Exploring the resources associated with consumer vulnerability: Designing nuanced retail hardship programs

Charmaine Glavas, Kate Letheren, Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Ryan McAndrew, Rowan E. Bedggood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Retailers across a variety of sectors offer hardship programs to assist consumers who are experiencing vulnerability. Hardship programs are typically designed as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, viewing consumer recipients as one homogenous group. To investigate the resources associated with consumer vulnerability, we thematically analyzed reports from 20 government-funded projects in Australia which directly assisted 32,498 low-income households in the energy retail sector. Our findings reveal three resource ‘bundles’: connections-resource-bundle, convenience-resource-bundle and security-resource-bundle. We then provide recommendations for retailers and service providers on what they can do to alleviate hardship for consumers within each resource-bundle.

Original languageEnglish
Article number102212
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Volume57
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2020
Externally publishedYes

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