Television viewing and conspicuous consumption of households: evidence from India

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of a household on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption and also the enhanced level of this relationship for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) households. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses formulation was guided by cultivation theory and the concept of compensatory consumption. The hypotheses were later examined by using ordinary least square (OLS) regression on the data from the large nationally representative India Human Development Survey, 2011 (IHDS-II) database. Findings Television viewing duration of the household exerts a positive effect on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption expenditure. The nature of this relationship is enhanced for the BoP households. The annual category-level conspicuous consumption for the BoP households increases by close to four percent for every hour increase in their television viewing duration while such increase for other households is close to one and a half percent only. Research limitations/implications Findings can be further strengthened by using time-lagged dependent variable taken at monthly intervals, as well as survey data linking household television viewing duration with desirability of conspicuous goods. Practical implications Managers can rely on television for reaching BoP consumers while being cognizant of the negative effects of promoting conspicuous consumption among them. They need to adopt a responsible marketing approach. Besides regulating television, policymakers need to work toward increased provisioning of educational and financial services for BoP households. They can leverage television for promoting beneficial behavior in BoP households. Originality/value The study empirically establishes the external validity of cultivation theory at the household level in an emerging economy by using a large nationally representative database. It also establishes the higher vulnerability of BoP households to increase category-level conspicuous consumption in response to television viewing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of household on its annual category level conspicuous consumption.

Marketing at the bottom of the pyramid: Literature review and future research agenda

“…This behavior may be a manifestation of compensatory consumption, which countervails their lower social standing (Jaiswal & Gupta, 2015; Singh & Trott, 2019). In this regard, Kumar and Kumra (2021) noted television viewing to be exerting an enhanced positive influence on conspicuous consumption expenditure.…”

“…Marketing strategy Ansari et al (2012), Angeli and Jaiswal (2016), Agarwal et al (2018), Ahrens et al (2018), Bharti et al (2014), Beninger and Francis (2016), Basu et al (2021), Fletcher (2012, 2013) 2019), Gupta and Srivastav (2016a,b), Jaiswal and Gupta (2015), Jebarajakirthy et al (2014), , , , , Kumar and Kumra (2021), Martin and Hill (2015), Mukherjee et al (2020), Schaefers et al (2018), Singh and Trott (2019), Srivastava et al (2020)…”

Two decades of the bottom of the pyramid research: identifying the influencers, structure, and the evolution of the concept

“…So there is a need to explore the various facets of the same. Some recent studies address consumption and purchase decisions and consumer motivations/ perception of the BoP segment (Mukherjee et al 2020 ; Kumar and Kumra 2021 ; Kumra et al 2021 ; Panda et al 2021 ). We also feel that the existing business models at BoP need to be studied in detail to arrive at a framework that can be followed by organizations interested in these markets.…”