From Welfare to Well-Groomed: How Income Conditions Influence Moral Perception of Beauty Consumption

Abstract

While consumers across all income conditions participate in beauty consumption, how people view such consumption made by consumers from different income conditions remains unclear. Across eight experiments (including two supplementary studies), this research identifies income condition as a key factor shaping moral judgments of beauty consumption. Specifically, we found that a consumer’s income condition and consumption choice on beauty interactively shape how others evaluate his or her perceived morality, such that welfare recipients are judged as less moral when purchasing beauty products (vs. daily necessities), whereas no such effect emerges for middle-income earners. This effect is mediated by perceived deservingness, such that welfare recipients are viewed as less deserving of spending freedom than middle-income earners. Such evaluations are indirectly linked to reduced financial support to welfare recipients who engage in beauty consumption compared to those who do not. Furthermore, when welfare recipients’ beauty consumption is framed as driven by utilitarian (vs. hedonic) motives, they are perceived as more deserving and, in turn, more moral. Finally, debiasing interventions that increase perceived deservingness were shown to be effective in alleviating moral condemnation toward welfare recipients’ beauty consumption. Together, this research provides insights for consumers and beauty industry firms seeking to understand biases toward welfare recipients’ beauty spending and foster a more inclusive marketplace.