Privileged and Picky: How a Sense of Disadvantage or Advantage Influences Consumer Pickiness Through Psychological Entitlement

Growing inequality continues to impact consumers’ lives, further widening the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged. The present work examines how these inequalities impact consumer pickiness, defined as the latitude of acceptance around idiosyncratic ideal points. Across eight studies, including an analysis of consumer panel data, a study in the field at a local food pantry, and six preregistered experiments, we find that a sense of disadvantage leads consumers to be less picky, while a sense of advantage leads consumers to be pickier. We find evidence that this process is driven by differences in psychological entitlement: A sense of disadvantage leads consumers to feel less entitled, and a sense of advantage leads consumers to feel more entitled, driving subsequent pickiness. Importantly, while some might think that those who are advantaged might be pickier because they have more resources or access to products, we find these differences in the absence of resource or other external constraints, further speaking to entitlement as an important psychological mechanism. We find that the effects are moderated by social dominance orientation. The impact of disadvantage versus advantage on entitlement and subsequent pickiness is attenuated for individuals who do not endorse existing inequalities.