Despite acceptance of many of the principles justifying government intervention in health care provision and financing, much recent market-based policy in Australia, the USA and the UK has been based on the assumption that patients have the potential to behave as 'good consumers'. Good consumers are patients with the ability and desire to seek out health care of good quality and reasonable cost. In this paper, an exploratory survey of general practice attenders in Western and Northern Sydney is reported. The aim of the survey was to assess the extent to which patients critically select and evaluate their general practitioner, as a good consumer may be expected to do. The results demonstrate a lack of consumer-oriented behaviour both in general and amongst older respondents in particular. If such results hold true, market-based health care policies relying on consumers to judge quality of care are likely to be detrimental to the health of older people.