On a hot summer day, a construction worker enters a McDonald's fast-food restaurant. He orders the first Big Mac. He consumes it within 3 minutes. He then orders a second Big Mac and consumes it in 10 minutes. He eats only half of the third one in 18 minutes and throws away the rest. The store manager offers him the fourth for free. The construction worker says: "No thanks." Why?
A) For the construction worker, total utility increased at an increasing rate.
B) Marginal utility increased at an increasing rate.
C) Marginal utility declined as he consumed additional Big Macs.
D) The law of diminishing marginal utility does not apply to consumption of Big Macs.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The construction worker's decision to not accept the free fourth Big Mac can be explained by the law of diminishing marginal utility, which states that as a person consumes more of a good, the additional satisfaction or utility that they derive from each additional unit of that good declines. In this case, the worker may have experienced decreasing levels of satisfaction or enjoyment as he consumed each additional Big Mac, leading to a point where the utility he derived from the fourth Big Mac was negative or zero, and therefore he did not want it.

On a Hot Summer Day, a Construction Worker Enters a McDonald's