Customer to Consumer?

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

So this has been bugging me for a while now.

People who bought things, whether from an online store or a brick and mortar shop, used to be called "Customers". But now the terminology has changed to "Consumer".
This... might just be my point of view, but 'consumer' doesn't sound... human.

Seems like it went from "Hello friendly patron" to "Swallow this and give me your money".

When did this come about? And why? Am I just overreacting?
What are your thoughts on this?

EDIT: Thanks for the responses. I just haven't heard the word 'customer' spoken by anyone in a long long time.

 

[an annoyed writer]

I hadn't noticed that until you mentioned it, actually. It is sort of unsettling to think about, really. When did the word "Consumer" enter the lexicon anyway?

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Huh? There's no shift, they're two different terms used in two different circumstances. "Customer" is kind of an individual term -- it means something like "person who has done business with a specific person or company." "Consumer" is more general, more like "person who buys things."

So for example, if I only buy DVDs from BestBuy, but not WalMart, I am a customer of Bestbuy (but not walmart), but a oonsumer of DVDs (which says nothing about where I buy them).

 

[Heronblade]

The term consumer has been around for a very long time, and simply refers to a subtype of customer.

If you are a customer that does not in some way pass on a product to someone else, either by reselling it directly or using to make something else that is sold, you are a consumer of that product.

As to why the rhetoric is changing now, I suspect its just a matter of the vocabulary the economists commonly use catching up to the rest of us.

Huh? There's no shift, they're two different terms used in two different circumstances. "Customer" is kind of an individual term -- it means something like "person who has done business with a specific person or company." "Consumer" is more general, more like "person who buys things."

So for example, if I only buy DVDs from BestBuy, but not WalMart, I am a customer of Bestbuy (but not walmart), but a oonsumer of DVDs (which says nothing about where I buy them).

Not quite, customer can refer to anyone that buys whatever product(s) you are talking about. Which includes pretty much everyone on the whole regardless of where they shop. A consumer is a customer that uses up the product in question.

 

[HoneyVision]

A consumer is someone who has purchased a good/service.
A customer is a potential consumer.

That's all there is to it.

The two have never meant the same thing, nor did one ever "replace" the other. "Consumer" is usually used strictly in a financial context.