In economics, consumers are individuals or households that "consume" goods and services generated within the economy. Since this includes just about everyone, the term is a political term as much as an economic term when it is used in everyday speech. Typically when businesspeople and economists talk of "consumers" they are talking about person-as-consumer, an aggregated commodity item with little individuality other than that expressed in the buy/not buy decision. However there is a trend in marketing to individualize the concept. Instead of generating broad demographic and psychographic profiles of market segments, marketers are engaging in personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization.
In standard microeconomic theory, a consumer is assumed to have a budget which can be spent on a range of goods and services available on the market. Under the assumption of rationality, the budget allocation is chosen according to the preference of the consumer, i.e. to maximize his or her utility function.
In time-series models of consumer behaviour, the consumer may also invest a proportion of their budget in order to gain a greater budget in future periods. This investment choice may include either fixed rate interest or risk-bearing securities.
In the context of mental health, consumer is also a term applied to describe a person living with mental illness.
Concern over the best interests of consumers has spawned much activism, as well as incorporation of consumer education into the school curriculum. One non-profit publication active in consumer education is Consumer Reports.
Within many selling companies "consumer" has come to be a derogatory term which means a "purchaser of products who is not very intelligent." This is in contrast to the meaning of customer, which is defined as "an intelligent purchaser who has power in the purchasing relationship between buyer and seller."
Ending of the lease before the scheduled termination date for any reason, voluntary or involuntary (for example, you return the vehicle early or default on the lease, or the vehicle is stolen or totaled).
If you believe the amount owed at the end of the lease term is unreasonable and refuse to pay, the lessor or assignee may attempt to prove that the residual value was reasonable when it was set at the beginning of the lease.
The requirement of the Consumer Leasing Act that charges for delinquency, default, or early termination be reasonable in light of the lessor's or assignee's (1) anticipated or actual harm caused by such delinquency, default, or early termination, (2) difficulties in proving loss, and (3) inconvenience in obtaining a remedy.
Endconsumer research tends to have an "increasing returns" element to it—the more you know and the longer you do it, the more benefit you get from it, and the harder it is for competitors to duplicate your knowledge base.
They might not be doing the direct research with endconsumers (although we would argue that this wouldn't at all be an inappropriate strategy), but they should be asking their customers what they know about shifting consumerpreferences in end products (e.g., seating) and what the emerging product implications are for them.
Endconsumer knowledge is best leveraged when the company has gone through the strategic process of focusing its product portfolio.
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