Question

As a consumer "runs out of time" to make their purchases, what do we expect to happen to their demand curve?

a. It remains unchanged.
b. It becomes more elastic.
c. It becomes more inelastic.
d. It shifts to the left.

Answer 1

When consumers are limited by time for their purchases, their demand curve becomes more inelastic as they have less flexibility to change their purchasing decisions in response to price changes.

Step-by-step explanation:

If a consumer runs out of time to make their purchases, we would generally expect their demand curve to become more inelastic. This is because the consumer has less flexibility and is less responsive to changes in price due to the time constraint. Therefore, when a consumer is under time pressure, they are less likely to decrease their quantity demanded in response to price increases, making the demand curve steeper, indicating inelastic demand.