Barrier of having and people with Down Syndrome: the role of marketing in social exclusion

Abstract

The literature focusing on exclusion experienced by people with disabilities presents three types of social barriers: barriers to doing, barriers to being and barriers to speak. Starting from this research, the article aims to identify and explore how different facets of the “barrier of having” for consumers with Down Syndrome. The choice of focusing the study on people with a conduction syndrome should mainly: (1) the mentally handicapped do not usually have room in the discussions of the Academy of administration; (2) among mental deficiencies, Down syndrome presents phenotypic characteristics that make their condition visible, which reinforce the stigma of the deficiency. Participants were observed and in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 people with Down syndrome and their families. The main facets of the barrier identified and exploited were: lack of accessibility in the purchasing environment, exclusion from the labor market, distance from money, problems of urban mobility, difficulty accessing formal education and a representation of media consumption. The barrier of having to people with Down Syndrome can be characterized as predominantly attitudinal and are the most different social actors that contribute to reinforcing it.