A capability pathway to subjective economic well-being: Looking beyond materialism

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The effect of sociological variables on SEWB is not well-understood in extant research.

  • We find that upward movement in IOM is found to have a positive impact on SEWB.

  • This relationship holds, irrespective of changes in household material assets.

  • This challenges the importance given to material assets acquisition in improving SEWB.

Abstract

By integrating sociological factors, this study explores novel causal mechanisms to broaden the understanding of subjective economic well-being (SEWB). The results of a probit regression analysis of Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) cross-sectional and panel data reveal a positive, significant effect of successful upward intergenerational occupational mobility on improved perceptions of SEWB. The findings remain robust and significant irrespective of changes in the acquisition and possession of household material assets. The empirical evidence presented herein showcases the utility of adding sociological factors to the discourse on SEWB. Additionally, the present study offers an alternative perspective on the primacy accorded to material possessions in the SEWB literature in marketing. The functionings-capabilities framework is offered as an explanatory framework to interpret the findings. Together, the study offers clear theoretical and managerial contributions to a more nuanced understanding of SEWB.

Introduction

“It may be that something can be made of the idea that an uncomfortable past, coupled with an awareness that one can “make it”, provides a considerable motivation towards economic success”

     (Smith & Morgan, 1970, p. 295)

The domain of subjective economic well-being (SEWB) is of abiding and continuing interest for marketing researchers (Bartikowski et al., 2018, Jaikumar et al., 2018). However, from a consumer perspective, SEWB research has largely been conceptualized within the context of materialism and in terms of transactions of consumer goods. Primarily ensconced within the umbrella of consumer well-being, SEWB in the consumer context has focused on “satisfaction with the acquisition, possession, consumption, maintenance, and disposition of consumer goods and services” (Lee, Sirgy, Larsen, & Wright, 2002, p. 158). It has been characterized as a beneficial individual state, largely driven by consumers’ positive experiences across diverse consumer-goods interactions, ranging from acquisition of goods to their disposal (Sirgy & Lee, 2006). Within this conceptualization, the acquisition/possession satisfaction model, which discusses the satisfaction derived from the acquisition and possession of material goods, continues to remain a focal point (Leelanuithanit et al., 1991, Sirgy, Lee, & Rahtz, 2007). This in turn has restricted understanding of SEWB to the effects of marketing programs (Lee and Sirgy, 2004, Sirgy et al., 2006) and to diverse facets of the market transaction.

In this paper, we demonstrate the need to broaden our understanding of SEWB by considering the influence of sociological factors on SEWB in the consumer context. Specifically, we develop a conceptual argument for examining the influence of intergenerational occupational mobility (IOM) on SEWB, a relationship hitherto unexplored in marketing and consumer behavior literature and contribute to a greater theoretical understanding of SEWB. Questioning the primacy accorded to materialism and the acquisition/possession model in consumer SEWB literature, we point to the functionings-capabilities approach (Sen, 1999) as a richer framework to understand SEWB. Furthermore, using data from a nationally representative household survey from India (India Human Development Survey (IHDS)), we test the validity of this relationship by empirically investigating the following broad research question:

  • RQ: How does intergenerational occupational mobility influence subjective perceptions of economic well-being (SEWB)?

Our results suggest that successful upward movement in intergenerational occupational status has a positive effect on perceptions of SEWB. Moreover, these results hold irrespective of actual changes in material assets. Drawing from these results, we offer three related theoretical contributions in understanding SEWB that focus on the what, how, and why of SEWB (Whetten, 1989) – (1) We offer a conceptual argument for including sociological factors into the current discourse on SEWB, provide empirical evidence for its utility, and thereby, broaden the current understanding of SEWB (2) We question the primacy accorded to materialism and the acquisition/possession model in SEWB literature in the consumer context, and (3) We offer the functionings-capabilities approach as a potential explanatory framework for our findings and suggest that upward movement in IOM can be considered an additional capability.

Our work joins the critique (Fuentes & Rojas, 2001) of theory that reduces determinants of SEWB to income and material consumption. Although economic theory argues that material gain could enhance SEWB (Becker, Philipson, & Soares, 2005), Bourguignon and Morrison (2002) have argued that explanations of SEWB should not be restricted to income.

These critiques have extended to the consumer context and have been chorused by multiple researchers in marketing. Achrol and Kotler (2012) have called for a critical questioning of marketing’s role in economic well-being. Malhotra (2006, p. 77) has urged research in the domain to move “beyond the focus on goods and services” by focusing on “important aspects such as consumer socialization, involvement with the society, social causes and so on.” In a similar vein, Ger (1997) has argued that SEWB is affected by societal transformations that in turn lead to emergent decentralized structures. Reviewing the historical evolution of the understanding of consumer well-being, Pancer and Handelman (2012, p. 177) have classified the current discourse as essentially focused on the “more-is-better” ideology, thereby defying the consumer’s status as a societal actor, and point to the “importance of incorporating society at large” into this research domain. In support, Ozanne (2011) has asserted the need to expand understanding of SEWB in the consumer context. Through this exploratory study, we heed these calls and attempt to broaden the current discourse on SEWB.

In making this theoretical contribution, we also empirically respond to the call for more research in the emerging markets context. For example, Sharma, Luk, Cardinali, and Ogasavara (2018, p. 210), in their editorial for a Journal of Business Research special issue on the challenges and opportunities for marketers in emerging markets, cite the need for research that reflects “the real picture of the consumers and the markets in the emerging markets.” This has led to further research in the journal on different facets of economic well-being in emerging markets (Bartikowski et al., 2018, Jaikumar et al., 2018, Srivastava et al., 2020). We situate this study within this burgeoning stream of literature in the Journal of Business Research on SEWB in emerging markets.

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows. First, we elaborate on the functionings-capabilities framework (Sen, 1993, Sen, 1999) that offers an alternate lens to the dominant understanding of material consumption-driven well-being, and motivates the need to examine IOM, a significant sociological variable that influences SEWB. In doing so, we remain mindful of our empirical context and discuss relevant literature within its broad confines. Subsequently, we describe the study method, the data used, and share our results. We conclude with a discussion of our findings and their potential implications for further research.

Section snippets

Functionings and capabilities as the overarching explanatory framework

Sen's (1999) critique of the primacy accorded to “commodity command” can be interpreted as a critique of the undue focus on outcomes or satisfactions as a measure of SEWB. As Sen (1999, p. 19) notes, the command over commodities is only a “means to the end of well-being but can scarcely be the end itself.” In advocating for a broader understanding of well-being, Sen, 1993, Sen, 1999 argues that what is more important is an individual’s achievements using the characteristics and commodities at

Data and data manipulations

For this study, we used Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) data. We analyzed data from two rounds of data collection that were carried out for IHDS data, the first in 1993–1994 and the second in 2004–2005. The first round was carried out by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) on behalf of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the second by NCAER on behalf of the University of Maryland (Iversen, Kalwij, Verschoor, & Dubey, 2014). The first round covered

Persistence in intergenerational occupational choices across a stable hierarchy

We begin by constructing a transition matrix to paint a picture of the level of IOM in the Indian context. Table 1 shows the movement between the occupational categories considered for the study.

The findings in Table 1 indicate that stickiness in occupational categories across generations continues to be dominant. This is largely consistent with existing research on IOM in the Indian context (Deshpande and Palshikar, 2008, Kumar et al., 2002b, Singh and Motiram, 2012). We also find evidence for

Discussion

This paper explores novel causal mechanisms for SEWB by considering recent empirical data. Through this exploratory study, we have attempted to widen the scope of discourse on SEWB. We accomplish this by attempting to move beyond materialism and acquisition/possession of goods as the key pillars of greater SEWB. Paying heed to calls from researchers in the marketing domain (Ger, 1997, Malhotra, 2006, Pancer and Handelman, 2012), we look at the impact of sociological factors. Specifically, we

Theoretical implications

Despite the primacy accorded to SEWB, it remains undertheorized, especially in the context of emerging markets. The literature suggests that the emphasis on materialistic consumption has limitations when extended to societies and cultures outside Western contexts. What then determines SEWB in these societies? We argue (and empirically demonstrate) that social mobility (as measured by intergenerational occupational mobility) is a significant determinant. In theorizing well-being in these

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Rajesh Nanarpuzha is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur. His primary research interests include consumer well-being, mobility, and consumption in marketplaces. Across diverse contexts, his research primarily seeks to answer marketing questions for vulnerable populations.

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      Citation Excerpt :

      Due to the richness of the well-being connotation, there are many opinions and methods for measuring well-being, and the overall trend is to pay more attention to comprehensive and multi-level assessment. From an economic perspective, the use of gross domestic product (GDP) and genuine progress indicator (GPI), which are mainly based on the monetary value of economic statistics, and the gradual inclusion of non-market factors (e.g., eliminating forced consumption, considering environmental and ecological changes) can more comprehensively reflect the connotation of well-being (Eker and Ilmola, 2020; Rn and As, 2021). Sociological survey methods, such as the Human Development Index (HDI), include simplified economic and statistical content as well as social psychology content to enrich and improve the connotation of well-being (Tatarova and Kuchenkova, 2020; Trotsuk and Koroleva, 2020).

    Rajesh Nanarpuzha is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Udaipur. His primary research interests include consumer well-being, mobility, and consumption in marketplaces. Across diverse contexts, his research primarily seeks to answer marketing questions for vulnerable populations.

    Ankur Sarin is an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. A shared theme in his research is an attention to consequences of inequalities and instruments used to counter them. These include public policies, social enterprises and movements. In his recent work, he has tried to use field-based research as a means to study and facilitate the fulfillment of policy obligations to citizens, especially children.

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