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Unequal but essential: How subsistence consumer–entrepreneurs negotiate unprecedented shock with extraordinary resilience during COVID‐19
Author(s) -
Viswanathan Madhubalan,
Faruque Aly Hussein,
Duncan Ronald,
Mandhan Namrata
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of consumer affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.582
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1745-6606
pISSN - 0022-0078
DOI - 10.1111/joca.12351
Subject(s) - subsistence agriculture , psychological resilience , margin (machine learning) , shock (circulatory) , economics , consumption (sociology) , sociology , social psychology , psychology , geography , social science , agriculture , medicine , archaeology , machine learning , computer science
We use qualitative interviews to study subsistence consumers confronting the global, pervasive and extended challenges of COVID‐19, encompassing literally all realms of daily life. For subsistence consumers whose circumstances are filled with day‐to‐day uncertainty and a small margin of error to begin with, the pandemic has led to manifold uncertainties and a disappearing margin of error, with potentially lethal consequences. Their constraints to thinking and lack of self‐confidence arising from both low income and low literacy are magnified in the face of the complex, invisible pandemic and the fear and panic it has caused. Characteristic relational strengths are weakened with social distancing and fear of infection. Yet, subsistence consumers display humanity in catastrophe, and confront the uncontrollable by reiterating a higher power. Consumption is reduced to the very bare essentials and income generation involves staying the course versus finding any viable alternative. We derive implications for consumer affairs.