Consumer OR customer

Question

Hi. who can tell me the differences between the 'consumer' and the 'customer'?  Sometimes they appear synchronously.Thanks in advance. ^_^

Medusa171 · Accepted Answer

A "consumer" is someone who uses a product (i.e. consumes it) and a "customer" is someone who buys it. They are often confused, and their meanings are not so different that you would confuse people by using the wrong one.

Kango · Answer

above definitions are true to some extent but from business point of view the true defference is that " Consumer is one who actually consume the product -tangible not a service, regardless of the fact wether he buys himself or someone else buys for him" and the customer is one who repeatedly buys a product regardless of the fact wether he consumes
or not.

Therfore, one is consumer if he smokes cigarette and he is customer of Camel if he smokes only camel cigarette. he would therefore be consumer of cigarette and cutomer of camel.

Taiwandave · Answer

I would like to add that "consumer" is often used in an aggregate sense, as in:

The new safety regulations are designed to protect consumers.
Consumer preferences dictate which products are successful.

We commonly use "customer" when talking about individuals. The following would sound odd:

I was the only consumer in the bar last night.
Our company now has over 100 satisfied consumers.

Also, we consume products but are customers of businesses. One cannot be a "customer" of a product. The first sentence is wrong; the second is correct:

Customers of gasoline were outraged by the recent price increases.
Gas-station customers were outraged by the recent price increases.

Consumer OR customer

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