A necessary discussion on consumer vulnerability: advances, gaps, and new perspectives

Abstract Consumer research is not usually concerned with problems caused or aggravated by market activities. However, economic, social, environmental, and public health problems can be attributed to certain market practices, which are harmful to different market agents. This article examines how consumer vulnerability has been discussed in the marketing and consumer literature through a national and international literature review of the last 25 years. It seeks to identify the different perspectives and definitions in researches that discuss the topic and suggests a comprehensive definition of vulnerability in the marketing area, which considers the vulnerability of other agents. We identified vulnerability as an issue gaining importance, despite the predominance of a managerialist perspective, which emphasizes the generation of knowledge that benefits companies. It seems urgent that marketing and consumer studies are interested in knowledge that protects and benefits consumers and society in general. We believe that the study of vulnerability should also encourage the development of adequate public policies and the discussion of regulatory activities, in addition to the consumer. Thus, from the results, we suggest that vulnerability can be defined as a state of individuals’ fragility in the face of market practices, which can manifest in different stages in production, commercialization, and consumption processes.摘要 消费者研究通常不会关注由市场活动引发或加剧的各类问题。然而，部分市场实践会引发经济、社会、环境与公共健康等多类问题，且会对不同市场主体造成损害。本文通过对过去25年国内外相关文献的系统梳理，考察营销学与消费者研究领域中关于消费者脆弱性的讨论脉络。本文旨在厘清该主题相关研究中的多元视角与定义，并提出营销领域内兼具综合性的脆弱性定义，该定义需纳入其他市场主体的脆弱性维度。尽管当前研究仍以管理主义视角为主导，即侧重产出服务于企业的研究知识，但我们发现，脆弱性已逐渐成为受到广泛关注的议题。当前亟需推动营销与消费者研究转向聚焦于保护消费者及整体社会福祉的知识生产。我们认为，脆弱性研究除关注消费者外，还应助力完善公共政策制定，并推动监管相关议题的讨论。综上，基于本研究结果，我们建议将脆弱性定义为：个体在面对市场实践时所呈现的脆弱状态，该状态可在生产、商业化与消费等不同环节中得以体现。