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What Are Some Examples of the Law of Demand?

 A view of grocery store in Washington DC, United States on February 14, 2024. Despite cooling inflation, food prices increased by another 0.4 percent in January 2024, according to the latest report from Consumer Price Index (CPI).

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The law of demand is an economic principle that stat🙈es that consumer demand for a good rises when prices fall and it falls when prices rise.

The relationship between prices and demand is derived from the law of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:diminishing marginal utility which states that consumers buy or us🍌e goods to satisfy their urgent needs first. Utility refers to the satisfaction or benefit that results from consuming a good.

The first good or unit typically has the highest utility or benefit and utility decreases with each additional unit consumed. The price that consumers are willing to pay for a good declin🏅es as a result as its utility decreases.

Key Takeaways

  • The law of demand is an economic principle that states that consumer demand for a good rises when prices fall and it declines when prices rise.
  • The law of demand comes into play during Black Friday sales when consumers rush to buy products at deep discounts.
  • Diminishing marginal utility eventually occurs because consumers satisfy their urgent needs first.
  • The price will likely be lowered or demand will decline if the utility gained from a product isn't enough to justify its price.

The Law of Demand and Pricing

Companies use the law of demand when setting price💎s and determining the level of demand for their products. Consumers use the law of demand in deciding the number of goods tꦿo buy.

Examples of the Law of Demand

Restaurants

The first slice will have the greatest benefit or utility when a consumer is hungry and buys a slice of pizza. The consumer becomes more satisfied, with each additional slice and utility declines. The first slice might theoretically fetch a higher price from the consumer. The consumer might be less willing to pay for a slice because of declining utility by the fourth slice, however.

It would have less of an imp🦋act on demand if the pizza restaurant reduced the price of their slices because the utility would decrease. Their custom𝓡ers would be full or satisfied.

Groceries

Grocery customers would likely prefer to consume more food but they're limited by price. Promotional grocery pricing frequently offers discounted prices provided that a certain number of items are purchased.

The existence and success of this promotional pricing model exemplify consumer willingness to purchase higher quantities at lower prices. Consumers will demand lower prices as they receive more groceries, however, because their needs decline as 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:consumption increases.

Customers are likely to want lower prices because their utility will have declined after they've satisfied their urgent needs first.

The holidays

The law of demand can impact companies because they can lower their prices b🅰yꦯ only so much before it has little to no impact on consumer demand.

We can see the law of demand play out during the holiday season when consumers rush to stores on 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Black Friday in searc💦h of discounts. It leads to a huge jump in demand when prices are reduced. The markdowns must be greater to entice consumers to buy more products, however, as the holidays draw closer.

Consumers' utility declines as their needs are met. Their shopping list is finished. Prices are higher than the added utility or benefit of buying additional products as the holidays near. The result is deep price discounts, especially after the holidays.

Important

The utility or satisfactio𝓰n gained by a consumer must be greater than the price offered by the s🌠eller of the good.

Sporting events

Consider a hypothetical scenario in which tickets for a sporting event are being sold by scalpers on the secondary market. Suppose the scalpers expect the game will be highly attended and are charging 🥃$1,000 per ti👍cket.

This price point is too high to justify for many people. The scalpers realize they were wrong about projected attendance as the beginning of the game approaches. The quantity demanded at $1,000 isn't sufficient to sell out the game.

The ticket price on the secondary market drops to $250 and m🍎ore people are willing to meet this price to see the game. The change occurred because ticket suppliers altered the prices and consumers responded to a change in price only.

Movies

Demand for movies would likely rise if movie ticket prices declined to $3 each. Demand will rise as long as the utility of going to the movies exceeds the $3 price. Demand for tickets will fall as soon as consumers are satisfied that they've seen enough movies, at least for the time being.

What Is the Law of Demand?

The law of demand states that the quantity of a product that's demanded and its price have an inverse relationship. The quantity demanded decreases as the price increases. The quantity demanded increases as the price decreases due to the diminishing marginal utility of consumers.

What Is the Law of Supply?

The law of supply states that the supply of a good or service will increase as prices increase. This happens because businesses try to maximize profits by selling more goods or services as prices are higher. The quantity supplied also decreases when prices decrease.

What Is an Example of the Law of Demand?

The demand for a chocolate muffin would decrease if the price of that muffin increases. Consumers might not attach as much value to purchasing a choᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚcolate muffin as the price goes up. They can also turn to substitute goods such as chocolate croissants or banana muffins. The price of thᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚe chocolate muffin will eventually decrease to attract more demand as the demand for it decreases due to its increased price.

The Bottom Line

The law of demand states that the quantity of a product that's demanded increases as prices decrease. The quantity demanded decreases as prices increase. Businesses and consumers both respond to this law in reduced prices during Christmas sales which increase demand but only up to the point where consumer needs are met and utility declines.

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