Interestingly third world countries tend to spend massively on consumer goods when you compare the relative income between developing countries versus non developing countries.
This is probably related to the fact that they don't have quite a few of the items that those in other parts of the world take for granted.
Mobile phones, refrigerators, television sets, household items of all shapes & sizes as well as vehicles are very high on the list of desirables and any substantial income tends to be converted into stuff.
In countries where infrastructure is weak a mobile phone is a lot of things at once and so it tends to be very high on the list of things to acquire, a refrigerator (provided you have power regularly) is a way to save money and all the other things in that list signal 'status', something humans all over the world are sensitive to, the third world is definitely no exception in this respect.
Even in non developing countries plenty of people spend money on stuff they can barely afford rather than on their health or the quality of their food.
This is probably related to the fact that they don't have quite a few of the items that those in other parts of the world take for granted.
Mobile phones, refrigerators, television sets, household items of all shapes & sizes as well as vehicles are very high on the list of desirables and any substantial income tends to be converted into stuff.
In countries where infrastructure is weak a mobile phone is a lot of things at once and so it tends to be very high on the list of things to acquire, a refrigerator (provided you have power regularly) is a way to save money and all the other things in that list signal 'status', something humans all over the world are sensitive to, the third world is definitely no exception in this respect.
Even in non developing countries plenty of people spend money on stuff they can barely afford rather than on their health or the quality of their food.