Question

John consumes his coffee with sugar. He prefers sweeter coffee. However he cannot taste differences in sugar if it is less than 1 teaspoon. Are his preferences transitive? Use example(s) to explain. (For example: if John gets a cup of coffee with 1 teaspoon or 1.5 teaspoons, he cannot tell the difference).

Answer 1

A consumer’s preferences are transitive if he prefers A to B, B to C, then he must prefer A to C. In other words, an individual’s choices are transitive when they are internally consistent.

John’s preferences are transitive. He prefers sweeter coffee. If he prefers 1) a coffee with 4 teaspoons of sugar to a coffee with 3 teaspoons of sugar, and 2) a coffee with 3 teaspoons of sugar to a coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar, then, he will always prefer a coffee with 4 teaspoons of sugar to a coffee with 2 teaspoons of sugar. It is so because he prefers sweeter coffee.

Though, he cannot identify the difference of sweetness if it is less than 1 teaspoon. But, if he is able to identify that combination A (let a coffee with 4 teaspoons) is sweeter than the combination B (let a coffee with 3 teaspoons), and combination B to combination C (let a coffee with 2 teaspoons). In this scenario, he would always prefer, combination A to combination because he prefers sweeter coffee and combination A is more sweeter than combination C.

Hence, his preferences are transitive.