Consumer Management Skills Consumer Education Ch. 2

Setting Priorities and Goals  What’s most important? –Needs and Wants Needs – things you must have in order to live Wants – things you desire but that are not necessary –Values Strongly held beliefs and principles about what is worthwhile –Standards Established levels of quality or quantity to measure against

Setting Priorities and Goals  Setting Priorities  Goals: Targets for action –Family Life Cycle – stages through which a family passes

Managing Limited Resources TTypes of Resources –H–Human resources –T–Time –F–Financial resources –M–Material and technological resources –C–Community resources –N–Natural resources

 Scarcity –Because of limited resources, an economic system can’t possibly produce all the goods and services that people want  Opportunity cost –What you give up when you decide to use resources one way rather than another

Managing Limited Resources  Using resources effectively –Expand resources –Conserve resources –Substitute resources –Exchange resources Bartering – exchanging goods or services with another person –Make use of free time –Value other people’s time

Making Consumer Decisions  How do you decide? –Impulse purchase  Decision-Making Steps –P. 64

Social Factors  Popular Taste  Status –Status Symbols Signs of high rank or financial success –Conspicuous Consumption People buy luxury goods to impress others with their apparent wealth and success

Making Consumer Decisions  Factors Continued –Societal factors –Economic factors –Technology –Media –The marketplace –Legal and moral factors

Evaluating Information Sources  Evaluating Information –What is the source? –What authority or expertise does the source have? –Is the source biased? –Is the information fact or opinion? –How can I confirm the information? –Is it suspicious?