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Bab 3
Bab 3
Consumer Behavior
Introduction
How are consumer preferences used to
determine demand?
How do consumers allocate income to
the purchase of different goods?
How do consumers with limited income
decide what to buy?
A 20 30
B 10 50
D 40 20
E 30 40
G 10 20
H 10 40
30 A
20 D
G
10
Food
10 20 30 40
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 13
Indifference Curves:
An Example
Points such as B & D have more of one
good but less of another compared to A
Need more information about consumer
ranking
Consumer may decide they are
indifferent between B, A and D
We can then connect those points with an
indifference curve
Food
10 20 30 40
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 15
Indifference Curves
Any market basket lying northeast of an
indifference curve is preferred to any
market basket that lies on the
indifference curve
Points on the curve are preferred to
points southwest of the curve
Clothing
Market basket A
is preferred to B.
Market basket B is
D preferred to D.
B A
U3
U2
U1
Food
B
U2
D
U1
Food
Orange Juice
0 1 2 3 4 (glasses)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 30
Consumer Preferences
Perfect Complements
Two goods are perfect complements when
the indifference curves for the goods are
shaped as right angles
Example: If you have 1 left shoe and 1 right
shoe, you are indifferent between having
more left shoes only
Must have one right for one left
0 1 2 3 4 Right Shoes
Styling
These consumers
place a greater
value on
performance than
styling
Performance
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 37
Consumer Preferences:
An Application
Styling
These consumers place
a greater value on
styling than
performance
Performance
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 38
Consumer Preferences:
An Application
Knowing which group dominates the
market will help decide where
redesigning dollars should go
A recent study in the US shows that over
the past two decades, most consumers
have preferred styling over performance
A 8 3 8 + 2(3) = 14
B 6 4 6 + 2(4) = 14
C 4 4 4 + 2(4) = 12
C
10
A U3 = 100
5
B U2 = 50
U1 = 25
Food
0 5 10 15
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 45
Utility
Although we numerically rank baskets
and indifference curves, numbers are
ONLY for ranking
A utility of 4 is not necessarily twice as
good as a utility of 2
There are two types of rankings
Ordinal ranking
Cardinal ranking
PF F PC C I
A 0 40 $80
B 20 30 $80
D 40 20 $80
E 60 10 $80
G 80 0 $80
I PX X PY Y
I PX X PY Y
I PX
X Y
PY PY
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 58
Budget Constraints
The Budget Line
The vertical intercept, I/PC, illustrates the
maximum amount of C that can be
purchased with income I
The horizontal intercept, I/PF, illustrates the
maximum amount of F that can be
purchased with income I
60
A decrease in
40 income shifts
the budget line
inward
20 L3
(I = L1 L2
$40) (I = $80) (I = $160)
Food
0 40 80 120 160 (units per week)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 63
The Budget Line - Changes
The Effects of Changes in Prices
If the price of one good increases, the
budget line shifts inward, pivoting from the
other good’s intercept.
If the price of food increases and you buy
only food (x-intercept), then you can’t buy as
much food. The x-intercept shifts in.
If you buy only clothing (y-intercept), you can
buy the same amount. No change in y-
intercept.
20 C
U3
U2
U1
B
0 20 40 80 Food (units per week)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 72
Consumer Choice
Consumer will choose highest
indifference curve on budget line
In previous graph, point C is where the
indifference curve is just tangent to the
budget line
Slope of the budget line equals the slope
of the indifference curve at this point
PF
Slope
PC
PF
MRS
PC
-10C
20
+10F U1
0 20 40 80 Food (units per week)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 79
Consumer Choice:
An Application Revisited
Consider two groups of consumers, each
wishing to spend $10,000 on the styling
and performance of a car
Each group has different preferences
$3,000
PIceCream
MRS
PFrozen Yogurt
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 88
A Corner Solution
If the MRS is, in fact, significantly greater
than the price ratio, then a small
decrease in the price of frozen yogurt will
not alter the consumer’s market basket
U1
Q Education ($)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 92
A Corner Solution - Example
Other
Consumption
($) •If gift is
unrestricted, Jane
C can be at point C on
U3
U3 •Better off than
P
with restricted gift
B U2
A
U1
Q Education ($)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 93
Revealed Preferences
If we know the choices a consumer has
made, we can determine what their
preferences are if we have information
about a sufficient number of choices that
are made when prices and incomes vary.
Clothing l1
(units per •I1: Choose A over B
month) •A is revealed
preferred to B
l2 •l2: Choose B over D
A •B is revealed
preferred to D
B
D
A
B is preferred
B
to
all market D
baskets
in the yellow
area
Food (units per month)
l4
A
l2
B G
A: preferred to all I4: G revealed preferred to A
market baskets in
the yellow area
Food (units per month)
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 98
Marginal Utility and Consumer
Choice
Marginal utility measures the additional
satisfaction obtained from consuming
one additional unit of a good
How much happier is the individual from
consuming one more unit of food?
0 MUF(F) MUC(C)
No change in total utility along an indifference curve.
Trade off of one good to the other leaves the consumer
just as well off.
C / F MU F / MU C
Since
C / F MRS of F for C
We can say
MRS MUF/MUC
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 104
Marginal Utility and Consumer
Choice
When consumers maximize satisfaction:
MRS PF /PC
Since the MRS is also equal to the ratio of the
marginal utility of consuming F and C
MU F /MU C PF /PC
©2005 Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 3 105
Marginal Utility and Consumer
Choice
Rearranging, gives the equation for utility
maximization:
MU F / PF MU C / PC