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1 – 10 of 997Avinash Kumar and Rajeev Kumra
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of a household on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption and also the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of a household on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption and also the enhanced level of this relationship for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) households.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses formulation was guided by cultivation theory and the concept of compensatory consumption. The hypotheses were later examined by using ordinary least square (OLS) regression on the data from the large nationally representative India Human Development Survey, 2011 (IHDS-II) database.
Findings
Television viewing duration of the household exerts a positive effect on its annual category-level conspicuous consumption expenditure. The nature of this relationship is enhanced for the BoP households. The annual category-level conspicuous consumption for the BoP households increases by close to four percent for every hour increase in their television viewing duration while such increase for other households is close to one and a half percent only.
Research limitations/implications
Findings can be further strengthened by using time-lagged dependent variable taken at monthly intervals, as well as survey data linking household television viewing duration with desirability of conspicuous goods.
Practical implications
Managers can rely on television for reaching BoP consumers while being cognizant of the negative effects of promoting conspicuous consumption among them. They need to adopt a responsible marketing approach. Besides regulating television, policymakers need to work toward increased provisioning of educational and financial services for BoP households. They can leverage television for promoting beneficial behavior in BoP households.
Originality/value
The study empirically establishes the external validity of cultivation theory at the household level in an emerging economy by using a large nationally representative database. It also establishes the higher vulnerability of BoP households to increase category-level conspicuous consumption in response to television viewing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically examine the effect of television viewing duration of household on its annual category level conspicuous consumption.
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Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall
The purpose of this article is to examine the purchasing power at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), i.e. of low‐income consumers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine the purchasing power at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), i.e. of low‐income consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze secondary data on income, population, and expenditure at the BOP from different countries, and apply the buying power index (BPI) methodology to assess the purchasing power of low‐income consumers.
Findings
In developing countries, more than 50 percent of the purchasing power resides in the BOP segment. Asia is the region with the greatest purchasing power, relative to Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and Caribbean. On average, the greatest BPI is in the lowest income tier, and consumption concentrates mainly in food, housing, and household goods.
Practical implications
The article provides useful information to companies interested in reaching low‐income consumers about the relative purchasing power at the BOP across geographic regions, income tiers, and product categories (or industries).
Originality/value
The research proposes the BPI as a key indicator of purchasing power at the BOP, and shows how this purchasing power breaks up among geographic regions, income tiers, and product categories (or industries).
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James Lappeman, Joel Chigada and Pragasen Pillay
This study provides empirical evidence for the impact that income and expenditure fluctuations have on understanding the fundamentals of BoP household share-of-wallet in South…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides empirical evidence for the impact that income and expenditure fluctuations have on understanding the fundamentals of BoP household share-of-wallet in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a longitudinal financial diary methodology to record household income in 80 households (in four different geographic areas) over four monthly waves.
Findings
The study showed the lack of reliability of aggregated population income and expenditure surveys when understanding the specific behaviour of BoP households. The study concludes that major category trade-offs occur on a monthly basis, and that these trade-offs directly impact our fundamental understanding BoP SoW.
Originality/value
While the BoP consumer theory is developing (especially in the last decade), most of the theory is focused on development and business strategy. Empirically based consumer theory is noticeably lacking, given that the BoP is the largest population segment on earth. In addition, research is largely absent of highly rigourous and in-depth quantification of consumer SoW behaviour. This study contributes to the BoP theory by examining monthly fluctuations in income and expenditure, a line of analysis not done before to this extent. In doing so, the study proposes a new metric for the measurement of category expenditure as an index of the total spend.
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Wasana Jayawickramarathna, Kaleel Rahman, Rajendra Mulye and Tim Fry
The market-based approach to catering for the poor mainly focusses on companies making profits while helping the poor enhance their lives. This concept presented the possibility of…
Abstract
The market-based approach to catering for the poor mainly focusses on companies making profits while helping the poor enhance their lives. This concept presented the possibility of there being a ‘fortune’ to make at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) market that was an opportunity for both businesses and consumers. The notion of the BoP market has been widely studied using urban and rural contexts as distinct classifications; yet many argue that the opportunity does not in fact exist in the rural BoP markets. In this chapter the authors examine the prospects in the rural BoP in Sri Lanka through a qualitative study using insights provided by industry practitioners who operate at the BoP level. Findings show that a large percentage of the income of multinational companies is derived from rural BoP markets. Compared to the urban sector, the rural BoP market indicates relatively higher disposable income and is viewed as an attractive market segment by industry practitioners. The findings also show that rural BoP people have more resources and skills than their urban counterparts, although the former commonly have lower levels of education. Moreover, the youth segment in both the urban and rural BoP markets was found to heavily consume social media. The authors conclude their discussion by providing several key proposals for organisations looking to seize opportunities in this market.
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Bianca Maria van Niekerk, Mornay Roberts-Lombard and Nicole Cunningham
This study aims to explore the impact of store atmospherics on urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions to purchase apparel in an emerging African market…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of store atmospherics on urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions to purchase apparel in an emerging African market context. This study also considers purchase antecedents to attitude, perceived behavioural control and social norms as determinants of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ apparel behavioural intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Using non-probability sampling, specifically purposive and interlocking sampling, data collection was secured from 881 economically active Namibian urban bottom-of-the-pyramid respondents through interviewer-administered questionnaires. Covariance-based structural equation modelling assessed the significant relationships among all constructs in the conceptual model.
Findings
This study found that for favourable apparel behavioural intentions of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers to occur, apparel retailers should emphasise trust, perceived awareness and self-identity through apparel assortment and groupings, easy-to-read visible signage, together with competent, friendly and respectful sales personnel in their store atmospherics.
Practical implications
The findings of this study may guide apparel retailers in other emerging African markets to develop regional integration, market-based solutions and inclusive economic growth focusing on “non-essential” products, such as apparel, among urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers.
Originality/value
This study expands the intellectual boundaries of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions towards “non-essential” products. The theoretical framework supports the integration of both the stimulus-organism-response model and the theory of planned behaviour into one single model for empirical investigation. Additionally, adopting a novel theoretical framework helped identify the impact of store atmospherics from a bottom-of-the-pyramid perspective in an emerging African market context, such as Namibia.
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Mahima Kaura Mathur, Ritu Mehta, Sanjeev Swami and Sanjeev Bhatnagar
The ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ or BoP represents the population living at the lowest level of the economic or income pyramid across the world (Prahalad, 2002). The BoP approach…
Abstract
The ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ or BoP represents the population living at the lowest level of the economic or income pyramid across the world (Prahalad, 2002). The BoP approach undoubtedly provides a market-based solution for poverty reduction and facilitates inclusive economic growth. This segment can be classified into two parts, namely, rural BoP and urban BoP. The urban BoP is a more sustainable and viable option for companies to operate in, since it strategically avoids the numerous challenges faced by the rural BoP. Rural BoP is relatively more distant, dispersed, desperately poor, largely illiterate and heterogeneous market (Ireland, 2008). This chapter aims at understanding and characterising the urban BoP market. Further it shares some interesting results of an empirical study conducted to understand the urban BoP consumers of Mumbai city. The study assumes importance as it focusses on the urban BoP as a realistic option to operate in the BoP by removing the dynamic barriers of the rural BoP. Additionally, it provides insight into the urban BoP market and its consumer behaviour.
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The importance of gender in inclusive economic growth has been a growing area of research. Finance is seen as an efficacious instrument for social inclusion, and sustainable women…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of gender in inclusive economic growth has been a growing area of research. Finance is seen as an efficacious instrument for social inclusion, and sustainable women empowerment (SWE). The lack of credit access often constrains women to scale up. The objective of this study is to examine the attributes influencing the decision of women to access the credit at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) and the impact of this credit access on social, psychological and economic dimensions of SWE at the BoP in rural India.
Design/methodology/approach
The threshold theory of decision-making in the form of logistic regression (LR) is applied here to analyze the influence of four determinants, namely individual household level (IHLA), social attributes (SA), economic attributes (EA) and ownership of documents (OD) on women’s credit access. Likewise, the same method is applied to study the relationship between credit access and three dimensions of SWE.
Findings
The results have revealed a statistically significant relationship between credit access and studied four attributes. Subsequently, a positive relationship has been observed between credit access and dimensions of SWE.
Originality/value
The present study broadly addresses the concern of accessing credit by women at BoP level, which helps the government and policymakers to promote enabling an environment for women entrepreneurship and comprehensive financial policies for the BoP.
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Dennis A. Pitta, Rodrigo Guesalaga and Pablo Marshall
The purpose of this article is to examine the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) proposition, where private companies can both be profitable and help alleviate poverty by attending…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to examine the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) proposition, where private companies can both be profitable and help alleviate poverty by attending low‐income consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature on BOP was reviewed and some key elements of the BOP approach were proposed and examined.
Findings
There is no agreement in the literature about the potential benefits of the BOP approach for both private companies and low‐income consumers. However, further research on characterizing the BOP segment and finding the appropriate business model for attending the BOP can provide some answers to this issue.
Practical implications
The article provides some guidelines to managers as to how they need to adapt their marketing strategies to sell to the BOP market, and what type of partnerships they need to build in order to succeed.
Originality/value
The article presents a thorough analysis of the key elements involved in the BOP initiative: companies' motivations, characterization of the BOP consumers, and the business model to attend the BOP.
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James Lappeman, Kristin Ransome and Zach Louw
This paper aims to show that a generic bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) segmentation strategy does not represent a multi-country BoP consumer profile. A series of multinational entry…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to show that a generic bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) segmentation strategy does not represent a multi-country BoP consumer profile. A series of multinational entry failures has clearly shown that a one-size-fits-all strategy is inappropriate for emerging markets, especially in Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analysed literature defining and profiling BoP consumers at both a global and local level using South Africa as a case study. Being Africa’s largest economy, South Africa was an ideal subject. The findings were then independently triangulated with seven experts for validation.
Findings
The results show that the South African BoP has eight characteristics that align with definitions in global BoP consumer literature. An additional five characteristics were identified that were not general BoP characteristics, and that applied specifically to South Africa.
Practical implications
The findings add to the growing evidence that BoP markets are complex and heterogeneous, and they make a case to consider each BoP market individually. As there is yet to be a model to define BoP market differences systematically, this study provides a foundation for new developments in BoP segmentation in Africa and in other emerging markets.
Originality/value
While there is evidence that BoP markets are complex and heterogeneous, there is yet to be a model to begin the process of defining these differences systematically to improve strategic direction for multinational companies and regional decision makers. This study, therefore, provides a foundation for new developments in this field of segmentation in Africa and in other emerging markets globally.
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