Consumption, crisis, and coping strategies of lower class families in Brazil: A sociological account

Abstract

Extant research on the dispositional dimensions of coping strategies emphasizes the personality determinants behind the different ways through which individuals seek to tolerate, minimize, and overcome stressful situations. We offer a sociological complement to this perspective. To do so, we conducted a qualitative inquiry of Brazilian new middle‐class consumers who are facing the current economic crisis after having experienced more than a decade of expansion in consumption. We identify five sets of coping strategies through which consumers minimize the effects of the crisis and remain invested in consumer culture. We also demonstrate how such strategies are differently informed by dispositional elements that stem from primary and secondary socializations. We contribute to a sociological account of the shaping of the cognitive, emotional, and social resources individuals deploy to cope with the crisis as well as with an empirical account of the lived effects of current Brazilian crisis.

Consumption as a social integration strategy in times of crisis: The case of vulnerable households

“…This model also incorporates the impact that these changes have in turn on the consumer and the context, recognizing a kind of feedback effect. From a sociological perspective, Alonso, Fernández, and Ibáñez (2017) have looked at how perceptions of the crisis have changed consumption patterns in Spain, while in Brazil, Castilhos, Fonseca, and Bavaresco (2017) have researched the consumption strategies adopted by the new middle classes from the perspective of primary and secondary socialization. In Finland, Lindblom and Lindlom (2016) have studied the effect of age and employment situation on attitudes towards collaborative consumption in the context of economic crisis.…”

Coping with crises: Consumption and social resilience on markets

“…Boost and Meier () for Germany and Castilhos , Fonseca and Bavaresco () for Brazil examine the changes of consumption patterns, especially the acquisition dimension of it: smart shopping, delaying and prioritising of purchasing and self‐production (see Figure ) and their relations with social self‐esteem among lower middle class, whose ability to maintain their social status depends heavily on their resilience during the crisis. Boost and Meier stress that the de‐commodified practices of resilience require considerable material resources (i.e., land for cultivation) and social network resources as well as crafting and other skills that may not easily be available.…”

Taste Transformation in the Context of Social Mobility

“…It also does not explain this process when it occurs in a more dynamic context like Brazil, which has gone through two distinct social mobility movements; one involving ascension and the second -still ongoing -involving decline, when economic factors have contributed to the rise of this new group of consumers (Castilhos et al, 2017). Thus, the question still remains -how does the taste transformation process occur when consumers experience these social mobility moments?…”

“…Thus, the recent growth of the new middle class in emerging countries (Kamakura & Mazzon, 2013) is a context that can be used to investigate taste transformation dynamics, mainly because of the multiple coexisting taste structures (Castilhos, Fonseca, & Bavaresco, 2017;Sandikci & Ger, 2010), since social boundaries are in flux and being negotiated (Kravets & Sandikci, 2014).…”

“…Unfortunately, the economic factors that contributed to the rise of this new group of consumers, namely economic growth, low inflation rates, full employment, abundant credit, have been deteriorating swiftly since 2013 (Castilhos et al, 2017). Brazil also faces a serious political crisis with direct effects on the country's economy (Pignata & Carvalho, 2015).…”