Factors, Fluctuating Gasoline Prices

demand for gas to drop. Another option that would eventually decrease the demand for gas would be for people to not

Consumer behavior or elasticity is a consumer’s response to a change in price of a good or service. Consumer behavior allows a consumer to rank and prioritize purchases according to their elasticity of certain goods and their dependence on others (Managerial Economics, 2010). When consumers recognize a change in price and respond strongly, they can adjust their consumption and therefore have their demand for that item become elastic. Automobiles tend to have elasticity in them in regards to make, model, and features that the consumer is willing to pay for. Basic models and good fuel mileage become important as income goes down and elasticity for automobiles goes up. Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as "the effort of two or

"What 's Causing High Gas Prices?" WTMV. CNN, 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 20 FEB 2013. .

The elasticity of demand measures the buyer’s reaction to price as its changing. “Economists measure the degree to which demand is price elastic or inelastic with the coefficient E d, defined as E d = percentage change in quantity demanded of product X/ percentage change in price of product X” (McConnell, C. 2011). Therefore, Ed=∆Qd/∆Pd. When elasticity of demand is measured less than one, demand is considered to be inelastic. The coefficient in an inelastic range is less than one. When this takes place the percentage change in price is more than the percentage change in quantity. It can be said that when inelastic demand is present that quantity becomes less effected by price changing.

alcohol during the prohibition. The price skyrocketed. As the penalties for breaking the law increased, so did the demand and price.

Understanding the law of demand pertaining to the elasticity of demand with other things equal measures consumers’ responsiveness or sensitivity to change in price of a product. The measuring of the degree of change or percentage of change will result in either elastic, inelastic, or unit demand.

Once upon a time Americans hopped into their cars on warm spring days and took long drives to admire the beauty of nature. Teenagers took joy rides around town to meet friends and rode from one “hot spot” to another. Those were the days when gas prices were affordable to the average American. Over the past few years, gas prices in the United States have been on the rise. What is causing the increase in gas prices?

If the product coast a large percentage of the average consumer’s income, people will pay more attention to sale prices because they may be afraid of a fact that if the price keeps rising, they can’t afford it because it is expensive and costs most of their income. It is common that we spend more than $200 on one pair of Nike shoes, which are quite expensive. However, the price of bread is low. Furthermore, one pair of Nike shoes costs more percentage of clients’ income than a piece of bread. If the price declines, people would like to buy more Nike shoes because they can’t afford it in normal time. However, people won’t buy too much bread than before because the bread may go rancid quickly. So people are more sensitive to the price of Nike shoes. As a consequence, all Nike shoes sold in Canada have more elasticity than all bread sold in Canada.

Supply and demand is best describes as the varying of prices of a specific service, product or commodity and the desirability for consumers. In theory, the supply and demand model works best for markets that are normally in perfect competition. Now in order for this desired market to work, there has to be a numerous amount of sellers and a numerous amount of buyers that have no real or major impact on the pricing of goods and services. In the follow essay, we will receive a better understand on what the supply and demand really is, further discuss a brief historical perspective on the supply and demand in comparison to the fickle prices of gasoline, go into detail about government involvement in gasoline prices, and finally examine how the supply and demand of gasoline is applicable in our everyday lives.

i) With regard to elastic demand, the change in quantity demanded due to the price change would increase or be larger.

The demand of gasoline has increased steadily over the last twenty years. In 1981 the U.S. averaged 6.5 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. By comparison, in 2004 the U.S. averaged 9.2 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. For most of this time period, gas prices stayed relatively the same. This is because the U.S. refineries increased their production to meet the demand and maintain the equilibrium price. Also during this same time period worldwide demand for crude oil increased 27%. Crude oil producers also increased their production to meet the demand keeping prices the same.

From the recent case data, ExxonMobil has not acted irresponsibility in pricing its gasoline products. Outside of the grocery industry, I have not heard of any business segments surviving on less than a 5% profit margin. In reading that ExxonMobil reported only a net profit of 8.5%3, it is difficult to state that the firm over priced its products to reap abnormal profits. Although Mr. Lee Raymond’s $400 million retirement seems grossly out of proportion in utilitarian terms, adding these funds back into the firm’s bottom line would not change the profit results. With profit margins of less than 10%, it is unlikely that ExxonMobil would be able to keep the price of gasoline fixed if sweet crude oil were to increase from $80 per barrel to $88. This 10% increase in raw material cost would have to be passed through to the customer in the form of higher prices for the firm to survive.

Elasticity : rising or falling price lead changes in quantity of demand, and the quantity of supply and this so-called elasticity

The reason why most of the consumers are buying the tomato priced at $2.35 is that they are looking for prestigious product. The tomatoes are being targeted for different consumers, and the price, in this case, plays an important role in the consumer’s choice. The tomato priced at $1.69 follows an elastic demand, which means that a change in the price of this tomato would result in a significance change in the demand. On the other hand, the tomato priced at $2.35 seems to follow an inelastic demand; it means that a change in the price would not substantially affect the demand of the product. However, the tomatoes are being priced narrowly, so if the store substantially reduces the price of the tomato sold at 2.35, it is possible that the consumers

When price elasticity of demand is elastic, the coefficient will be greater than one. When a percent price change occurs quantity demanded responds strongly there will be a large change in quantities consumers purchase. There is price sensitive in this scenario. If price elasticity of demanded is inelastic the coefficient will be less than one. When a percent price change occurs quantity demanded does not respond strongly then there is a slight change in quantities consumers will purchase. There a weak price sensitive in this scenario. Lastly, if price elasticity of demanded is unit elastic the coefficient will be equal to one. Whenever there is a percent change in price there is an equally matched percent change in quantity demanded. This scenario is rare.