This award is for a planning grant funded under the Minority Research Initiation Program. The purpose of a planning grant is to provide financial support for an investigator to prepare a competitive research proposal. This planning grant will enable the investigator to prepare a research proposal which focuses on analyzing the consumer behavior of low income people. Like all consumers, the behavior of low income people is motivated by economic, sociological, and psychological factors. However, often those responsible for helping poor people improve their consumer skills through education intervention feel that low income people are irresponsible and irrational when it comes to making choices. This proposed research will examine the consumer behavior of poor people and seek to determine whether or not economic theory provides a structure for understanding and evaluating the consumer behavior of this income class.
