All the people participate in the market either as consumer or seller or producer. Any person who buys a commodity or service for direct use or ownership. I, you, we all are consumers when we buy a product or service. But people who acquires goods or services for resale or use in production and manufacturing cannot be considered consumer.
In free market economics, consumers dictate what goods are produced and are generally considered the center of economic activity. Individual consumption of goods and services is primarily linked to the consumer's level of disposable income, and budget allocations are made to maximize the consumer's marginal utility.
Within law, the notion of consumer is primarily used in relation to consumer protection laws, and the definition of consumer is often restricted to living persons (i.e. not corporations or businesses) and excludes commercial users. A typical legal rationale for protecting the consumer is based on the notion of policing market failures and inefficiencies, such as inequalities of bargaining power between a consumer and a business. As potential voters are also consumers, consumer protection takes on a clear political significance.
Concern over the interests of consumers has also spawned much activism, as well as incorporation of consumer education into school curricula. There are also various non-profit publications, such as Consumer Reports and Choice Magazine, dedicated to assist in consumer education and decision making.
Consumer exploitation
In market, consumers are often exploitated. When a consumer is cheated in anyway, either by the shopkeeper or by the producer by giving him poor quality and adulterated goods or by charging more prices for a commodity or service, it is called consumer exploitation. Consumers are explioted in the following ways –
1. Adulteration
Adulteration means mixing of low quality products to a superier quality product. In many costly items like oil,