The Poor Consumer: Flawed, Exploited or Empowered?

• In Event: 082 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 18. Inequality

Abstract

According to Thorstein Veblen, “[n]o class of society, not even the most abjectly
poor, forgoes all customary conspicuous consumption” (1994/1899:40); however, little attention has been directed at the consumption practices of poor consumers (for exceptions see Alwitt and Donely 1996; Andreasen 1975; Hill 2001; Hill 2002; McFall 2015). If poor consumers are mentioned in passing, it is often to morally critique what they purchase, especially if they are using welfare funds on items not deemed necessities. Given that approximately 14.5% of all Americans are currently living below the poverty line and many more may be classified as living in relative poverty, poor consumers constitute a notable segment of the market even if they might not have a large amount of discretionary income. This paper will explore the marginal purchasing power of poor consumers and argue that it can be a means to either exploit or empower them. Either exploited or empowered, the fact that the poor are not completely excluded from consumer society challenges the notion that they are “flawed” or “failed” consumers (Bauman 2007; Lawson 2009:).

Author

• Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy, John Carroll University