Rethinking scarcity and poverty: Building bridges for shared insight and impact

Abstract

On the surface, it is ironic that topics of consumer poverty and consumer resource scarcity have rarely been studied together. Looking deeper, we see distinct approaches for exploring various forms of scarcity, while noting that scarcity and poverty research do differ on dimensions other than resource deprivation. In particular, resource scarcity research builds upon a psychological tradition and develops cognitive models using diverse theories and perspectives to help consumer scholars understand how people think, make decisions, and consume when their resources are lacking in either objective or subjective

Beyond radical affordability in the base of the pyramid: The role of consumer self‐confidence in product acceptance

“…Specifically, the inability to process information on packages, deconstruct persuasive messages, or add up coins at the register can negatively influence one's capacity to consume (Chakravarti, 2006). Furthermore, the cumulative effects of impoverished living are associated with increased cognitive load and lack of buffer (Blocker et al, 2022), which together make people less sensitive to contextual information and hinder their ability to make effective decisions (Mani et al, 2013;Shah et al, 2015Shah et al, , 2018.…”

Expanding consumer mindfulness for collective sustainable well‐being: Overview of the special issue and future research directions

“…A valuable contribution of bridging intellectual silos is to provide more holistic frameworks to stimulate fresh insights that accelerate important work and make it more widely accessible (Blocker et al, 2022). We next discuss the important and timely idea of collective mindfulness proposed by the authors drawing on insights from management science (Mortlock, 2023;Teufer & Grabner-Kräuter, 2023) and Eastern philosophies (Parvatiyar & Sheth, 2023).…”

Scarcity and intertemporal choice.

“…Scarcity is defined as a subjective sense of having more needs than resources (Mullainathan & Shafir, 2013, p. 86). Individuals can experience a sense of scarcity because they feel they cannot afford basic necessities or because they feel their finances are insufficient for desired expenses such as education costs, sustaining their lifestyle, or retirement (Blocker et al, 2022;Daoud, 2010;Raiklin & Uyar, 1996;Rossi, 2019;Tully & Sharma, 2022). Scarcity can be experienced among those with both lower and higher objective levels of resources (Hamilton et al, 2019;Schor, 1998), so long as resources are perceived to be insufficient for one's needs (e.g., Jachimowicz et al, 2017;Mani et al, 2013;Mankiw, 2007).…”