It should be said that scarcity of natural resources is a tremendous issue globally. David Begg (2013) claims that :”When something is so abundantly available that we get all we want, we do not waste time worrying about what, how and for whom it should be produced”.
Consumers’ wants and needs are unlimited but resources are finite, which means that they can run out in the close future, e. g oil. Consumers demand is high on different goods and services worldwide, so producers have to supply more products and use greater volume of scarce resources. Kallie Wells states that: "scarcity, or limited resources, is one of the most basic economic problems we face. We run into scarcity because while resources are limited, we are a society with unlimited wants. We have to efficiently allocate resources." However, many businesses are allocating resources irrationally and wasting them, that can lead to their disappearance. Undoubtedly, governments and companies itself have to make sure they control the production and consumption of natural resources and use them rationally in order to save the scarce resources on our planet. Consequently, consumers are not the only players, who are responsible for this global problem.
Inflation
Inflation is another drawback, which should be considered. It is defined as a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money. [5] Due to the rapid increase in production and customers demand ,the general level of prices are tend to rise, which leads to less spending and borrowing from the bank. Concerning inflation from the consumption point of view, it can be caused by demand-pull inflation. Please, see appendix 2.
It means that demand is growing faster than producers can supply goods and therefore prices are known to be higher during this period. "The basic idea behind demand pull inflation is that strong consumer demand helps drive inflation. When there are a limited number of goods in the market, and a large demand for those goods, the prices have to increase." [6]
Health issues
Concerning health issues, there is a certain number of goods which can be harmful and dangerous to consume, such as cigarettes and alcohol as it may cause cancer and other serious diseases. However, high demand on these products encourage suppliers to produce it. Consequently, consumption of unhealthy products can cause different issues such as passive smoking, which is harmful for the society.
Moreover, there are many products in food industry, which contain harmful chemicals and should not be consumed especially by little children, such as junk food and drinks. Unhealthy products can negatively affect citizens and create such health issues as obesity. Please, see appendix 3
In order to demonstrate health issues of consuming dangerous products, Perrier case will be applied. In 1990 a prosperous and successful company "Perrier" that produced high-quality bottled mineral water experienced a huge failure as poisonous chemical benzene was found in their products.
Rome Tempest (2015) claims that :"After small amounts of benzene contamination were detected in bottles of Perrier water in Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as in the United States, Perrier executives announced a total recall of their product from the 120 countries where it is sold. Regarding to Alan Riding (1990) it happened because a worker had mistakenly used a cleaning solvent containing the chemical to remove grease and grime from some production equipment.
Although it was only a small amount of poisonous chemical in the water, this case clearly demonstrates how harmful and dangerous consumption of certain products could be for consumers as well as shows breaking of rules in production.
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the environment that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or that damage the environment.[8]
According to James Scott Holladay, pollution is caused by consumption and production as it creates a large amount of emission. Irina Grey in her turn claims that:” the more we produce, the more we consume and the more of us living on this planet - the more damage we cause to the surrounding environment, as simple as that. It means that consumers can be considered from the negative point as their unlimited demand may create environmental problems, such as air, water and soil pollution. Please, see appendix 4.
Conclusion
To conclude, consumer role was considered from various perspectives and possible advantages and disadvantages were identified. Concerning the information given, it can be said that apart from consumers, there are other significantly important players in the world of business, such as producers and government. However, it is argued that consumers are the most important as business industries and economies globally rely on them a lot.
Appendices:
· Appendix 1: Employees of Apple Company
· Appendix 2: Demand-pull inflation diagram
· Appendix 3: Health issues: child obesity diagram
· Appendix 4: Pollution
Bibliography:
· InvestorWords Dictionary (2015) [Online] Available at: http://www.investorwords.com/1055/consumer.html
