Low income consumers are today responsible for about 75% of consumption in Brazil. In the mid 1990s, enterprises and scholars started to show interest for these consumers, which were neglected during prior decades. However there are still few academic studies on this topic and most of them are of an exploratory nature. The objective of this paper is to review the findings of these studies, confronting and discussing such findings from an interpretive point of view. The aim is to make headway in interpreting the results of the research, thus contributing to the construction of new studies. The paper was organized around the topics discussed in the reviewed studies: social class; management of the budget; the purchase experience and the role of prices and brands in purchase decisions. Results bring interpretive propositions, seeking to contribute for the construction of new studies. They suggest that two rationalities coexist in the decision-making process of household consumption. A "hard" material one, derived from scarcity of resources that imposes thrift and strict rationalization of expenditures and a symbolic one, anchored in cultural elements and especially in the relational and hierarchical dimensions of the Brazilian society, as well as in institutions with a strong purport in this society, such as family and religion.
Low income consumers; Consumer behavior