too much time. Bounded rationality is a theory that explains this behaviour. Examples of alternatives to utility maximisation due to bounded rationality are; satisficing, elimination by aspects and the mental accounting heuristic. The satisficing heuristic is when a consumer defines an aspiration level and looks until they find an option that satisfies this, they will deem this option good enough and stop looking. Elimination by aspects is defining a level for each aspect of a product they want and eliminating all other options that don't meet this requirement e.g. price under $100, colour etc. until there is only one product left which is assumed to be the product the consumer will choose. The mental accounting heuristic: In this strategy it is seen that people often assign subjective values to their money depending on their preferences for different things. A person will develop mental accounts for different expenses, allocate their budget within these, then try to maximise their utility within each account. Related concepts The relationship between the utility function and Marshallian demand in the utility maximisation problem mirrors the relationship between the expenditure function and Hicksian demand in the expenditure minimisation problem. In expenditure minimisation the utility level is given and well as the prices of goods, the role of the consumer is to find a minimum level of expenditure required to reach this utility level. The utilitarian social choice rule is a rule that says that society should choose the alternative that maximizes the sum of utilities. While utility-maximization is done by individuals, utility-sum maximization is done by society. See also Choice modelling Expenditure minimisation problem Optimal decision Substitution effect Utility function Law of demand Marginal utility References External links Anatomy of Cobb-Douglas Type Utility Functions in 3D Rules for maximising utility by lumen learning An example of utility maximisation Utility maximisation definition by Economics help Application of a utility function by Investopedia Definition of substitute goods by Investopedia Optimal decisions Utility Mathematical optimization Business and economics portal