Consumer vulnerability and exclusion: A study of carers in the tourism marketplace

Abstract

Carers -a growing, multidimensional, context-specific, yet transient community (three in five of the population during a lifetime) -have been largely neglected in the marketing literature. Focusing upon the impediments to tourism participation this consumer group faces, the paper explores issues of carer engagement, consumer vulnerability, and societal exclusion from the perspective of two carer groups: senior carers and cancer carers. Conclusions reached demonstrate how challenging many carers find tourism-marketplace engagement and confirm carers can indeed be considered as vulnerable consumers. They introduce us to a range of circumstances that prompt exclusion and call upon policy makers to recognise the existence of multiple categories of vulnerability in accommodating the needs of this consumer. A future research agenda is outlined. This argues for the need to review the wider implications of the findings beyond the geographical constraints of this study, and to explore also their application to other vulnerable consumers.

Social tourism and well-being in later life

“…Thus, this paper has provided further understanding of how social tourism programmes can ameliorate the lives of economically disadvantaged older people living with long-term health issues and disabilities, older carers and those coming to terms with bereavement (e.g. Hunter-Jones, 2010;McConkey & McCullough, 2006).…”

“…Studies demonstrate how tourism impacts positively on a range of economically or otherwise disadvantaged groups, including low-income families, teenage mothers and people with health issues and disabilities and their carers (e.g. Gump & Matthews, 2000;Hunter-Jones, 2004McCabe, Joldersma, & Li, 2010;McConkey & McCullough, 2006;Minnaert, 2014) and relieves stress (Hunter-Jones, 2010;Toda et al, 2004). At the same time, researchers have identified the barriers to older peoples' tourism participation as: economic; time; transportation; health; family responsibilities; the lack of a travelling companion (Blazey, 1986;McGuire, 1984;Romsa & Blenman, 1989;Shoemaker, 2000).…”

Exploring the impact of packaging interactions on quality of life among older consumers

“…Similar approaches have been adopted in a number of studies exploring both consumer vulnerability (e.g. Baker, 2006;Hunter-Jones, 2011;Jafari et al, 2013;Wang and Tian, 2013) and older consumers' interactions with FMCG products and kitchen practices (e.g. Wills et al, 2013;Dickinson et al, 2014;Wills et al, 2015).…”

Consumer vulnerability and the transformative potential of Internet shopping: An exploratory case study

“…Given the complexities, multidimensional nature and context specifics of the concept of consumer vulnerability (Baker et al, 2005;Hunter-Jones, 2011), as well as the relative dearth of understanding of how disabled persons use the Internet for shopping purposes, the findings presented in this paper are inherently exploratory in nature. Adopting a theoretical sample (Guba & Lincoln, 1989), these findings are based on data generated from a single ethnographic case study of "Danni", a wheelchair user (as a result of acute rheumatoid arthritis) and her husband, Rob.…”

“…Therefore consumers who exhibit traits and characteristics of disadvantage and neglect may not be considered as being vulnerable all of the time (Baker, 2006). Indeed, Baker et al (2005) in their seminal paper on understanding the domain of consumer vulnerability, emphasise that the concept is multidimensional and context specific (see also Hunter-Jones, 2011), and call for future research that attempts to explain "when populations studied are and are not vulnerable and when the context studied presents individuals with vulnerabilities" (p. 136).…”