1) Write the characteristics of utility.with explaination
Answers
Answer:
In economics utility is the capacity of a commodity to satisfy human wants. ... Utility is the basis of consumer demand. A consumer thinks about his demand for a commodity on the basis of utility derived from the commodity. Utility depends upon the intensity of want.
Answer:
The simple meaning of ‘utility’ is ‘usefulness’. In economics utility is the capacity of a commodity to satisfy human wants.
Utility is the quality in goods to satisfy human wants. Thus, it is said that “Wants satisfying capacity of goods or services is called Utility.”
In this way utility is measured in terms of money and it is relative. There is difference between utility and usefulness. A useful commodity may not here utility of goods depend upon the intensity of wants.
A consumer buys or demands a particular commodity he derives some benefit from its use. He feels that his given want is satisfied by the use or consumption of the commodity purchased. Utility is the basis of consumer demand. A consumer thinks about his demand for a commodity on the basis of utility derived from the commodity.
Utility depends upon the intensity of want. When a want is unsatisfied or more intense, there is a greater urge to demand a particular commodity which satisfies a given want. In modern time utility has been called as ‘expected satisfaction.’ Expected satisfaction may be less or equal to or more than the real satisfaction.
Characteristics of Utility:
The following are the important characteristic features of utility:
1. Utility has no Ethical or Moral Significance:
A commodity which satisfies any type of want, whether moral or immoral, socially desirable or undesirable, has utility, i.e., a knife has utility as a household appliance to a housewife, but it has also a utility to a killer for stabbing some body.
2. Utility is Psychological:
Utility of a commodity depends on a consumer’s mental attitude and assessment regarding its power to satisfy his particular want. Thus, utility of a commodity may differ from person to person. Psychologically, every consumer has his likes and dislikes and everyone determines his own level of satisfaction
A consumer who is fond of apples may find a high utility in apples in comparison to the consumer who has no liking for apples. Similarly a strictly vegetarian person has no utility for mutton or chicken.
3. Utility is always Individual and Relative:
Utility of a commodity varies in different situations in relation to time and place. Even the same consumer may derive a higher or lower utility for the same commodity at different times and different places. For example—a person may find more utility in woolen clothes during the winter than in summer or at Kashmir than at Mumbai.
4. Utility is not Necessarily Equated with Usefulness:
Utility simply means the ability to satisfy a want. A commodity may have utility but it may not be useful to the consumer. For instance—A cigarette has utility to the smoker but it is injurious to his health. However, demand for a commodity depends on its utility rather than its usefulness. Thus many commodities like opium liquor, cigarettes etc. have demand because of utility, even though, they are harmful to human beings.
5. Utility cannot be Measured Objectively:
Utility being a subjective phenomenon or feeling of a consumer cannot be expressed in numerical terms. So utility cannot be measured cardinally or numerically. It cannot be measured directly in a precise manner. Professor Marshall has however, unrealistically assumed cardinal measurement of utility in his analysis of demand.
6. Utility Depends on the Intensity of Want:
Utility is the function of intensity of want. A want which is unsatisfied and greatly intense will imply a high utility for the commodity concerned to a person. But when a wan is satisfied in the process of consumption it tends to experience a lesser utility of the commodity than before. Such an experience is very common and it is described as a tendency of diminishing utility experienced with an increase in consumption of a commodity. In other words, the more of a thing we have, the less we want it.
7. Utility is Different from Pleasure:
A commodity may have utility but its consumption may not give any pleasure to the consumer, e.g., medicine or an injection. An injection or medicinal tablet gives no pleasure, but it is necessary for the patient.
8. Utility is also Distinct from Satisfaction:
Utility and satisfaction, both are though inter-related but they have not been considered as the same in a strict sense.