Consumption coping strategies and well-being among refugee consumers

Abstract

This paper aims to provide new insight into refugee consumers' adaptation to stress with a particular emphasis on consumption coping strategies and well-being. Drawing on the appraisal-coping theory, this paper proposes a theoretical framework relating stress to coping responses and refugee well-being. Social support is also introduced in the framework as a moderator. Examining the interplays between these concepts provides a comprehensive view of how changes in consumption patterns occur and how they affect refugee well-being. Insights from this paper suggest that consumption activities could be viewed as responses of adaptation to chronic and acute stress. To adapt to new circumstances and reduce their stress, refugee consumers could engage in adaptive consumption coping or maladaptive consumption coping (i.e., compulsive and impulsive consumption), which in turn affect their psychological and physical, family, and economic well-being. The paper contends that service support moderates the relationships between stress, coping responses, and refugee well-being.