Consumer

A consumer is a person or organization that uses economic services or commodities.

In economic systems consumers are utilities expressed in the decision to trade or not.

Economics and marketing

The consumer is the one who pays to consume goods and services produced. As such, consumers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation. Without consumer demand, producers would lack one of the key motivations to produce: to sell to consumers. The consumer also forms part of the chain of distribution.

Recently in marketing instead of marketers generating broad demographic profiles and Fisio-graphic profiles of market segments, marketers have started to engage in personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization.

Law and politics

The law primarily uses the notion of the consumer 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 of all potential voters are also consumers, consumer protection takes on a clear political significance.

Heterotroph

A heterotroph (/ˈhɛtərəˌtroʊf, -ˌtrɒf/;ἕτερος heteros = "another", "different" and τροφή trophe = "nutrition") is an organism that cannot fix carbon and uses organic carbon for growth. Heterotrophs can be further divided based on how they obtain energy; if the heterotroph uses light for energy, then it is considered a photoheterotroph, while if the heterotroph uses chemical energy, it is considered a chemoheterotroph.

Heterotrophs contrast with autotrophs, such as plants and algae, which can use energy from sunlight (photoautotrophs) or inorganic compounds (lithoautotrophs) to produce organic compounds such as carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from inorganic carbon dioxide. These reduced carbon compounds can be used as an energy source by the autotroph and provide the energy in food consumed by heterotrophs. Ninety-five percent or more of all types of living organisms are heterotrophic.

Types

Organotrophs exploit reduced carbon compounds as energy sources, like carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from plants and animals. Photoorganoheterotrophs such as Rhodospirillaceae and purple non-sulfur bacteria synthesize organic compounds by utilization of sunlight coupled with oxidation of inorganic substances, including hydrogen sulfide, elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, and molecular hydrogen. They use organic compounds to build structures. They do not fix carbon dioxide and apparently do not have the Calvin cycle. Chemolithoheterotrophs can be distinguished from mixotrophs (or facultative chemolithotroph), which can utilize either carbon dioxide or organic carbon as the carbon source.

Consumer (disambiguation)

A consumer is person or group that uses products.

Consumer or Consumers may also refer to: