Consumer or Customer?

stealth toilet

stealth toilet

Moderator
I hear a lot of people referring to themselves as "consumers" these days. It kind of bothers me. I always thought that economically speaking we should think of ourselves as customers, deciding who and what products deserve our custom, i.e. voting with our dollars. Whereas thinking of ourselves as consumers makes me automatically picture a bunch of hogs lining up to a trough to choke down whatever bilge comes their way.

It seems to reverse the classic power structure of purchasing. As a customer, a store depends on my business and must thus earn it. As a consumer, I depend on a store to provide consumables and must thus earn what they are selling.

Does anyone else have problems referring to themselves as a "consumer" instead of a "customer," or do most people see them as the same thing? Does anyone else even care? :lol
 
stealth toilet said:
Whereas thinking of ourselves as consumers makes me automatically picture a bunch of hogs lining up to a trough to choke down whatever bilge comes their way.
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Just think of media in general; the reality shows on TV, the magazines at the grocery, movie remakes, fast food commercials. The above picture is correct for a large portion of the U.S.
 
I can't really say if I am a costumer or a consumer. Sometimes listening to fan's demands can pay off but some franchises are better off doing whatever the director wants to provide. Of course the game still requires to have some level of quality before I shell out my money so I guess I am more of the costumer side?
 
Grindspine said:
Just think of media in general; the reality shows on TV, the magazines at the grocery, movie remakes, fast food commercials. The above picture is correct for a large portion of the U.S.
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Sure, but is that what other people think when they think of "consumers?" If not, what does "consumer" mean. If so, why do most people refer to themselves as one?

I can't really say if I am a costumer or a consumer. Sometimes listening to fan's demands can pay off but some franchises are better off doing whatever the director wants to provide. Of course the game still requires to have some level of quality before I shell out my money so I guess I am more of the costumer side?
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Do you think it would be a bad thing if you were more on the consumer side?
 
stealth toilet said:
Sure, but is that what other people think when they think of "consumers?" If not, what does "consumer" mean. If so, why do most people refer to themselves as one?

Do you think it would be a bad thing if you were more on the consumer side?
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I don't know why most people refer themselves as consumers. What I think a consumer is, it is someone who needs whatever item or service is provided so they have to buy it even if it is of low quality.

I think that since gaming is a hobby and it is not necessary to buy a game the developers need to work on the quality of the game to gain our favor, thus making us costumers.

Would it be a bad thing if I were in the consumer side? not really, honestly when it comes to franchises I adore and I collect I usually feel like the consumer because I want more out of that franchise.
 
stealth toilet said:
I hear a lot of people referring to themselves as "consumers" these days. It kind of bothers me. I always thought that economically speaking we should think of ourselves as customers, deciding who and what products deserve our custom, i.e. voting with our dollars. Whereas thinking of ourselves as consumers makes me automatically picture a bunch of hogs lining up to a trough to choke down whatever bilge comes their way.

It seems to reverse the classic power structure of purchasing. As a customer, a store depends on my business and must thus earn it. As a consumer, I depend on a store to provide consumables and must thus earn what they are selling.

Does anyone else have problems referring to themselves as a "consumer" instead of a "customer," or do most people see them as the same thing? Does anyone else even care? :lol
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That's actually really interesting and something I've never really thought about before. I've always considered the main difference between the two to be their age. Consumer was the new, economics-based buzzword for customer, but they were basically the same thing. One was just older than the other. There's a huge difference in connotation though, customers actively deciding and consumers passively...well, consuming. I feel like the change can be traced back to consumer's relation to economics. Because consumer is always preferred to customer when talking about economics, it got a more "sophisticated" connotation to it, so it was picked up by news organizations trying to come off more informed. It says a lot about the mindset of economists, though. It seems like they're trying to gloss over the decision-making process people go through. They're trying make economics seem empirical and precise when it's really just the product of random human decision-making.
 
There are some products and necessities that I purchase, I feel like a consumer. There are other products in which I feel like the customer expecting special treatment to earn my patronage. I'm sort-of part of each. I like your definitions and it seems to fit the way most people feel.
 
I think you have a point... Even though the words are somewhat one in the same.

Customers Consume... so they are referred to as Consumers :lol ... which in turn does cheap the word as if we are to use up what we are consuming. I think it makes the product less valuable and last a shorter amount of time .... OR consumed faster.

Now, I could coorelate this with digital distribution... but I'll save that for another topic and another time.

†B†V† :hat
 
Homicidal Cherry53 said:
Because consumer is always preferred to customer when talking about economics, it got a more "sophisticated" connotation to it, so it was picked up by news organizations trying to come off more informed. It says a lot about the mindset of economists, though. It seems like they're trying to gloss over the decision-making process people go through.
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I never thought about it being more sophisticated. I always kind of assumed it was started by marketers in advertisements and was eventually picked up by the media because 1) marketers are really good at convincing people to change through sheer repetition and manipulation, and 2) because people working in the media typically think of themselves as objective, critical thinkers precisely because they lack the objective, critical awareness to see that they are not.

But it could be either. For whatever reason, it caught on. I just wondered if other people noticed that too. I think it means something, something that's probably not good, but I'm not sure what. :lol

Bluevoodu said:
Now, I could coorelate this with digital distribution... but I'll save that for another topic and another time.
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Yeah, I think about that a lot too. It always makes me cringe when I find out the "purchasing process" has been "streamlined" to be more "efficient," because that usually means someone found a way to make the average person think less and spend more. Ala, digital distribution, the invasion of the private sector into the private sphere.
 
stealth toilet said:
2) because people working in the media typically think of themselves as objective, critical thinkers precisely because they lack the objective, critical awareness to see that they are not.
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:lol This is one of the most true statements I've ever read.
 
Homicidal Cherry53 said:
:lol This is one of the most true statements I've ever read.
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Haha, thanks! :D

I have to say I was rather proud of that line too. I'm glad someone else noticed its cleverness. :lol
 
On a similar line, notice how the US labels citizens as consumers but NOT producers? How many here actually have a job that involves manufacturing goods?

My jobs are healthcare and radio, respectively. They can both be considered services, but do not produce material goods.
 
I've always viewed the term "customer" as a noun, and the term "consumer" as a verb.

Yet with the decline of "customer service", I think big companies are trying to move the term "customer" out of society so they can rationalize the poor customer service their company may be employing.
 
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