Consumer Education
Consumer Education is the aspect of learning that concerns the understanding of human needs and the corresponding goods and/or services needed to resolve them at the best price(s) possible. The center of focus here is the efficient satisfaction of needs/wants with the best sets of commodities/services and at the best price possible.
Consumer education is most beneficial to the buyer, as it is that the buyer would get the best sets of benefits from a commodity/service, if he is the consumer. Also, if the buyer is a middleman, then he would stand a better chance to make profits in the free market wherein he is a middleman.
Here on, we focus on the goods side (not the service side) of consumer education. Goods are simply tangible or non-tangible commodities we consume directly or use to make other commodities/services. Goods are broadly considered under the two heading: consumer goods (products) and capital goods (tools and materials). Consumer goods are the tangible goods procured solely for the purpose of satisfying a particular need/want. Capital goods are the goods, whether tangible or non-tangible, procured solely for the purpose of creating another commodity or to proffer a service. Conceptually, the terms consumer goods and capital goods are essentially used to refer to the purpose of procurement or style of usage. For instance, if a person buys a meal for the purpose of delivering it to an end consumer who would eat it, then such a meal is not a consumer good in the context of the delivery person, instead it is a capital good.
We've used the term product to refer to consumer goods and the term tools and materials to refer to capital goods. Also, we have further divided products (consumer goods) into two: primary products and secondary products; and also, tools and materials (tools and materials) into two: primary tools and materials and secondary tools and materials.
Note: Herein, our classification is unconventional. Notwithstanding, our classification style is a product of serious constructive experimentation and reasoning. Thus, we recommend its usage.
Primary ProductsPrimary products (or primary consumer goods) are the consumer goods that are needed for survival and physical wellbeing. They include foods, body care, clothing, and health care product. Classically, house is included as a primary consumer good, but herein we do not consider it so. This is because, on the average, a person that lives in a house didn't buy nor build it himself, but rather got it by inheritance or rentage. Also, houses are very expensive to buy/build and they are usually built by family/business heads for the purpose of family living or business.
>> Click to view list of Primary ProductsPrimary Tools and Materials
Primary Tools and Materials (or primary capital/industrial goods) are the goods used to produce consumer goods or proffer basic services to service the survival of oneself or the society. They include building tools and materials, laundry and cleaning tools and materials, grooming tools and materials, kitchen utensils, sewing tools and materials, power mechanic tools and materials, etc. Essentially, this group consists of tools and materials that are used directly to support physical wellbeing of oneself or the community.
>> Click to view list of Primary Tools and MaterialsSecondary Products
Secondary products (or secondary consumer goods) are the consumer goods that are needed to improve (or ameliorate) survival and wellbeing. They include stationeries and books, communication goods, housing commodities, and adventure, sport and games goods. They are used solely for the purpose of bettering the experience of life. For instance, a television for entertaining oneself, internet data bundle for getting internet subscription, a vehicle (bicycle or car) for moving around, etc.
>> Click to view list of Secondary ProductsSecondary Tools and Materials
Secondary Tools and Materials (or secondary capital goods) are the capital goods used to produce media files or software. They include computer hardware systems and software systems. They are used basically to work on raw data so they could be properly organized into meaningful media files or software which a consumer could use to improve his knowledge sets and skills.
>> Click to view list of Secondary Tools and MaterialsNote: Classification of tools and materials into primary and secondary classes is usually biased. The bias is usually based on some factors such as: the physical environment, the social environment and the gender. Physical environment refers to the natural and man-made resources present in the society, social environment refers to the cultural/native productive activities in the society, while gender refers to the sex of the person. Thus, it is essential to study one's physical and social environment to find the best sets of tools that one would have to call primary or secondary. Notwithstanding, for an average male with basic interests in computers, our classification method is fitting.