ABSTRACT
What does it mean to be a vulnerable consumer? The word “vulnerable” derives from the Latin “vunerabilis,” which means “that may be wounded,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary. We describe someone who is easily wounded as vulnerable. Consumer behavior researchers have customarily applied the term to children and the aged; to people with sensory, mobility, and/or cognitive impairments; to members of ethnic minorities; and to impoverished consumers. Scholars who have sought a more nuanced perspective on consumer vulnerability define it this way:
A state of powerlessness that arises from an imbalance in marketplace interactions or from the consumption of marketing messages and products. It occurs when control is not in an individual’s hands, creating a dependence on external factors (e.g., the marketer) to create fairness in the marketplace. The actual vulnerability arises from the interaction of individual states, individual characteristics, and external conditions within a context where consumption goals may be hindered and the experience affects personal and social perceptions of self.
