Poverty and Materialism: Are Impoverished Children More Materialistic Than Affluent Children?

Our research is the first to examine consumer values for children and adolescents from impoverished backgrounds. In study 1, we found that older adolescents (ages 16-17) from impoverished families are more materialistic than adolescents from affluent back grounds. In study 2, we found that differences in materialism among income groups emerge at the onset of early adolescence (ages 12 13). Prior to this stage, younger children (ages 8-11) from impoverished families exhibit a similar level of materialism as younger children from more affluent families. Across both studies, higher levels of materialism among impoverished adolescents is associated with low self-esteem, which has been identified as one of the negative impacts on youngsters living in families experiencing economic hardship. Below, we discuss the implications and contributions of these findings for consumer research on (1) poverty and materialism, and (2) young consumers and materialism. The last decade has seen a resurgence of interest in issues related to consumers living in poverty as well as bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers in less developed countries (Martin and Hill 2012; Prahalad 2005; Viswanathan, Rosa, and Ruth 2010). However, even with this renewed interest, little is known about the role that material goods, consumption values, and desires for material wealth play in the lives of those living in poverty.