aggregated commodity item, just one half of an equation that has to do with economic activity. There is no individuality expressed or even meant to be expressed in the term.

However, there is a trend in marketing to individualize the concept of the consumer. Rather than generating broad demographic profiles of market segments, marketers are looking for ways to personalize the science of marketing with concepts like permission marketing and mass customization (oxymoron though that last term sounds.)

In marketing, a consumer is assumed to have money to spend. They (consumers) are treated as entities with discretion over where that money goes. Under what is called the assumption of rationality, producers of goods act on the advice of marketers to know what to produce.

This is often thought of as maximizing utility function that is, making the consumer a more powerful battery for running the "profit gizmo." If more desirable goods are produced, more money is spent by consumers on those goods.

There are also "time series" models of consumer behavior, in which the consumer may invest a proportion of their budget in order to leverage greater budget in the future. Investments fall under this model and may include fixed rate interest loans or risk-bearing securities.

In the context of mental health, the term consumer is applied to someone living with mental illness and is undergoing treatment (they are "consuming" services of mental health professionals.)

A mental health professional can help these people regain their lives, while achieving their own goals simultaneously. But problems may arise when dealing with prospects. Many patients become frustrated when in spite of their best efforts they seem unable to stick to the regimen laid out for them.  There are several proven strategies for dealing with this.

It is fundamental to make a plan that is sure to fit the lifestyle of one seeking help. Think ahead about how well the plan will fit into one's life and be realistic about it. Anything that can be done to regularize a new activity will help.

Asking for help from those around is also a good idea. The care and cooperation of family and friends as well as co-workers only increases the chances of success.