Exploring the Consumption Behavior of At-Risk-of-Poverty Citizens.

This research focuses on consumers who are considered to be at risk of poverty (this threshold is defined by the European Commission to be at 60% of the national median income (Eurostat, 2013) and their experiences in a typical consumption context, namely shopping for grocery products. More specifically, we explore the notion of consumption for a group of people that are threatened by poverty but still have sufficient resources to sustain basic pillars of their lives such as housing and the purchase of basic consumer goods. The majority of their purchases is conducted in a very specific retail environment, namely social supermarkets (SSMs). As consumers drift back and forth between regular consumption environments and the specific venues of social supermarkets, the current research allows to explore and bridge two seemingly opposing ends: contemporary mainstream consumer behavior and impoverished consumers' understandings of consumption. Research Question Literature on people in poverty has provided important insights into how poverty impacts consumers' lives as well as their attitudes, behaviors and emotions (see, e.g., Hill 2001; Klein and Hill 2008; Poppendieck 1998). A common basis of this literature stream is the acceptance of consumption as integral component in identity formation as our sense of self is often closely connected to our ability to consume and to our identity as consumers (Hamilton and Catterall, 2005). Against this background, we aim to extend research on impoverished consumers by exploring how consumption experiences in social supermarkets as well as the transition between two concurrent consumption realities (i.e. the standard supermarket and the social supermarkets) influence self-identity formation of consumers. To this end, the present research focuses on consumers who live below the so called at-risk-of-poverty line, defined as 60% of the national median income across European countries (Eurostat, 2013). This threshold is used to establish eligibility and access to a unique consumption setting: social supermarkets (SSMs). Social supermarkets provide products at a much lower price and are increasingly widespread even in developed societies (Holweg and Lienbacher 2011). Method and Data To better understand the behavior of impoverished consumers in the context of grocery shopping, we follow an ethnographic approach: At first, we conducted three focus groups amongst customers of three different social supermarkets. The groups included between 3 and 6 people who were mixed in terms of gender, age, profession, and family status. The initial rounds of focus groups were purposefully chosen so that participants were able to discuss their personal situation and emotions with individuals who made similar experiences. Next, we interviewed three senior store managers to get a broader picture of different types of SSM customers, in particular of customers who would not be available for personal interviews for reasons of language skills or other personal resentments. All interviews were led by two experienced moderators who work as volunteers at a SSM, which generated further trust among the respondents. The initial analysis included the reading of transcripts, field notes and additional documents. We then inductively coded existing data along emergent categories and, in a subsequent step, grouped them into more abstract conceptual classes that reflect the transformation consumers go through when transcending from the normal consumer landscape to the at-risk-of-poverty population found in social supermarkets (Spiggle, 1994). Summary of Findings We find evidence of a step-wise process, in which consumers depart from their "old" consumerist lifestyle to a reality in which they need additional (financial) support: The first step of the transition process begins with consumers' realization that they need help. It seems that consumers can ignore the precariousness of their situation up to a certain point but ultimately have to surrender, which typically means they apply for access to a SSM. Once officially registered, consumers need time to get accustomed to the consumption experience and their new identity as "social supermarket consumer." This struggle of acceptance marks the second step of the transition process. Third, re-negotiating one's identity is characterized by increasing familiarization with a new set of rules, such as queuing up to be served instead of helping oneself; or their insight that they won't be able to change their fate, as it often happens among retired people. A new self-concept results as a last step. Consumers show a sense of pride for being able to manage their lives, and display a shared identity with other SSM customers. However, this step also goes in hand with signs of increasing alienation from traditional consumer outlets. Key Contributions Consumers resort to the marketplace to forge a sense of self and to construct their identities. We find that our interviewees, as regular customers of social supermarkets, re-negotiate their identity as consumers but, at the same time, clearly dissociate themselves from "normal" consumers. Our insights thereby extend the understanding that "normality is equated with the ability to consume" (Hamilton and Catterall, 2005, p. 627). Even more than the ability per se, we find that normality, as experienced by our interviewees, is about the boundaries of this ability to consume. To this end, the adaptation process we witness among our consumers--from normal to impoverished consumers--is different to the modifications of habitual frameworks of interpretation found by Hill and Stamey (1990). Within these initial phases of our ethnography, we experienced the paradoxical nature of SSMs: They are a place where consumers with financial restrictions feel appreciated and among kindred, yet at the same time reinforce a pattern of self-stigmatization and a notion of not being normal consumers. Given the rise of SSMs across Europe, a better understanding of SSM consumers is needed to support their self-empowerment by reinforcing and promoting the "normalcy" of shopping within financially restricted conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]