Year: 2005
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The ‘compensatory consumption’ hypothesis advanced by Caplovitz in 1967 predicts that households facing racial or ethnic discrimination tend to spend heavily on socially visible consumption goods to make up for their low‐status position in society. This paper provides an empirical test of this prediction in Bolivia, where people of indigenous origin face social exclusion. Using recent household survey data, we examine whether low‐income households of indigenous origin overspend on socially visible durable goods relative to equally poor, non‐indigenous households. We find a marked difference in the propensity for compensatory consumption between the two largest indigenous groups in Bolivia.
Author: Luuk Van Kempen
Institution: Tilburg University
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2113383623