Therefore the demand for the low-calorie microwavable food is inelastic. An increase in the price of the food will cause a decrease in quantity demanded. Income elasticity of the goods calculated is 1.08, which means that the good selected is a luxury good. Changes in income could also affect the demand of this product. The cross price elasticity is 0.005. Therefore the two goods can be considered as neutral goods. The advertisement elasticity is 0.08. This indicates that advertisement has an important impact on the sales of the product. Lastly, the microwave ovens elasticity is 0.05. This is a direct correlation as sales of microwave ovens increase; demand for of low-calorie microwavable food also increases.
When the elasticity of demand is elastic, the change in quantity will be greater that the change in price. Hence, the total revenue will reduce with increasing prices and increase as prices decrease. However, if the business offers goods or services with inelastic price elasticity of demand, then the change in quantity demanded will be smaller than the change in price. Consequently, the total revenue, which is a product of the two will increase when
There is absolutely no doubt that we are facing a serious economic downturn that is threatening the existence of many businesses here in the United States as well as abroad. Many companies much like Home Depot are formulating ideas on how to deal with price elasticity of demand or the lack there of (inelasticity). Price elasticity of demand refers to the measure of consumer response to the quantity of demand for products or services to price adjustments. The formula for price elasticity of demand is: (% change in quantity demanded)/ (% change in price), the latter is inelasticity in which is some the issues Home Depot is facing today. The supply and demand graph (See figure 4) indicates the price elasticity of demand for Home Depot: This is an example of a positive price elasticity of demand curve. Should the blue "S" supply line curve slightly to the right that would represent an inelastic supply and demand. The price elasticity graph (economagic.com) illustrates the predicament of many businesses today (University of Aberdeen, 2009).
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.
When there is a large increase in the price of a product in the short run it results in inelastic demand because there is little time to adjust to the increase and find an alternative product. Let’s say the consumer uses the local bus service to go to work. On the way to work one day he notices that the prices of transportation will double beginning tomorrow. In the short time he may be forced to continue paying the higher prices until he can find alternative transportation. As time passes, the consumer can make alternative choices such as carpooling, working from home, or riding a bike to work; therefore, the cost increase for the transportation would be elastic.
Price elasticity that relates to demand is determined by many factors. Price elasticity is measured by the change in price and the response from consumer demand. The demand of a good or service will vary the price in the item. The most important factor to determine the price elasticity of demand is necessity. If a good is a necessity, the demand will seldom change and the price is able to be adjusted. The demand is the most important due to the freedom it provides for price adjustment and inventory control. With necessity comes an inelastic price. Other factors such as the
When I decided to go back to school and I found that online school format fit my life and schedule best there was one item I needed to purchase before going forward and that was a computer, or in my case a laptop. A laptop is also a substitute for a computer. I chose the laptop because I am constantly running around with my three kids and I like having the ability to take the laptop with me so I can still get things done. In this case purchasing a laptop was a necessity. Understanding this helps to understand the elasticity or inelasticity in a product. Since the laptop was a necessity, no matter what the cost was going to be, I still needed to make the purchase; therefore, leaving my purchase as a price that was inelastic. Had my purchase not been deemed a necessity and more of a luxury I would have had some leniency on the price causing there to be some elasticity to the price.
Explain the relationship between the price elasticity of demand and total revenue. What are the impacts of various forms of elasticities (elastic, inelastic, unit elastic, etc.) on business decisions and strategies to maximize profit? Explain using empirical examples.
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.
1. College logo t-shirts priced at $15 sell at a rate of 25 per week, but when the bookstore marks them down to $10 it finds that it can sell 50 t-shirts per week. What is the price elasticity of demand for the logo t-shirts? Is the demand elastic or inelastic?
The short run and long run demand for gasoline is inelastic because the prices of gasoline increases and do not decrease too much due to people are going to buy gasoline whether the cost is high or not because people need it to travel to their destinations. Therefore, substitutes for gasoline and also consumers are buying the gasoline even though the price is high. Inelastic is different from elastic because inelastic demand will not rise or fall depending on the price.
When facing an inelastic demand curve, a profit maximizing businessman would always raise price because increase in price will bring about increase in total revenue. On the other hand, when facing an elastic demand curve, he might or might not raise price because increase in price will bring about decrease in total revenue.
Elasticity of demand is a variation in price depending on the demand of a good or service. Items like vehicles, appliances, jewelry, and electronics will sell less at full price than they do when there is a drop in price. When producers and retailers drop the price enough for the market to take notice, people react in deciding to purchase the good or service. This reaction and sensitivity to the market is known as Elastic demand.
Elasticity is a measure of the responsiveness of demand to changes in the price of a good or service. In the case of Steam Scot, when the price rises from 4 to 5, demand falls from 60,000 to 40,000 units. The original equilibrium market price of 4 pounds resulted in demand of 60,000 units and this generated revenue of 240,000 pounds. When the prices increased to 5 pounds the resulting demand is 40,000 units, and this generates total revenue of 200,000 pounds. When market price changes from 4 pounds to 5 pounds 40,000 pounds of revenue are lost in this indicates an elastic price elasticity of demand.
Elasticity of demand helps the sales manager in fixing the price of his product, deciding the sales, pricing policies and optimal price for their products. The evaluation of this measure is a useful tool for firms in making decisions about pricing and production which will determine the total