In the context of perfect elasticity, which of the following statements best describes the shape of the demand curve and its economic implications?

A perfectly elastic demand curve is a horizontal line, showing that consumers will buy any quantity at one specific price but none if the price rises even slightly. Because the slope is zero, the price cannot be increased without losing all sales, so firms must accept the market price. This implies that firms are price takers and cannot influence price through quantity changes. For example, a coffee shop selling a common brand of coffee cannot raise its price above the prevailing market price or customers will switch to competitors, buying all the coffee at the lower price.