Consumption of Visually Impaired Students Based on the Theory of Consumer Vulnerability and Resilience

Abstract

This study analyzes the consumption of elementary-school educational service by visually impaired individuals based on the theory of consumer vulnerability and resilience of Baker and Mason (2012). To this end, an ethnographic investigation was performed on a non-governmental organization (NGO) involved in the education of visually impaired students and conducted in accordance with the procedure of Transformative Consumer Research described by Crockett, Downey, Firat et al. (2013). Data were collected through narrative interviews with 16 elementary-school students, six in-depth interviews with managers and teachers from the NGO Lar, and five in-depth interviews with the guardians of the students, in addition to seven months of participant observations. The data were analyzed using the data analysis spiral technique. The results indicate that pressures from the individual, family, school community, and macro forces caused the state of vulnerability. Impotence in the face of practices by school managers and teachers as well as dependence on friendly schools appeared in the form of shock caused by two triggers events: the attempt to enroll students and the first days of school. The resilience of the consumers, the school community, and the NGO contributed to reduce the vulnerability.