The use of a good is known as consumption.
Consumption is the result of consuming (a verb used when using a good or service , or when looking for a synonym for spending). It is possible, for example, to consume foods or other products with a short life or duration. For example: “Excessive salt consumption has negative consequences on health” , “The doctor recommended the consumption of vegetables and fruits to lower my cholesterol level” .
It should be noted that the act of consuming can also be referred to an energy expenditure: “This stove has low consumption, so I assure you that you will be happy when you receive your next electricity bill,” “They gave me an air conditioner but it consumes a lot of energy and I'm thinking about giving it back."
Consumption, on the other hand, can be linked to drug intake: “It is very common to see young people smoking marijuana in this square, even when its consumption is punishable by law,” “The authorities must do something to combat consumption.” excessive alcohol in the city's bars .
Consumption in the economy
From the framework of economics , consumption consists of the final phase of the economic cycle since it takes place when the product or service generates some type of benefit or utility for the individual (that is, the final consumer). Products can be destroyed or transformed in the act of consumption.
Another fact to take into account is that it is possible to distinguish between private consumption (the value of product purchases and service contracts made by families and private companies) and public consumption ( State purchases and expenses).
Consumption is part of an economic circle : human beings produce to consume and consume in order to continue producing. The problem lies, however, in that the majority of people do not produce, but rather consume ; To do this, it is necessary that we be part of a system that normalizes us and assigns us a role, which we must assume to keep the planet functioning. If we all grew vegetables and fruits for our own food, and took charge of transforming solar energy into a resource to light and heat our homes, we would be closer to understanding the concept of freedom, even if we continued watching television and using mobile phones.
Excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to health.
consumerism
Finally, unnecessary or exaggerated consumption is known as consumerism , which includes the use of goods and services that are not essential. Consumerists tend to be victims of advertising campaigns , which encourage them to buy through manipulation techniques that are constantly studied and perfected to convey the need to have a certain product, even when this is not true. It is very difficult to stand in front of today's world and assure from the four winds "I am not a consumerist", in this era in which the majority of human beings depend on the Internet and the endless list of devices that allow us to navigate its seas of trends. forcing and leisure in byte packets.
The term consumerist is often used as a synonym for compulsive buyer , although there are certain differences, both in the reasons and the consequences. In principle, some consider that the compulsive buyer presents a mental pathology , and that he tries to fill some type of "emotional void" through shopping, while consumerism is a lifestyle typical of a weak-willed person, who is not allowed. be herself and takes refuge in the role that society requires her to occupy. It is very likely that a compulsive buyer puts his finances at risk by letting himself be carried away by that urgent need to acquire a product that he did not know about before the transaction and that at the moment of coming across it he would turn it into an indispensable object for his own existence. Consumerists, on the other hand, are usually characterized by working and saving to indulge themselves. It should be noted that, however, none of them achieves full satisfaction.