A consumer is a person or organization that uses economic services or commodities.

In economic systems consumers are utilities expressed in the decision to trade or not.

Economics and marketing

The consumer is the one who pays to consume goods and services produced. As such, consumers play a vital role in the economic system of a nation. Without consumer demand, producers would lack one of the key motivations to produce: to sell to consumers. The consumer also forms part of the chain of distribution.

Recently in marketing instead of marketers generating broad demographic profiles and Fisio-graphic profiles of market segments, marketers have started to engage in personalized marketing, permission marketing, and mass customization.

Law and politics

The law primarily uses the notion of the consumer in relation to consumer protection laws, and the definition of consumer is often restricted to living persons (i.e. not corporations or businesses) and excludes commercial users. A typical legal rationale for protecting the consumer is based on the notion of policing market failures and inefficiencies, such as inequalities of bargaining power between a consumer and a business. As of all potential voters are also consumers, consumer protection takes on a clear political significance.

Line 4 Sheppard is the most recently built subway line of the Toronto rapid transit system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has five stations and is 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) long. It opened on November 22, 2002.

The entire line runs under or near Sheppard Avenue East. All of its stations connect to surface TTC bus routes. All stations have elevators for wheelchair access, and public art; noteworthy examples are the scenic mural at Sheppard–Yonge, the illusionary sketches at Bayview, and Leslie Station’s hundreds of tiles showing the words “Sheppard & Leslie” handwritten by members of the public.

Sheppard is the only rapid transit line without a yard; cars are stored at Davisville Subway Yard on the Yonge section of Line 1 Yonge–University.

Name

When the subway opened it was given the name "Sheppard line" and the official name 4 Sheppard Subway.

In October 2013, the TTC announced plans to give the lines official numbers to help riders and visitors to navigate the system. The Sheppard line is numbered as Line 4 and the new signage commenced in March 2014.

Consumers are organisms of an ecological food chain that receive energy by consuming other organisms. These organisms are formally referred to as heterotrophs, which include animals, bacteria and fungi. Such organisms may consume by various means, including predation, parasitization, and biodegradation.

Classification

Consumers are typically viewed as predatory animals such as the wolf and hyena. However, herbivorous animals and parasitic fungi are also consumers. Some carnivorous plants, like the Venus flytrap, are classified as both.

Levels

Within an ecological food chain, consumers are categorized into three groups: primary consumers, secondary consumers, and the tertiary consumers. Primary consumers are usually herbivores, feeding on plants and fungus. Secondary consumers, on the other hand, are mainly carnivores, and prey on other animals. Omnivores, who feed on both plants and animals, can also be considered a secondary consumer. Tertiary consumers, sometimes also known as apex predators, are usually at the top of food chains, capable of feeding on secondary consumers and primary consumers. Tertiary consumers can be either fully carnivorous or omnivorous. Humans are one such example of a tertiary consumer.