Understanding poverty and promoting poverty alleviation through transformative consumer research

Consumer research holds potential for expanding society''s understanding of how people experience poverty and mechanisms for poverty alleviation. Capitalizing on this potential, however, will require more exploration of how consumption experiences shape individual and collective well-being among the poor. This article proposes a framework for transformative consumer research focused on felt deprivation and power within the lived experience of poverty. The framework points to consumer choice, product/service experiences, consumer culture, marketplace forces, and consumption capabilities as research streams with potential to help alleviate poverty. Future research in these areas will expand pathways for transforming the lives of the poor by alleviating stress, engaging marketplace institutions, fulfilling life aspirations, leveraging trust and social capital, and facilitating creativity and adaptation.

Keywords:

consumer research  consumption (economics)  creative ability  felt deprivation  financial leverage  infrastructure (economics)  marketplaces  poverty  power  subsistence marketplaces  transformative consumer research  verstehen 

Citation:

Christopher P. Blocker, Julie A. Ruth, Srinivas Sridharan, Colin Beckwith, Ahmet Ekici, Martina Goudie-Hutton, José Antonio Rosa, Bige Saatcioglu, Debabrata Talukdar, Carlos Trujillo, and Rohit Varman (2013). Understanding poverty and promoting poverty alleviation through transformative consumer research. Journal of Business Research, 66(8), Pages 1195-1202. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.08.012