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Question Posed by jacewat
"What do you believe the consumer's role is in capitalism?"
Link to Original Post
The Constituents of Capitalism
The role of consumers throughout capitalism is vast and contains multiple layers. First off, we all know that the production market is incredibly dependent on the ebb and flow of supply and demand; the latter, of course, being determined by current trends in consumption. But as we look a little deeper, we realize that there is a lot more that goes into these fads than consumer preferences.
Consumers hold more of an influence on the market than they might think. The impact on the market through continuous exchanges is innately positive, but on a smaller scale, those involved in the exchange depend on the personal decisions of others. As Dr. Bylund (2018, p.75) puts it, “a change brings about changes that in turn bring about changes.” Once consumers choose which avenue to spend their money, they are indirectly impacting the lives of many others. The money made by one person is then exchanged for the good or service of another, and so on and so forth. While the immediate changes are prosperous for those involved in the exchange, there are those who were left out of the exchange that miss out on potential economic benefits. As this cycle continues, entrepreneurs study consumer behaviors and determine new products and services that will anticipate the wants of consumers in the future. Therefore, seemingly small choices made throughout a society have a large impact on its own growth and advancement.
More specifically, “if consumers are not convinced of the ability of a new product or service to satisfy real wants, it will have no value,” (Bylund, 2018, p. 142). Subsequently, a consumer’s main role in capitalism is to invest in it financially; without any customers, all businesses would fail, thus crumbling the very foundation of capitalism. However, I think the consumer acts as a front for the true inner-workings of capitalism: competition for profits. Each entrepreneur will think of new and creative ways to outbid other producers for the love and affection, and most importantly, money of every citizen. Conclusively, consumers are not only responsible for financially supporting capitalism, but they are also the actors that inspire innovations to this system and accelerate the development of their society. In a way, they are the experimental group in the scientific investigation of society’s greatest indicator of success, the economy.
Source:
Bylund, P. L. (2018). Seen, the unseen, and the unrealized: How regulations affect our everyday lives. LEXINGTON Books.