📚 Learning Guide
Consumer Spending and Price Elasticity
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How does a decrease in price affect consumer surplus when the demand for a product is elastic?

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Learning Path
Learning Path

Question & Answer
1
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2
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3
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Choose the Best Answer

A

Consumer surplus decreases significantly

B

Consumer surplus increases significantly

C

Consumer surplus remains unchanged

D

Consumer surplus increases slightly

Understanding the Answer

Let's break down why this is correct

Answer

When the price of a product decreases and the demand for that product is elastic, consumer surplus increases significantly. Elastic demand means that consumers are very responsive to price changes; when prices drop, they buy much more of the product. For example, if a popular video game goes from $60 to $30, many more people will decide to buy it because it is now more affordable. This increase in purchases leads to a larger area of consumer surplus, which is the difference between what consumers are willing to pay and what they actually pay. Therefore, a decrease in price not only encourages more purchases but also increases the overall benefit that consumers receive from buying the product.

Detailed Explanation

When the price goes down and demand is elastic, more people want to buy the product. Other options are incorrect because Some might think that a lower price means less benefit; It's a common mistake to think that price changes don't affect consumer surplus.

Key Concepts

price elasticity of demand
consumer surplus
Topic

Consumer Spending and Price Elasticity

Difficulty

medium level question

Cognitive Level

understand

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