Disadvantaged Consumers: An Ethical Approach to Consumption by the Poor

Journal of Business Ethics · 2008 · Volume 80 · Issue 1

Abstract

This essay presents my research stream on impoverished citizens as it relates to transdisciplinary work at the intersection of consumer behavior, applied ethics, public policy, and marketing practice. The original studies that inform this discussion were conducted using ethnographic methods with subpopulations that included the homeless, rural poor, children living in poverty, and aborigines isolated in the Australian outback. The opening section frames my work within the context of the larger marketing domain. The next section describes dysfunctional business activities that reduce the consumer quality of life of disadvantaged citizens. Their reactions to this maltreatment then are presented, with an emphasis on the various groups noted. The essay closes with a brief discourse on restricted consumer behavior in business ethics research.

Keywords

consumption, ethics, marketing, poverty

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