INNOVATION IN LOW-INCOME MARKET: A STUDY BASED ON THE SYMBOLIC PRODUCTION AND CULTURAL REPRODUCTION

The paper analyzes the interaction between symbolic production and cultural reproduction in low-income consumers market, affecting the attitudes towards the innovation adoption. This effect influences purchase decision regarding the characteristic of innovation intensity. The theoretical background involves: first, culture and consumption are represented by symbolic production and cultural reproduction, second, the innovation adoption that is categorized into early and late, third, the innovation intensity that is categorized into radical and incremental. A total of 390 low-income consumers were surveyed and the data was analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling. The results show that early adopters prefer radical innovations instead of the incremental one, favoring those products that have higher sophistication and technology. On the other hand, late adopters prefer incremental innovations, because they are more cautious and uncertain about the risks that innovation can cause. Keywords: innovation adoption, innovation intensity, symbolic production, cultural reproduction, low-income market.