Chapter Eight:
Consumption and the Consumer
Society
Economic Theory and Consumption
Figure 8.1: The Budget Line
Figure 8.2: Effect of an Increase in Income
Figure 8.3: Effect of a Fall in a Price
Table 8.1: Quong’s Utility from Chocolate Bars
Figure 8.4: Quong’s Utility Function for Chocolate Bars
Consumption in Historical and International Context
Figure 8.5: Revolving Debt in the United States, 1968-2012, Adjusted for Inflation
Consumption in a Social Context
Figure 8.6: Global Advertising Expenditures, by Country/Region, 2011
Source: Advertising Age, December 5, 2011.
Consumption in an Environmental Context
Figure 8.7: Ecological Footprint per Capita, Select Countries, 2007
Source: Global Footprint Network, www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/footprint_for_nations/
Appendix: A Formal Theory of Consumer Behavior
Figure 8.8: The Budget Line and Its Slope
Figure 8.9: An Indifference Curve
Figure 8.10: Different Levels of Utility
Figure 8.11: Utility Maximization
Figure 8.12: Response to a Change in Price