Economics, 3rd Edition

Total and Marginal Utility

Remember, we assume that consumers prefer more to less. This does not mean that if a consumer eats 

more and more pizza or drinks more and more cola that the utility on an additional unit consumed is always 

the same. We need to distinguish between total utility and marginal utility. 

Total utility

 is the satisfaction 

that consumers gain from consuming a product. The 

marginal utility

 of consumption is the increase in 

utility that the consumer gets from an additional (marginal) unit of that good.

total utility 

the satisfaction gained from the consumption of a good