Pengertian Total Utility dan Marginal Utility

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Total utility adalah jumlah kepuasan total yang dinikmati

konsumen akibat mengkonsumsi sejumlah barang/jasa

Marginal Utility adalah tambahan kepuasan yang dinikmati

konsumen akibat adanya tambahan barang/jasa yang dikonsumsi

Difference Between Total Utility And Marginal Utility?

Answer
The difference between total utility and marginal utility refers to the fact that a marginal utility is in addition to the total utility. When a consumer increases the total utility of a good
consumed, the additional increase is then referred to as a marginal utility.

Total utility is the total satisfaction obtain by a consumer by consuming all units of commodity. Marginal utility is the additional satisfaction you get for every additional unit

Total utility is the amount of satisfaction one derives from consuming some
particular amount of a good. Marginal utility, on the other hand, measures
the change in total utility from consuming one additional unit. Thelaw of
diminishing marginal utility is the principle that, beyond some level of
consumption, marginal utility declines as consumption increases.

Marginal and Total Utility

Marginal utility measures the extra utility (or satisfaction) from consuming an
additional unit of a product. Total utility is the total satisfaction from the
consumption of a product. If, for example, the extra utility from consuming
another unit of the product is 6 units of utility (called utils) then total utility
will increase by 6 utils.

Units Marginal utility Total utility

1 10 10

2 8 18

3 6 24

4 4 28

5 2 30
Notice in the above table that the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility
operates. This means that total utility increases at a diminishing rate. When
marginal utility is 0 this means there is no increase in total satisfaction from
the consumption of that unit (in this case the 6th unit). It is possible that you
can overconsume some items (e.g. eat too much) in which case the marginal
utility might be negative (the 7th unit) and total utility would then fall.

The paradox of value: marginal and total utility

Some products are widely available and are heavily consumed. This means
that the extra utility from consuming one more unit is low as is the price we
are willing to pay for that unit. Even though the product may be vitally
important such as bread in the UK the fact it is widely available reduces the
value of an additional unit. Other products, such as Ferarris, are not widely
available and have limited consumption. This means the marginal utility of an
extra unit is high and therefore we are willing to pay a high price for it. Even
though bread is more important in terms of our survival and provides more
total utility we are not willing to pay as much for it as Ferarris because of its
low marginal utility. This is known as the paradox of value.
Interestingly the typical example of the paradox of value is water and
diamonds first outlined by Adam Smith in 1776. In the UK, however, the
availability of water is less reliable than it used to be which is reducing the
supply and increasing the marginal utility and price we are willing to pay for
it.
MARGINAL UTILITY
Filed under: TEORI EKONOMI 2 — Leave a comment
January 26, 2012

11 Votes

Marginal utility adalah sebuah konsep tentang tingkat kepuasan seorang dalam konsumsi suatu
barang. Marginal utility sangat bergantung dengan selera dan kepuasan konsumen. Utility dinilai
dari nilai guna suatu barang yang digunakan oleh seorang konsumen. Marginalisme menjelaskan
tentang pilihan seorang konsumen dengan pemikiran seseorang memutuskan apa manfaat yang
akan dia terima dalam memilih kebutuhan untuk dikonsumsi.
Teori nilai guna atau utility yaitu teori ekonomi yang mempelajari kepuasan atau kenikmatan
yang diperoleh seorang konsumen dari mengkonsumsikan barang-barang. Kalau kepuasan itu
semakin tinggi maka semakin tinggi nilai guna atau utility-nya. Sebaliknya semakin rendah
kepuasan dari suatu barang maka utilitynya semakin rendah pula.
 Nilai guna dibedakan diantara dua pengertian:
 Marginal utility (kepuasan marginal). Yaitu pertambahan/pengurangan kepuasan sebagai
akibat adanya pertambahan/pengurangan penggunaan satu unit barang tertentu.
 Total utility (total utility). Yaitu keseluruhan kepuasan yang diperoleh dari mengkonsumsi
sejumlah barang-barang tertentu.
Sementara M Abraham Garcia-Torres dalam ” Consumer Behaviour Theory : Utility Maximization
and the seek of Novelty ” membagi nilai guna menjadi dua. Berdasarkan dua tindakan ekonomi
yang dilakukan konsumen, Dua tindakan ini saling berhubungan :
1. ” Nilai Guna Keputusan ( Decision Utility )” yang berhubungan dengan Tindakan pembelian
( action of Purchasing ) “. Dalam tindakan pembelian konsumen membeli beberapa barang pada
waktu yang bersamaan. dan sebelum melakukan pembelian konsumen harus memutuskan
barang yang mana yang akan dia beli.
2. ” Nilai Guna Pengalaman (Experienced Utility ) ” Yang berhubungan Dengan Tindakan
Konsumsi ( action of Consumption ) dengan kapasitas pemenuhan kepuasan dari barang
tersebut.

Marginal utility berhubungan dengan kebutuhan manusia. Namun kebutuhan manusia tidak
memiliki batas. Sehingga dalam pemenuhan kebutuhannya manusia perlu membuat keputusan
dalam menentukan pilihan mana yang akan dia ambil agar tecapai kepuasan yang maksimal.
Berdasarkan hukum Gossen atau yang biasa dikenal dengan law of siminishing marginal utility
berlaku bahwa semakin banyak suatu barang yang dikonsumsi, maka tambahan nilai
kepuasannya yang diperoleh dari setiap satuan tambahan yang dikonsumsikan akan menurun.
Dan konsumen akan selalu berusaha dalam mencapai kepuasan total yang maksimum.
Hukum marginal utility yang semakin menurun / Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility :
“ apabila tambahan nilai guna yang akan diperoleh dari seseorang dari mengkonsumsi suatu
barang akan menjadi semakin sedikit apabila orang tersebut terus menerus menambah
konsumsinya dan pada akhirnya tambahan nilai guna tersebut akan menjadi negative”
Konsep nilai guna (utility) bisa menjelaskan kelemahan berupa paradok antara kegunaan suatu
barang dengan harganya. Seperti tentang durian, dimana sampai titik tertentu Anda tidak mau
lagi memakannya, bahkan jika buah durian itu diberikan secara gratis. Hal ini menunjukkan
bahwa tambahan kepuasan yang diberikan dari tiap tambahan unit barang yang dikonsumsi
semakin berkurang. Inilah yang disebut Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
Penggambaran tentang marginal utility dan law of diminishingmrginal utility adalah ketika suatu
orang sedang lapar maka iya akan makan, setiap nasi yang iya makan akan memiliki nilai
kepuasan namun bila porsinya terus ditambah pada suatu saat akan kenyang kenyang disini
disebut dengan titik kepuasan maksimal. Namun bila sudah mencapai kepuasan maksimal dan
derus ditambah maka akan menurunkan nilai kepuasannya, sama seperti bila sudah kenyang
namun porsi makanan terus ditambah maka pada suatu saat akan muntah.
Kejadian contoh tersebut terlihat pada kurva berikut

Pada bagan diatas terlihat bahwa konsumsi suatu barang secara kontinu akan mencapai suatu
titik yang disebut dengan titik kepuasan puncak atau titik jenuh. Dan konsumsi yang dilakukan
setelah mencapai titik puncak akan menurunkan tingkat kepuasan dari barang tersebut secara
total

Kurva diatas menggambarkan tentang nilai guna suatu barang. Jumlah barang yang terus
ditambahkan akan menurunkan tingkat utility dari barang tersebut.
Kesimpulan
Marginal utility adalah sebuah konsep yang menggambarkan tentang tingkat penurunan nilai
suatu barang yang terjadi bila kuantitas barang tersebut terus ditambahkan. Penambahan ini
menyebabkan nilai suatu barang akan menurun.

Pengertian Total Utility dan Marginal Utility

Total utility adalah jumlah kepuasan total yang dinikmati konsumen akibat mengkonsumsi sejumlah
barang/jasa

Marginal Utility adalah tambahan kepuasan yang dinikmati konsumen akibat adanya tambahan
barang/jasa yang dikonsumsi
 How to Calculate Marginal Utility
We know that a consumer derives some sort of satisfaction from consuming a
commodity. How is that measured and calculated? Read on...

EditSteps
1. 1
Define utility (derived from the term 'usefulness'): "the want satisfying
power of a commodity". It is measured in "utils" (U). To know about marginal
utility, we have to understand the concept of total utility.

2. 2
Define total utility: "the psychological satisfaction a consumer derives from
consuming a given amount of a particular good, calculated by the sum of all
the marginal utilities obtained from the consumption of the different units of a
commodity.

o Example 1 of total utility:

by purchasing 1 unit of a commodity a customer had his total satisfaction or

Total utility (TU) as 6. When he purchases the same commodity next time, his
TU increased to 10 but not by as much as the first (it would have been
6+6=12, if the level of satisfaction were the same in the both units of
consumption of that commodity, but this was not possible in this case). In
purchasing the 3rd unit, TU increased again to 12 (but not by 6 either).
3. 3
Calculate the Marginal Utility of a commodity - find the change in total
utility which results from one unit increase in consumption. In short,the
increment to TU is called marginal utility or MU.

4. 4
Consider example 1 again: The difference between the TU of the 2nd unit of
commodity to that of the 1st unit gives MU of the 2nd commodity since
MU=TU in the 1st unit consumption.
1. Find the difference or change of MU of 1st commodity: 6-0=6
2. Find the difference or change of MU of 2nd commodity: 10-6=4
Formulae used to calculate both the utilities:
 1. 1
Add the latest event: TU = Summation of MU

2. 2
Subtract the previous: MU = TUn - TU(n-1)

o OR

= Change in TU/ Change in unit of commodity,

where TUn means total utility of a commodity and

TUn-1 denotes total utility of the previous unit commodity.

3. 3
Consider problem 2:

o Given:
TU of 1 commodity = 8.
o TU of 2nd commodity = 14
o TU of 3rd commodity = 18.
4. 4
Calculate MU for the given instances:
o MU of 1st unit of commodity=8-0=8
o MU of 2nd unit of commodity=14-8=6
o MU of 3rd unit of commodity=18-14=4

Relationship Between Total Utility (TU) and Marginal Utility

(MU):
When a consumer goes on to consume the units of a commodity continuously the marginal utility
derived from the successive units of the commodity goes on to fall constantly while other factors are
held constant.

From the above statement regarding the consumer behaviour the relationship between total utility
(TU) and marginal utility (MU) is deducted as under:
 1. MU is the rate of change of TU.
2. When the MU decreases, TU increases at decreasing rate.

3. When MU becomes zero, TU is maximum. It is a saturation point.

4. When MU becomes negative, TU declines

The standard quadratic form of the TU function is written as follows:

TU = aQ - bQ2

and MU = dTU / dQ = a - 2bQ

Slope of MU = dMU/dQ = -2b

By taking the successive values of Q, the relationship between MU and TU is represented in

the following schedule:

Quantity Total Utility Marginal Utility

1 10 10

2 18 8

3 24 6

4 28 4

5 30 2

6 30 0

7 28 -2

With the help of above schedule the relationship between TU and MU is explained as:

1. In the above schedule MU decreases and TU increases at a decreasing rate upto 5th unit of
commodity.
2. MU becomes zero at 6th unit and TU = 30 become maximum.

3. When MC becomes negative, the TU declines from 30 to 28 units at 7th units of a commodity.

With the help of the above schedule the relationship between MU and TU can be represented in the
diagram.
 1. In figure (2), MU curve moves downward having negative slope while in figure (1) TC curve,
having negative positive slope moves upward but tendency to move is towards x-axis, which
shows decreasing rate.
2. A point F´ in figure (2) MU curve cuts the s-axis at the 6th unit and TU curve has its maximum
point F which is saturation point.

3. At 7th unit MU curve is below x-axis as in figure (2) and TU curve declines from point 'F' to 'G'
as in figure (1).

Mathematically:

MU = Change in TU / change in quantity consumed

MU = ∆TU / ∆Q

=8/1

=8

From point B to C

MU = ∆TU / ∆Q

=6/1

=6

This process remains upto point E and MU decreases.

From E to point F
 MU = ∆TU / ∆Q

=0/1

=0

It is the representation of zero marginal utility.

While from point F to G

MU = ∆TU / ∆Q

-2 / 1

= -2

It is the representation of negative utility and total utility declines.

How to Calculate Marginal Utility

by Sean Mann, Demand Media

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Calculating marginal utility is an important skill in economics. Marginal utility is the utility
a person gains or loses by increasing or decreasing the amount of a specific good or
service. A utility function can be used to describe the relationship between total utility
and different amounts of the good or service. If you are given measurements of total
utility for different amounts of the good or service, you can use subtraction to calculate
the marginal utilities. If you are only given a utility function, you must use calculus to
solve its marginal utility.
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Marginal Utility Without a Utility Function

Step 1

Make a chart with three columns. The first column is the amount of the good or service
you are calculating for. The second column is the total utility and the third column is the
marginal utility.
 Step 2

Enter in available data to fill out the first and second columns. For example, you may be
analyzing apples and know that zero apples gives zero utility, one apple gives 10 utility,
two apples gives 15 utility, three apples gives 17 utility and so on.
Step 3

Calculate the marginal utility for each row on the chart. The marginal utility of the first
row is simply that row's total utility. The second row's marginal utility is the second row's
total utility minus the first row's total utility. Repeat this process for all the rows on the
chart. Using our previous apple example, the marginal utilities of the first four rows are 0,
10-0=10, 15-10=5 and 17-15=2.
Step 4

Use the marginal utility values to answer questions about how the person's utility
changes with various amounts of the good or service. The utility added from the first
good to the second good is equal to the marginal utility of the second row. Using our
previous apple example, the person gains 2 utility from acquiring a third apple. The
tendency for each additional good to add a lower amount of utility is known as the law of
diminishing marginal utility.
Marginal Utility with a Utility Function
Step 1

Use calculus to solve marginal utility problems when you are given a utility function. A
utility function gives the relationship between utility and each unit of a good or service.
The general form of a utility function is U(x1,x2,...xn), where the items x1, x2, etc.. up to
xn all affect the person's utility. An example of a utility function is U(x,y) = 4x/y + 2,
where "x" is wealth and "y" is children.
Step 2

Use the marginal utility equation, which is MU(x) = dU/dx, where "x" is your variable. This
equation describes the rate of change for utility given different amounts of the good. If
there are multiple goods in your utility function then the marginal utility equation is a
partial derivative of the utility function with respect to a specific good. Using the above
example, the partial derivative of 4x/y + 2 in respect to "x" is 4/y and the partial
derivative in respect to "y" is 4x.
Step 3

Use the partial derivatives to solve questions about marginal utility for different amounts
of the two goods. You can plug the amounts into the appropriate partial derivative to
solve the marginal utility for that good. Using the above example, if "x" is equal to 5 and
"y" is equal to 2, the marginal utility of "x" is 4/2=2 and the marginal utility of "y" is
4*5=20.
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Marginal Utility Theory

Marginal Utility theory examines the increase in satisfaction consumers gain from
consuming an extra unit of a good.
 Utility is an idea that people get a certain level of satisfaction / happiness / utility
from consuming goods and service.

This utility is not constant. Often we get diminishing marginal utility. The first
piece of chocolate cake gives more utility than the 7th piece.

Quantity (Q) Total Utility Marginal Utility

1 100 100

2 170 70

3 190 20

4 180 -110

5 140 -4

In the above example, total utility (190) is maximised after just three pieces of
chocolate cake.

Utility and Price.

 One way to measure utility is to give the utility a monetary value.

 For example, if I would pay £0.70 for a piece of cake, then we can say the
utility is £0.70

 If a piece of cake cost 70p, it would make sense to consume 2 pieces.

 The first piece gives 100p of utility > than the price of 70p.

 The second piece gives a utility equal to the price.

Consumer Surplus
This is the excess of what a consumer would have been prepared to pay
compared to what they actually pay.
A Person's Consumer Surplus from Petrol

In the above diagram, at Q 500 litres, the MU is 80p > than the price = 50p.
Therefore, a rational consumer will increase consumption of petrol, until the MU
of petrol equals the price at 50p and a quantity of 800.

Marginal Consumer Surplus = The excess of a person's total utility from the
consumption of a good (MU) over the price paid: MCS = MU - P

Optimum Level of Consumption

For one good, the optimum level of consumption would be to consume a quantity
of the good unto the point where MU = Price.

There's no point paying 75p for cake, if it only gives us 50p worth of utility.

Demand Curve and Marginal Utilty

Our demand curve is derived from our marginal utility.

If a good gives us more satisfaction, e.g. it becomes more fashionable, our MU and
demand curve will shift to the right.

Choosing Between Different Goods.

In the real world, we are not just deciding how much of one good to buy. We are
also deciding how to choose between different combinations of goods.
 The Equi Marginal principle in consumption states that consumers will maximise
total utility from their incomes by consuming that combination of goods where:

MUa = Pa
----- ----
MUb = Pb

For example, suppose bread = £1 and Chicken = £2.

 Chicken is twice as expensive. Therefore, it would make sense to choose a

quantity of chicken, where the marginal utility of chicken was twice the MU of
bread.

 Therefore, you would tend to buy less chicken to make sure the marginal
utility of chicken justified its higher price.

 If chicken was giving three times as much marginal utility, but was only
twice as expensive, it would make sense to buy more chicken until the marginal
utility fell to that ratio.