Explain any four features of utility.

Answer: Utility is relative, subjective, ethically neutral and different from usefulness; it also depends on the intensity of want.

1. Relative concept: Utility is related to time and place. Woollen clothes give more utility in winter, a cooler in summer.
2. Subjective concept: Utility depends on the mental attitude of the consumer, so it differs from person to person. Meat has utility for a non-vegetarian but none for a vegetarian.
3. Ethically neutral: Utility has no moral or legal consideration. A knife has utility for cutting vegetables and also for a criminal; liquor has utility for an addict.
4. Different from usefulness: A commodity may have utility without being useful, e.g. a cigarette has utility for a smoker though it is harmful to health.
5. Depends on intensity of want: The more urgent the want, the greater the utility. As a want is satisfied, utility diminishes.
6. Difficult to measure: Utility is a psychological concept and cannot be measured cardinally in practice; it is expressed in imaginary units called utils.