Negotiating Affordability and Usability: Consumer Behavior, Cultural Meaning, and Social Class in Ghana’s Textile Market

Affordability and usability are central to textile consumer behavior, yet existing consumer behavior models, developed largely within Western contexts, inadequately explain how these constructs operate in culturally embedded markets. This study examines the affordability-usability nexus in Ghana’s textile industry using an interpretivist phenomenological approach. Thirty-one participants, comprising 15 textile producers and 16 textile consumers, were purposively selected and interviewed, with data analyzed thematically using NVivo. The findings reveal that affordability extends beyond price to encompass household economic realities, social class, and culturally prescribed obligations, while usability reflects functional value, symbolic meaning, cultural identity, and contextual appropriateness. Participants described occasions such as funerals and festivals where cultural expectations outweighed purely economic considerations, illustrating that affordability and usability are dynamically negotiated rather than independent determinants of consumer behavior. Social class and generational differences further shaped textile preferences, purchasing decisions, and market engagement. The study recommends targeted support for local textile production, technological innovation, expanded market access, and flexible purchasing mechanisms tailored to Ghanaian consumers. Theoretically, the findings demonstrate that affordability and usability are mutually reinforcing socio-cultural constructs shaped by structural economic inequalities, cultural identity, and consumer agency, thereby extending Marxist Theory and Consumer Theory within a Global South context.