Question

What is meant by the ‘Doctrine of Consumer Sovereignty’; why is this important in marketing of livestock and livestock products?

Answer 1

Doctrine of Consumer Sovereignty is a theory that states that consumer tastes and preferences rule the market decision of allocation of scare resources and production. According to the theory, producers should closely watch the tastes and choices of consumers and align their production to the consumers needs in order to avoid issues with sales of thier output. This theory treats consumers like a King or Queen and hence the term sovereign.

Marketing is a wider term than just selling the product. It involves researching the market for consumer choices, computing the costs and checking the feasibility and finally producing and delivering the product that meets the consumer's demands. Especially in livestock, it becomes crucial to place the consumer in the center. For example, some consumers might like live stock against dead stock. The seller has to analyse the market to realise the preferences of the vast majority and market his product. Another example would be eggs. Eggs are no longer plain and simple. There are so many varieties available now in the market, namely, cholostrol free variant, protein enriched variant, organic variant and so on. The seller should see what is the trend and preference in the market and make his produce to survive in the economy.