Executive Summary
This study focuses on how relationships among constructs representing (1) consumer trust in market-related institutions (CTMRI), (2) distrust for individuals (DFI), and (3) subjective quality of life (QOL) might differ across groups separated by the poverty line in a developing country (Turkey). A comparison of models across the two groups using multisample confirmatory factor analysis indicates that there is a correlation only between CTMRI and QOL for consumers below the poverty line (r = .43); there is no correlations between any of the three constructs for those above the poverty line. Accordingly, a unique relationship can be understood to exist between QOL and trust in institutions of the market among financially constrained consumers in a developing country. Below the poverty line, those with lower trust in market-related institutions tend to report lower QOL, while those with higher trust in market-related institutions tend to report higher QOL.
To obtain these insights, the authors conduct a survey with a broad cross-section of Turkish consumers 21 years of age and older. Afterward, they performed a data analysis, which resulted in a final list of 13 items identifying four constructs related to CTMRI. Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling then derived a second-order factor representing CTMRI. In a subsequent comprehensive modeling effort, this second-order factor was allowed to be correlated with QOL and DFI to understand more fully the nomological network related to CTMRI, QOL, and DFI.
Major contributions of this study include identifying a successful approach for CTMRI measurement and discovering a moderating role of income in the CTMRI–QOL relationship. The lack of a relationship between CTMRI and QOL for consumers who are not financially constrained in a developing country could be due to a sufficient number of people in this group who use their financial resources to insulate themselves from the operations of market-related institutions when these institutions are distrusted.
In comparison, financially constrained consumers are likely to be focused more frequently on satisfying lower-order needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, such as survival, security, and social needs. Consequently, the perceived protection that market-related institutions offer, such as those featured in the current study, has an undeniable impact on these consumers’ QOL. Market-related institutions matter more for financially constrained consumers because the effective operations of these institutions deliver consumer protection. In short, consumer protection of lower-order needs matters more to the financially constrained because the poor have narrow margins of error.
Such knowledge provides insight into the vulnerability of financially constrained consumers in developing countries who distrust market-related institutions. These consumers face a “triple jeopardy” for experiencing a markedly lower QOL compared with most consumers in developed countries because (1) they are poor, (2) they live in a developing country, and (3) they are distrustful of market-related institutions.
Biography
Ahmet Ekici is Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Faculty of Business Administration at Bilkent University. His research interests include macromarketing issues, such as consumer well-being, quality of life, and consumer trust in societal institutions.
Mark Peterson is Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Wyoming. His research interests include methods, international marketing, and marketing and society issues.
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 2009
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