Prelims

Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BoP Markets

ISBN: 978-1-78714-556-6, eISBN: 978-1-78714-555-9

Publication date: 3 December 2018

Citation

(2018), "Prelims", Singh, R. (Ed.) Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BoP Markets (Marketing in Emerging Markets), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-xiv. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78714-555-920181001

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited


Half Title Page

Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing

Title Page

Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BoP Markets

Edited by

Ramendra Singh

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Kolkata, India

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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ISBN: 978-1-78714-556-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78714-555-9 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78714-974-8 (Epub)

Contents

Dedication vii
Preface ix
About the Contributor xi
Part I: Markets and Marketing at BOP: Where We are and What We Know
Chapter 1 Evolving and Expanding Marketing to Address Challenges and Opportunities in BoP Markets: Looking Back and Forward
Madhu Viswanathan, Arun Sreekumar and Roland Gau
3
Chapter 2 Making Markets ‘Worth the Effort’ at the Bottom of the Pyramid
Ronika Chakrabarti and Katy Mason
29
Chapter 3 A Qualitative Study on the Survival Strategies of Retailers in BoP Markets
Dev Narayan Sarkar, Kaushik Kundu and Himadri Roy Chaudhuri
53
Chapter 4 Beyond the BoP: A Look into Alternative Domain
Apoorv Khare
77
Part II: Future of Research on BOP markets
Chapter 5 Designing Solutions for the Low Income Consumer Markets: Four Schools of Thought
Jaqueline Pels and Jagdish N. Sheth
89
Chapter 6 A Conceptual Model of Pro-poor Innovation Adoption in the BOP and Subsistence Marketplaces
Ben Lowe, Md. Rajibul Hasan and Saju Valliara Jose
111
Chapter 7 Reflections from a Periodic Market in Rural India
Satyam and Rajesh Aithal
135
Part III: Lessons for Marketers
Chapter 8 Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Examples from Selected Nigerian Companies
Ogechi Adeola and Yetunde Anibaba
151
Chapter 9 Profitability in Rural Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) Markets from a Business Perspective: Evidence from Sri Lanka
Wasana Jayawickramarathna, Kaleel Rahman, Rajendra Mulye and Tim Fry
165
Chapter 10 Developing Capabilities and Freedoms at the Base of the Pyramid
Archana Voola and Ranjit Voola
189
Chapter 11 Exploring the Urban BoP Market
Mahima Kaura Mathur, Ritu Mehta, Sanjeev Swami, Sanjeev Bhatnagar
199
Index 213

Dedication

It is with great pride that I dedicate this book, Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BOP Markets to all the scholars in marketing who have dedicated their scholarship to studying, understanding, and developing theories that enhance our understanding about poor customers and their participation in the formal as well as informal markets. Until one and half decades back, poverty was scarcely studied with as much interest in marketing, as other topics that concerned the lives of rich customers. The marketing academia should take pride in helping to contribute in alleviating the pains arising from the most challenging issues that stare at the poor in our societies today. The research on what is called the bottom of the pyramid or BOP cannot be complete if we keep looking at the problem as one which haunts only the developing nations, or emerging markets. This is multidimensional problem, and it equally worries the richer societies as much as it stares the societies in less developed markets. Finally, to cite Prof Yunus (Nobel Peace Prize Winner), we wish to see poverty in the museums one day.

Once again, I would like to thank all the contributors to this book, who dedicated their time, effort, and emotional labor in bringing out their best research into the world in form of this book. Thanks to Emerald Publishing for supporting this endeavor.

Regards,

Ramendra Singh

Associate Professor of Marketing and One of the many BOP Marketing Scholars

Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Kolkata, India

Preface

The book Bottom of the Pyramid Marketing: Making, Shaping and Developing BOP Markets is a culmination of the effort of many scholars to put their best minds and intellectual horsepower and share all the best ideas in bottom of the pyramid (BoP) marketing under one umbrella. The conception for this book emerged from one simple question that germinated in my mind many years ago: Why is it so difficult for poor in the society to participate in the markets? I must admit that even today I am struggling to find a satisfactory answer to this question, yet the first step of bringing out this book that collates the thought leadership of as many as 28 scholars from across the globe, across 11 chapters, has just happened. I must thank all contributors again for this time, effort, and dedication toward this noble cause. The narrative would be incomplete without the mention of the immediate trigger for writing this book, which is the ongoing intellectual debate: whether to treat BoP as a marketplace in which poor should be sold goods and services, or should BoP be treated as an underprivileged section of the society which requires serious government intervention to enhance employment opportunities and welfare programs.

The structure of the book is like this: it is divided into three parts: In Part-I: Markets and Marketing at BOP: Where We Are and What We Know? in which there are four chapters. Each of these chapters have been authored by some of the best research minds working in the field of marketing in subsistence markets, which is the other name by which BoP is called. In Part-II, Future of Research on BOP Markets? Few top scholars again share their ideas on what BoP markets would look like in future and how that would shape BoP research in future. In Part-III: Lessons for Marketers, another set of BoP scholars discuss how marketing challenges being faced at the BoP are resolved in the toughest BoP markets of Africa, Sri Lanka, and India.

Although this book is a fruit of lots of labor, we do not intend to claim that we have moved the mountain of existing knowledge any more than what others have done before. Probably, standing on the shoulders of the giants who preceded us in this research domain, we contributed our intellectual thoughts for others to evaluate its worth. Nevertheless, the journey to invite contributions from the best minds, and to collect and compile their final chapters has been a fulfilling one for me as an editor. In this process, few scholars could not contribute due to their previous commitments, for which we will find another occasion.

Finally, we hope we contribute to knowledge building and development of new and existing theories, and also trust marketers find it useful to apply as part of their marketing solutions in the marketplace. Apart from contributors, Emerald Publishing also must be thanked for supporting this journey. I also want to thank my family, my wife, Anjali, and my 12-year-old son, Rudransh, for their patience during this entire year-long journey. Last, but not the least, my colleagues in the marketing group at IIM Calcutta who supported either through review, authorship, or by brainstorming ideas that impacted the development of this book. I hope the readers of this book will enjoy reading it as much as the authors have loved contributing to it. We sincerely hope that the book goes on to contribute to developing the economic, social, and political practices that are making, shaping, and developing BoP markets.

Regards

Ramendra Singh

Editor.

About the Contributors

Ogechi Adeola teaches Marketing Management at the Lagos Business School (LBS), Pan-Atlantic University, Nigeria. She is also the Academic Director, LBS Sales & Marketing Academy. Her research interests include financial inclusion, tourism and hospitality marketing, strategic marketing, and export marketing strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Rajesh Aithal is an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, India. He teaches basic marketing courses and electives in “Sales & Distribution” and “BOP & Rural Markets.” His research interests lie in bottom of the pyramid (BOP) markets and anything related to rural, be it distribution, retail, or tourism.

Yetunde Anibaba is currently in the Faculty of the Lagos Business School, where she leads sessions on the MBA and executive education programs. Her expertise revolves around business analysis, problem solving and decision making, leadership, and people management. She also leads the design and delivery of custom executive education programs focused on leadership development across various sectors.

Sanjeev Bhatnagar is an Associate Professor at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University), Agra, India. His research interests include operational issues of small scale industries, industrial relations, and human resource management. He has published research papers in national journals and also contributed book chapters.

Ronika Chakrabarti is an Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer of Marketing and Management at the Lancaster University Management School. She is interested in how BoP markets are organized, designed, and created in complex ecosystems drawing upon multiple forms of agency.

Himadri Roy Chaudhuri is currently an Associate Professor of Marketing at IMI-Kolkata, India. His doctoral research was in the area of conspicuous consumption, and his research results are widely cited. His current interest is in the areas of consumer identity, critical marketing, and social theory literature.

Tim Fry is a Professor of Econometrics and the Head of the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. After time in industry, he returned to the University of Manchester where he graduated with a PhD in Econometrics. He has published research in economics, finance, marketing, political science, sociology, and transportation disciplines.

Roland Gau is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Texas, El Paso, TX. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL in 2009 and was briefly a Visiting Professor at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. Roland’s research focuses on cognitive aspects of consumer decision making, with a focus on decisions under constraint.

Rajibul Hasan is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Rennes School of Business, Rennes, France. Much of his research focuses on the BoP market and subsistence marketplaces. In this context, his research interests include branding, diffusion of innovations, technology acceptance models, ethics in marketing, finance, and poverty alleviation.

Wasana Jayawickramarathna is a PhD Candidate in School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing Management at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. Her research interests include BoP market, corporate social responsibility, and social marketing.

Saju Valliara Jose works as Associate Professor in Marketing at Abu Dhabi University, UAE and has several years of academic experience. He has taught marketing, international business, and other core management courses in reputed business schools in Australia and the Middle East. His research interests are in the areas of CSR, BoP marketing, sustainability, digital marketing strategies, and consumer behavior.

Apoorv Khare is an Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Management Tiruchirappalli, India. He obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India. His research interests lie at the intersection of marketization, globalization, and subalternity. His teaching interests are in the areas of marketing to impoverished consumers and the socio-cultural aspects of markets and consumption.

Kaushik Kundu has over 16 years’ experience in industry, research, and teaching and is presently the Head of Department of the Department of Management and Business Administration, Aliah University, India. He obtained MBA from Jadavpur University and a PhD from the University of Calcutta with research interests in organizational culture, marketing to BoP consumers, and alternative economic networks.

Ben Lowe is a Professor of Marketing at Kent Business School, University of Kent, UK. He has been an academic in the UK and Australia for over 15 years. His research focuses on consumers, their adoption of innovations, and their interaction with technology.

Katy Mason is a Professor of Markets and Management at Lancaster University, UK. Katy’s research focuses on understanding how managers make and shape markets, the market devices they use to enroll others, and create new boundaries. Her current work looks at the materials and practices of market makers.

Mahima Kaura Mathur has obtained PhD from Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Deemed University), Agra (DEI), India in Marketing. She has contributed to various national research projects in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Her research interests are consumer behavior, social entrepreneurship, strategic management, inclusive growth, and rural marketing.

Ritu Mehta is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India. She obtained a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. Her research has been published in journals such as Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, and Decision.

Rajendra Mulye is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics Finance and Marketing at the RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He has published his research in Marketing Theory, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Behavioural Decision Making, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Australasian Marketing Journal, and Advances in Consumer Research.

Dev Narayan Sarkar is an Associate Director at PepsiCo India. He has over 14 years’ experience in industry and research and previously worked at Coca Cola (Marketing Manager) and Nokia (Regional Sales Manager) before joining PepsiCo. His research interests are in BoP marketing and alternative economic networks with more than 20 peer reviewed publications to his credit.

Jaqueline Pels is a Professor of Marketing at the University Torcuato Di Tella Business School, Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as the Director of the Inclusive Business Think Tank (ENI-DI Tella). Her research experience is in the areas of inclusive business, emerging economies, and marketing theory.

Kaleel Rahman is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics Finance and Marketing at the RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He obtained a PhD in Marketing from the University of Sydney in 2007 and has published his research on branding strategy and consumer behavior in leading journals.

Satyam works in the Faculty of Marketing at the Jindal Global Business School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, India. He teaches a core marketing course, research methods, and an elective on “BOP Markets.” His research interests include marketing management in low-income contexts, primarily BOP markets, distribution channels, small retailing, and rural marketing.

Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, Atlanta, GA. He is well known for his scholarly contributions in consumer behavior, relationship marketing, competitive strategy, and emerging markets.

Arun Sreekumar is a Doctoral Student of Marketing at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. In his research, he investigates how economic and material constraints shape the behavior of consumers. His current projects focus on how subsistence consumers cope with income shocks, exclusion from marketplaces, and economic uncertainty.

Sanjeev Swami is a Professor and Head, Department of Management, DEI, Agra, India. His obtained a PhD in Business Administration from the University of British Columbia, Canada. His research contributions have been recognized in the form of Emerald Literati Network Awards, The European Marketing Academy (EMAC) and Elsevier Award, AIMS International Award, and an honorable mention as one of the most productive Indian management researchers in Economic Times.

Madhu Viswanathan is the Diane and Steven N. Miller Centennial Chair in Business at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. His research programs are on research methods, and on subsistence marketplaces, a stream he pioneered with a bottom-up approach to the intersection of poverty and marketplaces. He teaches courses on research methods, subsistence, and sustainability.

Archana Voola has obtained a PhD and Post Doc from the University of Sydney. Her primary research interests include post-structural feminist analyses, sociology of gender, comparative social policy, and poverty alleviation. She has written on implications of gender analysis in management and business studies.

Ranjit Voola is an Associate Professor in Marketing at the University of Sydney. He focuses on strategic marketing and the role of business in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.