The fashion for limited consumption has long walked around the world. Stars refuse expensive clothes and luxury goods. What role does consumption play in human life and what does this word mean?
People consume services and goods in order to satisfy their needs or desires. In a way, it is consumption that is the foundation of society. Moreover, the standard of living of the population directly depends on its ability to consume. The need for a particular product or service creates an offer, sometimes whole sectors of the economy are created to meet the needs of people. That is, the more goods and services are created, the higher the level of consumption and the quality of life of the population.
Definition
What is consumption? This term refers to the use of services, goods (goods) by the population in order to satisfy their own needs. All of these products are purchased to fulfill long-term or current needs. In fact, all consumption consists of two types: goods and services.
Essence of consumption
Consumption is the final stage in the chain of reproduction of goods: production - distribution - exchange - consumption by the population. This allows you to establish the main relationship between the buyer and production. Without consumption, there will be no last, because all goods and services are created for the ultimate goal: meeting the needs of people.
Consumption functions
Consumption has a number of important functions:
- Cognitive is learning new skills in the process of consumption and creating benefits for their further consumption.
- An innovative function is the need to constantly create and improve the goods consumed by people.
- Economic. It is no secret that demand creates supply, forcing entrepreneurs not only to create benefits, but also to look for ways to realize them and attract money. Thus, there is a circulation of funds in a global sense.
- Socialization of the population. The creation of goods and the process of their consumption require from people a certain level of interaction among themselves, constant discussion and joint actions.
- The creative function is closely related to the influence of a person’s aesthetic perception of objects and the desire to surround themselves with objects with certain characteristics and qualities.
Classification of needs
Needs are classified at once by several indicators. It is customary to highlight:
- Material needs. Called to meet the needs of man, as a biological being. The need for food, heat, air - the basic material needs of a person. We can say that such consumption is primary, the life of people depends on it.
- Spiritual or intangible needs. They represent a person’s need in emotional and spiritual terms. This category includes the need for care and love. These categories are determined by a person’s ability to feel and perceive the feelings of other people.
- Intellectual needs are expressed in the need to develop the human mind. Any person seeks to know the world around him and this is one of the most powerful needs. It is most pronounced in childhood. In adulthood, this need helps to learn, master the profession and develop in it. This need can be met by material goods such as newspapers, books, the Internet.
- The last category to help understand what consumption is is social needs. As you know, man is a biosocial creature, that is, he always needs society and cannot survive without him. The need for communication is very important for each person, it allows individuals to interact, engage in joint activities, and confront threats together.
Material needs are basic for a person, while the other three categories are secondary needs. Therefore, the priority for a person is the need for life support and only after they are satisfied, a person can proceed to meet their secondary needs in the order listed.
Norm Definition
Consumption rate is an economic indicator that reflects the level of demand and provision of people with material goods and services. Indicators are compiled and used to determine the needs of certain categories of the population. When analyzing statistical data and justifying budget expenditures, norms also apply.
Standards for the consumption of goods (goods and services) are real and rational. For example, the norm for sugar per capita (rational) per year is 24 kilograms, and the real one is 35 kilograms. Thus, it is safe for a person to consume no more than 24 kilograms, but the actual situation suggests that sugar is used much more, which suggests that the real norm (35 kg) should be reduced to the recommended by doctors (rational) 24 kg .
Volume
The volume of consumption of material goods, services or goods is calculated as the average number of goods per capita for a certain time period. In fact, it turns out that it is quite difficult to calculate the real level of consumption of food or non-food products.
The total volume is determined as the quotient of a certain product in physical terms in the reporting and base periods.
The average per capita is defined as follows:
Per capita volume = total consumption x - product in kind for the reporting period / average population for the same period. It can be said differently. The volume of total consumption x - of goods in physical terms for the base period / average population for exactly the same period.
Recommended Food Consumption
Every year, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation issues a document that defines the recommended norms of food consumption per person. The document is resonant and always causes enormous debate in society, however, the rules for 2018 are as follows:
- bakery products - 96 kg / year;
- potatoes - 90 kg / year;
- vegetables and cereals - 140 kg / year;
- fruit - 100 kg / year;
- sugar - 24 kg / year;
- meat - 73 kg / year;
- fish - 22 kg / year;
- dairy products - 325 kg / year;
- eggs - 260 kg / year;
- vegetable oil - 12 l / year;
- salt - 4 kg / year.
These standards are unified and recommended for all residents of Russia, but there are standards that may vary depending on the region, such as the need for housing and communal services.
Goods: concept, classification
A product is an object, a product of human activity, the purpose of which is to satisfy the needs of the population.
All consumed goods can be divided into several groups:
- Essential goods are those that a person needs to support his existence, such as food, shelter, clothing, etc. Simply put, something that a person cannot do without.
- Secondary goods include optional product categories: TV, washing machine, books, and more.
- Luxury items such as delicacies, jewelry, expensive cars, a pool and more. Simply put, these are the benefits that a person desires, but they do not bring any benefit.
Services: concept, classification
Services are the result of human activities aimed at meeting his needs in a particular society. The time of consumption of one or another of them is always equal to the time of its production.
Conventionally, the consumption of services can be divided into:
- Those that are needed all the time (services of school and medical institutions, service in stores, etc.).
- Services consumed irregularly (for example, car service or hairdressers).
The level of satisfaction of the population in goods and services
By comparing the normative and actual consumption indicators, it is possible to identify the level of satisfaction of the population’s needs for goods or services. In order to determine the level of satisfaction in a product, the formula is used:
Consumption = Average quantity of consumed x - goods per capita / Standard indicator of consumption on average per capita. What do you need to determine the average?
To do this, the number of purchased products per capita must be divided into the entire volume of consumption of the goods and the average number of people by consumption groups.
To determine the normative level of consumption, it is required to divide the indicators recommended by the Ministry of Health in a certain population group by the average number of consumers in it.