Essential Commodities and Household Adaptation: Framing Family Economy Rhythm Therapy as a Coping Paradigm

Vollständiger Abstract

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Family budgets are getting affected more and more by price instability of essential commodities, including coconut oil, onions, cooking gas, and petrol. The price rises of 200–300 percent recently seen have made family budgets unstable and compelled people to find ways that gradually bring back normalcy. This research paper proposes the idea of Family Economy Rhythm Therapy (FERT), which is based on the idea of Social Rhythm Therapy, to illustrate how families adjust to such economic shocks. With the help of instances such as switching of coconut oil for sunflower, palm or groundnut oil, and consumption of substitute onion types during shortages, this research illustrates how families go through resistance, acceptability, and normalization stages when adapting to economic shocks. According to FERT, adaptation does not happen instantly; rather, it requires financial and psychological adjustment of family budgets. Research on 50 randomly selected families reveals that about 80% of them consider this adjustment mechanism to be beneficial due to the stabilization of their consumption pattern and relief from anxiety of any financial disruption. In addition, changes in consumer behavior create new chances for business as producers of cheaper substitutes earn more money. Overall, the research finds that though price increase creates disturbances, it acts as an impulse for becoming more resilient as it forces families to come up with solutions, make compromises, and stabilize economic rhythm again. Thus, FERT provides a new perspective on consumer psychology when they experience financial pressures.