Final answer:
Buyers in a competitive market who take the selling price as given are known as price takers in a perfectly competitive market, where many firms sell identical products and their individual actions do not influence market prices.
Step-by-step explanation:
perfectly competitive market:
When buyers in a competitive market accept the selling price as it is, without trying to influence it, they are referred to as price takers. This concept is crucial in understanding market dynamics in a perfectly competitive market, where multiple firms sell identical products and none has the power to influence market prices.
A firm in such a market would not raise its prices even by a cent because doing so would result in the loss of sales to competitors, who would continue to offer products at the market-determined price. This is because the supply and demand across the entire market set the equilibrium price, not individual sellers. The essence of being a small player in a larger market is encapsulated by the behavior of being a price taker.