Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2009-4
The Unique Relationship between Quality of Life and Consumer Trust in Market-Related Institutions among Financially Constrained Consumers in a Developing Country
This study focuses on how relationships among constructs representing (1) consumer trust in market-related institutions (CTMRI), (2) distrust for individuals (DFI), and (3) subjective quality of life (QOL) differ across groups separated by the poverty line in a developing country (Turkey). A comparison of models across the two groups using multisample confirmatory factor analysis indicates that there is a correlation only between CTMRI and QOL for consumers below the poverty line (r = .43); there are no correlations between any of the three constructs for consumers above the poverty line. Accordingly, there is a unique relationship between QOL and CTMRI among financially constrained consumers in a developing country. Below the poverty line, consumers with lower trust in market-related institutions tend to report lower QOL, while those with higher trust in market-related institutions tend to report higher QOL.
AbbottAlison, and DaltonRex (1999), “Science Comes to Terms with the Lessons of Fraud,”Nature, 398(6722), 13–17.
2.
AksoyMurat Uğur (2007), “AB Mali Hizmetleri Bütünleştiriyor,”Para, 124(May), 13–19.
3.
BakerStacey, GentryJames, and RittenburgTerri (2006), “Building Understanding of the Domain of Consumer Vulnerability,”Journal of Macromarketing, 25(2), 128–39.
4.
BentlerP.M. (1990), “Comparative Fit Indexes in Structural Models,”Psychological Bulletin, 107(2), 238–46.
5.
BertrandMarianne, MullainathanSendhil, and ShafirEldar (2006), “Behavioral Economics and Marketing in Aid of Decision Making Among the Poor,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 25(Spring), 8–23.
6.
Biswas-DienerRobert M. (2008), “Material Wealth and Subjective Well-Being” in The Science of Subjective Well-Being, EidMichael, and LarsenRandy J., eds. New York: Guilford Press, 307–322.
7.
BollenK.A. (1989), Structural Equations with Latent Variables.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
8.
ChenFang Fang, SousaKaren H., and WestStephen G. (2005), “Testing Measurement Invariance of Second-Order Factor Models,”Structural Equation Modeling, 12(3), 471–92.
9.
DienerEd, and Biswas-DienerRobert (2008), Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth.Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
10.
DienerEd, SuhEunkook M., LucasRichard E., and SmithHeidi L. (1999), “Subjective Well-Being: Three Decades of Progress,”Psychological Bulletin, 125(2), 276–302.
11.
DouglasSusan P., and Samuel CraigC. (2006), “On Improving the Conceptual Foundations of International Marketing Research,”Journal of International Marketing, 14(1), 1–22.
12.
EarleTimothy C., and CvetkovichGeorge T. (1995), Social Trust: Towards a Cosmopolitan Society.Westport, CT: Greenwood Publish Group.
13.
EasterlinRichard A. (2001), “Income and Happiness: Towards a Unified Theory,”The Economic Journal, 111(July), 465–84.
14.
EasterlyWilliam (2001), The Elusive Quest for Growth.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
15.
EkiciAhmet (2002), “Putting Consumer Voice Back in Public Policy: An Enlightenment Model Approach,” in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 29, BroniarczykSusan M., and NakamotoKent, eds. Austin, TX: Association for Consumer Research, 377–85.
16.
EkiciAhmet (2004), “Consumer Trust and Distrust in the Food System: Some Implications for the Debates on Good Biotechnologies,” in Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 31, KhanBarbara E., and LuceMary Frances, eds. Toronto: Association for Consumer Research, 555–63.
17.
FligsteinNeil, and DauterLuke (2007), “The Sociology of Markets,”Annual Review of Sociology, 33(August), 105–128.
FreitagMarkus (2003), “Social Capital in (Dis)Similar Democracies: The Development of Generalized Trust in Japan and Switzerland,”Comparative Political Studies, 36(8), 936–66.
20.
FrenchBrian F., and Holmes FinchW. (2006), “Confirmatory Factor Analytic Procedures for the Determination of Measurement Invariance,”Structural Equation Modeling, 13(3), 378–402.
21.
FukuyamaFrancis (1995), Trust: The Social Virtues and Creation of Prosperity.New York: The Free Press.
22.
GallupGeorge H. (1977), “Human Needs and Satisfaction: A Global Survey,”Public Opinion Quarterly, 40(4), 459–67.
23.
GerbingD.W., and AndersonJ.C. (1988), “An Updated Paradigm for Scale Development Incorporating Unidimensionality and Its Assessment,”Journal of Marketing Research, 25(May), 186–92.
24.
GriffinAbbie, and HauserJohn R. (1993), “The Voice of the Consumer,”Marketing Science, 12(Winter), 1–27.
25.
HairJ.F.Jr., AndersonR.E., and TathamR.L. (1991), Multivariate Data Analysis.New York: MacMillan.
26.
HetheringtonMarc J. (1998), “The Political Relevance of Political Trust,”American Politician Science Review, 92(December), 791–808.
27.
HillRonald Paul (1998), “The Social Welfare System as a Consumer Net,” in Rebuilding Efforts: Impact, Challenges, and Opportunities: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Macromarketing Conference, ShultzCliffordII, and SchroederJonathon, eds. Kingston: University of Rhode Island, 1–9.
28.
HillRonald Paul, and MaconSandi (1996), “Consumer Survival on Welfare with an Emphasis on Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 15(Spring), 118–27.
29.
HillRonald Paul, and StephensDebra Lynn (1997), “Impoverished Consumers and Consumer Behavior: The Case of AFDC Mother,”Journal of Macromarketing, 17(Fall), 32–48.
30.
HudsonJohn (2006), “Institutional Trust and Subjective Well-Being Across the EU,”KYKLOS, 59(1), 43–62.
InglehartRonald (1997), Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural Economic and Political Change in 41 Societies.Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
33.
InglehartRonald (1999), “Trust, Well-Being and Democracy” in Democracy and Trust, WarrenM.E., ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 88–120.
34.
InglehartRonald, and RabierJacques-Rene (1986), “Aspirations Adapt to Situations—But Why Are the Belgians So Much Happier Than the French?” in Research on the Quality of Life, AndrewsFrank M., ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Centre, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 1–56.
35.
LazarusR.J. (1991), “The Tragedy of Distrust in the Implementation of Federal Environmental Law,”Law and Contemporary Problems, 54(4), 311–74.
36.
LewisD., and WeigertA. (1985), “Trust as a Social Reality,”Social Forces, 63(4), 967–85.
37.
LipsetSeymour Martin, and LenzGabriel Salman (2000), “Corruption, Culture and Markets,” in Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress, HarrisonL.E., and HuntingtonSamuel P., eds. New York: Basic Books, 112–25.
38.
McGarityThomas (1986), “Risk and Trust: The Role of Regulatory Agencies,”Environmental Law Reporter, 16(August), 10,198–10,229.
39.
MichalosAlex (1990), “The Impact of Trust on Business, International Security, and the Quality of Life,”Journal of Business Ethics, 9(8), 619–38.
40.
MittelstaedtJohn, and KilbourneWilliam (2007), “Macromarketing as Agorology: Macromarketing Theory and the Study of the Agora,”Journal of Macromarketing, 26(2), 131–42.
41.
NewtonKenneth (1999), “Social and Political Trust in Established Democracies,” in Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Government, NorrisP., ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 169–87.
42.
NorrisPippa, ed. (1999a), “1984 World Values Survey,” in Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Government.New York: Oxford University Press.
43.
NorrisPippa, ed. (1999b), “1993 World Values Survey,” in Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Government.New York: Oxford University Press.
44.
NorthDouglass C. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance.New York: Cambridge University Press.
45.
PetersonMark, and EkiciAhmet (2007), “Consumer Attitude Toward Marketing and Subjective Quality of Life in the Context of a Developing Country,”Journal of Macromarketing, 27(4), 350–59.
46.
PetersonMark, and MalhotraNaresh K. (1997), “Comparative Marketing Measures of Societal Quality of Life: Substantive Dimensions in 186 Countries,”Journal of Macromarketing, 17(1), 25–38.
47.
PettyRoss D. (2005), “Societal Regulation of the Marketing Function: Does the Patchwork Create a Quilt?”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 24(Spring), 63–74.
48.
PrahaladC.K. (2005), The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing.
49.
PutnamRobert D. (2000), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community.New York: Simon & Schuster.
RennOrtwin, and LevineD. (1991), “Credibility and Risk in Risk Communication,” in Communicating Risk to the Public: International Perspectives, KaspersonR.E., and StallenP.M., eds. Amsterdam: Kluwer, 175–218.
52.
RoseRichard, and MishlerWilliam (1997), “Social Capital in Civic and Stressful Societies,”Studies in Comparative International Development, 32(3), 84–110.
53.
SenAmartya (1999), Development as Freedom.New York: Anchor Books.
54.
SinghJagdip, KilgoreJean E., JayantiRama K., AgarwalKokil, and GandarvakottaiRamadesikan (2005), “What Goes Around Comes Around: Understanding Trust–Value Dilemmas of Market Relationships,”Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 24(Spring), 38–62.
55.
JosephSirgy M. (1986), “A Quality-of-Life Theory Derived from Maslow's Developmental Perspective: ‘Quality’ Is Related to Progressive Satisfaction of a Hierarchy of Needs, Lower Order and Higher,”American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 45(July), 329–42.
56.
JosephSirgy M. (2001), Handbook of Quality of Life Research.Boston: Kluwer.
57.
JosephSirgy M. (2008), personal communication between M. Joseph Sirgy and the second author at the Macromarketing Conference, Clemson, SC (June 7).
58.
JosephSirgy M., MichalosAlex C., FerrissAbbott L., EasterlinRichard, PatrickDonald, and PavotWilliam (2006), “The Quality-of-Life (QOL) Research Movement: Past, Present, and Future,”Social Indicators Research, 76(3), 343–466.
SteenkampJan-Benedict E.M. (2004), “The Survey Research/Theory Testing Paradigm,” 2004 SMA Distinguished Scholar Presentation, Society for Marketing Advances Conference, St. Petersburg, FL (November 4).
61.
SteenkampJan-Benedict E.M., and BaumgartnerHans (1998), “Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross-National Consumer Research,”Journal of Consumer Research, 25(June), 78–90.
62.
SztompkaPiotr (1999), Trust: A Sociological Theory.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
63.
TodaroMichael P., and SmithStephen C. (2003), Economic Development, 8th ed. New York: Addison-Wesley.
64.
United Nations Development Program (2006), Human Development Report 2006.New York: United Nations Development Program.
65.
UslanerEric M. (2002), The Moral Foundation of Trust.New York: Cambridge University Press.
66.
WilkieWilliam L., and MooreElizabeth S. (1999), “Marketing's Contributions to Society,”Journal of Marketing, 63(Special Issue), 198–218.
67.
WolfensohnJames D. (2000), The Quality of Growth: The World Bank Millennium Project.New York: Oxford University Press.
68.
The World Bank (2003), World Development Indicators.Washington, DC: The World Bank.
69.
World Values Survey (2008), “1993 World Values Survey,” (accessed January 19, 2009), [available at http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/].
