Экономические науки/14.Экономическая теория

Julia Hudz’

Student, National University of Food Technologies, Kyiv, Ukraine

TO QUESTION ABOUT ANALYSIS CONSUMPTION OF FOOD STUFFS

Consumption is one of basic economic categories and is studied by many other social sciences. The value form is the amount of money that is spent for purchase of material goods and services.

Condition of existence of the market is the presence of the consumer or purchaser of the goods. The consumer as a subject of market relations - a person who strives to meet the needs by consuming healthy qualities of economic goods and services. The role of the consumer market and the development of market relations are extremely important because consumer needs are determined by the volume of sales and production.

Consumption is normally the largest GDP component. Many persons judge the economic performance of their country mainly in terms of consumption level and dynamics.

Consumption may be divided according to the durability of the purchased objects. In this vein, a broad classification separates durable goods (as cars and television sets) from non-durable goods (as food) and from services (as restaurant expenditure). These three categories often show different paths of growth the standard of living.

Consumption also is divided according to the needs it satisfies. A commonly used classification identifies ten chapters of expenditure: food; clothing and foot wear; housing; heating and energy; health; transport; house furniture and appliances; communication; culture and schooling; entertainment.

People in different position in respect to income have systematically different structures of consumption. The rich spend more for each chapter in absolute terms, but they spend a lower percentage in income for food and other basic needs.

The rich have both higher levels of consumption and savings. In differentiated product markets, the rich can usually buy better goods than the poor. This happens also because they tend to use different decision making rules. In other words, consumption depends on social groups and their behaviours.

So, the rich have a much wider cumulative bundle of durable goods purchased over time, so they enjoy a very significantly higher degree of need satisfaction, whereas the poor can suffer deficiencies even in the most basic goods [1].

Every consumer needs are the things that are necessary for life. Of course, given that everyone has a level of personal needs and desires. You satisfy first your needs, then you satisfy your wants to the extent that your income will allow.

It is difficult to analyze and classify the reasons that induce consumers to buy, since every person has a wide variety of needs and wants. The following are some of the reasons why consumers buy goods and services:

1. Desire for satisfying appetites. Consumers have a highly developed sense of taste and they want specialized food that satisfies that "taste sensation."

2. Desire for self-preservation. Everyone fears death and disability. Usually, a consumer protects himself against accidents by buying articles such as fire extinguishers, bumpers for cars, safety belts and the like. The desire for good health is the main reason for buying products such as vitamin pills, invigorating foods, soaps and cleaning compounds and sporting goods.

3. Desire for recognition. There are many consumers who want to be of some importance and to be looked up to by friends. The desire for recognition may result in buying goods such as cosmetics, expensive clothing, jewelry, antiques.

4. Desire to create. The growth of various hobbies in recent years is the result of the desire to create.

5. Desire for relaxation and amusement. Everybody feels the need for amusement and laughter. Each one is entitled to a mental relaxation from jobsю

6. Desire for knowledge. Most non-fiction books are sold because of the desire for knowledge. This is especially true of the sale of books of facts and encyclopedias.

7. Desire for beauty is a strong reason for buying many things.

8. Desire for money gain. The desire for gain is the main reason for buying goods that are to be resold.

9. Desire for religion. The buying of Bibles, religious literatures are outward expressions of man's desire for religion.

An important factor that determines the price of consumption goods. Сonsumers will buy less of goods if its price increases relative to other goods.

Rapid or unexpected changes in retail food prices will impact some consumers more than others depending on income levels and the importance of the affected food items in consumers’ budgets. In general, if a commodity represents a very small portion of the consumer’s budget (for example salt), then a consumer is less likely to respond to a price change. Basic food staples such as bread, potatoes, pasta, and rice tend to take smaller shares of the consumer’s food budget (relative to meat, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and more processed food products) and, as a result, consumers are less responsive to a change in their price. In contrast, high-valued food items such as expensive cuts of meat or seafood probably represent more costly (and infrequently purchased) delicacies for most households.

As a result, most households will tend to be far more responsive to changes in the prices of such high-valued products than for basic staples. Often a price change for an item within a specific food group may result in consumers switching to lower-quality items within that food category—the classic example being a switch from steak to hamburger when meat prices rise

Of course, the absolute size of a consumer’s disposable income is also important in determining actual purchasing power. For households with smaller incomes, the food budget itself is likely a larger portion of total household expenditures, and such households are likely to be more responsive to price changes across all food categories than are higher-income households.

A household’s absolute level of disposable income (and, to a lesser degree, wealth) directly affects its ability to respond to price changes. As a result, as household incomes grow, consumers often opt for more expensive or higher-quality selections of foods or may experiment by trying new or unfamiliar foods. For example, as incomes increase in less-developed countries, it is common to see per-capita expenditures on meat and dairy products increase. In contrast, when incomes decline, consumers tend to pull back from more expensive options. If the income decline is severe and is perceived as permanent or long-lasting, consumers may make substantial changes to their food budget choices.

Tastes and preferences is the next factor that determines the structure of consumption. Non-economic factors such as cultural or ethnic preferences may determine both the share of a particular food product in the household’s budget (e.g., rice represents a larger share of per-capita expenditure in most Asian households than in most European households at similar income levels).

Dietary needs also change with age. For example, young children and adolescents generally need both more calories and a higher portion of protein-based calories to meet nutritional demands of rapid physical growth and high activity levels. Population and households with a high proportion of persons likely to consume larger portions of meat and dairy products than older, more mature. As a result, population demographics such as household composition, size, and age structure often play an important role in consumer price sensitivity and income responsiveness [2].

Thus, target of consumer is to have maximum utility from the consumption of goods and services. Towards this purpose, the consumer there is a lot of restrictions: income, prices, assortment of goods and services. As consumers feel the impact of disability and meets their immediate needs first, then other desires within disposable income.

References:

1. Piana V. Consumption [electronic sources] // Economics web institute. – 2001. - Access the journal: http://www.economicswebinstitute.org/glossary/cons.htm

2. Schnepf R. Consumers and Food Price Inflation [electronic sources] // UNT Digital Library. – 2012. - Access the journal: http://www.fas.org/ sgp/crs /misc/ R40545.pdf