Consumer behavior of low-income youth in modern Russian society

Abstract

Background. In modern society, the development of market relations and the strengthening of competitive strategies make it necessary to study the consumer behavior of young people. It is important to take into account what factors and consumer preferences influence their consumer practices, features of consumer strategies of different groups of youth, including in the context of their material well-being. The purpose of the study is to analyze the consumer behavior of todayʼs underprivileged youth. Materials and methods. Systematic and structural-functional approaches were used as methodological bases. Based on the materials of authorʼs research among youth of the Penza region in 2018 and 2020, a sociological analysis of the level and quality of life of youth, the characteristics of their consumer behavior was carried out, supplemented by the results of a secondary analysis of other sociological research among youth of Moscow, Moscow and Smolensk regions and the SimilarWeb rating to assess the popularity of Russian online stores and the impact of living standards on consumer behavior of customers. Results. Based on the data of authorʼs research, a model of consumer behavior of low-income youth of the Penza region was ana-lyzed, including social aspects of consumer behavior: family, social situation, culture, con-sumer resources; sources of consumer behavior: media, the Internet; factors that influence purchasing decision making: price, quality, design and shopping brand. The use of secon-dary analysis of other sociological studies made it possible to identify the structure of con-sumer spending of modern youth, determine the impact of family and advertising on young consumers, and establish the most frequently visited Russian online stores. Conclusions. The study showed that the low financial situation of the youth of the Penza region only al-lows satisfying basic needs and deprives the opportunity to form a structured model of con-sumer behavior; the consumer behavior of disadvantaged youth is more influenced by the family and the Internet as sources of consumer preferences; low-income young people in modern conditions are more likely to purchase goods and services through online stores, preferring food, clothing and shoes, using promotions and discounts, to the detriment of the quality of goods and services.

Keywords

• consumer behavior model
• consumer preferences
• consumer practices
• low-income youth