Is it Time to Kill the Term ‘Consumer’?

Terminology Use is a Statement of Value
Use of the term may matter less to the person buying a product, but it should matter to brands for the very reason that it carries a negative connotation. To refer to customers merely as consumers is to depersonalize, even dehumanize them.

Espousing his views on the topic, Don Norman, co-founder and principal of consulting firm Nielsen Norman Group, remarks that by imparting descriptive and somewhat degrading names such as "customer," "consumer" or "user," brands distance themselves from the very people they're attempting to serve.