Article analysis

Understanding consumption patterns of a particular product or service is very essential in ensuring perpetuity and success of the product in the market. Understanding such concepts is critical in daily lives since consumption is part of life and is inevitable. Change in consumption patterns usually occurs as result of both micro and macro reasons. The micro reasons for change in consumption patterns mainly revolve around change in individual tastes and preferences. On the other hand, macro changes in consumption are as a result of structural shifts in the environment. Such shifts can cause tremendous changes in human lifestyle and values which may translate to dynamics in consumption patterns (Food, 2013). The whole process involves understanding the combination of qualities, quantities, tendencies and acts of consumers in an attempt to derive utility after consumption of a good or a service.
The changes in consumer patterns are mainly determined through the law of demand and supply. The demand and supply of goods or services is mainly determined by prices.  Consumers will tend to consume more if the prices are favorable to them as the suppliers will also do if the current market prices are favorable to them. Optimum point is realized at equilibrium where the prices match the demand.

To understand this concept better, we can discuss the consumption trend of coffee in USA. The consumption of coffee in USA has been at high levels as can be witnessed from National Coffee Drinking Trends (NCDT) which has collected coffee data since 1950(Food, 2013). From the statistics, it is evident that more than half of the adults in USA are coffee consumers. The overall coffee consumption jumped by over 5% this year as compare to last year. The daily consumption of coffee in USA has remained steady and strong at 63% while those who seldom drink coffee also slightly rose 75%.

The level of utility derived from coffee consumption in United States is very high as the NAC (National Coffee Association) data clearly indicates. The United States population has different tastes for different coffee brands offered in the market. The major brands of coffee offered in the USA market are mainly Gourmet coffee which has espresso based coffee and gourmet traditional coffee beverages. The different age groups and races in America have different utilities for the different varieties of coffee. The volatile youth in America seems to derive more utility in espresso-based beverages than the older generation who seem to derive more utility from gourmet traditional coffee beverages.

It is also important to note that the demand for coffee in United States has also received numerous changes in demand. For instance, it is clear that the daily consumption of coffee by the young people had a drastic fall from 50% to 41% in this year as compared to last year. The consumption by the older people also dropped significantly from 63% to 59%. From these statistics, it is clear that the changes in demand were not as a result of price but instead it was due to different tastes and preferences by the consumers (Food, 2013).

From the National Coffee Association of America it is clear that the supply of coffee products has been consistent over the years. The consumption has also been consistent over time regardless of the prices offered in the market(Food, 2013). It is clear that the law of demand and supply has taken its course in the realization of equilibrium point in the united states coffee market. The coffee demand in United States is price inelastic, this is because majority of the changes in demand levels for coffee have not been as a result of changes in price. Most of the changes in consumption patterns have been as a result of micro reasons such as changes in tastes and preferences.

Reference

Food Manufacturing. (n.d.). Food Manufacturing. Retrieved November 7, 2013, from http://www.foodmanufacturing.com/news/2013/04/consumer-trends-83-percent-americans-drink-coffee

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