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The aim of this paper is to survey the working poor who are microfinance borrowers, examining their perceptions of customer satisfaction and corporate social responsibility.

Validated scale measures were presented in a cross-sectional field study survey of 201 respondents. OLS regression was used after determining factor loadings and reliabilities.

Customer dissatisfaction with the microfinance product, lack of commitment from lender's staff, and dissatisfaction with informational support, were all significantly related to future purchase intentions. Only dissatisfaction toward the firm's people was significantly related to perceptions of CSR.

Dissatisfied poor would prefer to buy elsewhere, even if they find the seller to be socially responsible. However, attitudes and behaviors of the firm's agents convey low CSR. Microfinance customers were sensitive to customer service. Service quality was also significantly related to their perceptions of CSR.

This exploratory research is novel, examining stakeholders at the bottom of the pyramid. Indian respondents came from the origins of microfinance, and are seldom sampled. Despite being captive customers with few alternatives, microfinance borrowers are sensitive to customer service. This service is also significantly related to their perceptions of CSR.

The purpose of this article is to examine the purchasing power at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), i.e. of low‐income consumers.

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.

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.

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).

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).

The purpose of this article is exploratory; to evaluate the arguments for “creative capitalism” as a viable market alternative, i.e. corporate governance model, for MNCs in lieu of the capitalist model under which they presently operate.

The paper will first explore the attributes making up the creative capitalism model; second, compare the core attributes of capitalism to Gates' conception of creative capitalism; third, analyze how creative capitalism fits (or does not fit) within the concepts of global corporate citizenship; fourth, present arguments for creative capitalism to be considered as a viable economic opportunity for MNCs and review the latest management strategy frameworks available for implementation; and lastly, summarize the article's major arguments and offer conclusions on the viability of creative capitalism in the global economy.

When compared to the essential components of capitalism and the expansion of government interference in the marketplace, creative capitalism does little more than advocate for national governments to offer financial and related incentives encouraging corporations to develop innovative solutions for alleviating poverty.

For managers, this paper provides insights not emphasizing a “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid”, but profit opportunities available to innovative multinational corporations willing to search for profit opportunities in less developed countries.

This is a seminal, exploratory evaluation of Bill Gates' concept of “creative capitalism” and applies previous researchers' state‐of‐the‐art management frameworks, including the Corporate Citizenship Model and the Strategic CSR Approach, to his proposed governance model.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there exists employee-client matching at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) and the most favourable employee-client categorization in terms of employee productivity when serving the BOP market. This is important in a bid to determine how to effectively operate at the BOP given the market’s unique characteristics.

This study uses two methods depending on the research question. First, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is used to determine the different employee-client categories based on socio-economic status. Second, fixed effects analyses are performed based on these categories to determine the most suitable employee-client category.

The results show the existence of employee-client matching based on similar socio-economic status. However, multivariate testing reveals that the mismatch category, where employees are of higher socioeconomic status than the clients, generates more favourable employee productivity. Moreover, this result may be contingent on the geographical location of the firm.

The findings are important for human resource management particularly the employment strategy of BOP firms. It suggests the need to consider employee profiles and client profiles when deciding which new markets to target.

The paper uses a global database of microfinance institutions as a case of BOP firms to investigate employee-client matching at the bottom of the pyramid.

This paper aims to develop a multi‐criteria approach for determining business models in bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BOP) markets.

Analytic network process (ANP) was employed to construct a decision‐making model of quantitative and qualitative factors relevant to BOP markets. Alternatives can be evaluated, respectively, and further business implications can be delivered to decision makers through continuous improvement of the model.

ANP is a tool that can address the interdependencies among decision elements and alternatives in the BOP markets. Moreover, it can be employed in structural analysis of the network of relationships among the selection criteria.

Decision makers can make more informed decisions by using the proposed approach, which is targeted toward BOP customers. This approach also overcomes the flaws of previous approaches.

The successful selection of business models for BOP markets can change how multinational companies think about BOP consumers, allowing the poor to be perceived as value‐demanding customers. In addition, if multinational companies create new local business models, the quality of life of the poor could be improved.

The consideration of interdependencies among the criteria relevant to the selection of successful business models in BOP markets is a novel conceptual contribution.

This chapter draws on the concept of orders of worth to generate understanding into how sustainable, good markets might be enabled at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). Through an ethnographic study of the efforts of a non-government organisation (NGO) to create spaces where values and value at the BoP are unearthed, articulated, contested and translated into market-making practices. Insights are generated into how interventions to make-markets in sites of extreme poverty become ‘worth the effort’. In keeping with the market studies literature, the authors explore how multiple, contested and reframed needs generate insights into the efforts (and practices) that shape orders of worth in economic life. Orders of worth are the everyday practice of social values that constitute economic value and are framed through the moral values of social worlds as these values are put to work to calculate economic value. This work provides a contribution to the market studies literature through our understanding of the relationship between social and economic values in the creation of orders of worth, by showing how this happens at the BoP. Second, the authors contribute to the BoP literature by showing how places and spaces can be created and used to enable markets to unfold and happen. Finally, the findings contribute to our understanding of the types of practices and market-making devices that interventions might adopt and adapt in order to prod potential actors into action. The chapter identifies three types of enabling practices that make markets possible: connecting, integrating and reclassifying.

Recent studies in strategy have highlighted both the successes and failures of applying conventional perspectives in strategic management to developing markets. Within this debate, Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) strategies, aimed at exploiting high-volume, low-margins strata at the bottom of these societies, have particularly drawn interest. We critically examine the emergence and evolution of BoP strategies and compare their anticipated outcomes to some of the empirical evidence. We then draw on the concept of global value chains to usefully extend the BoP concept, and suggest areas for further theory building and empirical research. We offer a typology of BoP ventures, and suggest appropriate levels of public–private engagement to achieve the desired social and economic outcomes.

The study aims to present a systematic literature review (SLR) to understand the current status of research on social media usage among the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). The purpose of this study is to identify the research gaps in this domain and review future research agendas by using theory, context, characteristics and methods [TCCM] framework.

An SLR, keywords co-occurrence and TCCM analysis were used to analyse and synthesize insights from 44 studies gained from Web of Science and Scopus databases.

The findings suggest that the USA and India are popular contexts for studying BOP. The BOP population uses social media to gain utilitarian, hedonic and social values. Further, social media can help BOP explore “entrepreneurship” opportunities, value co-creation and bring innovations.

This study expands the intellectual boundaries of social media at BOP and suggests multidisciplinary research. Additionally, adopting novel theoretical lenses helped determine social media's impact on BOP.

This paper aims to deliver new models of brand management in bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BoP) markets, considering the personality traits, image, technology and reputation of firms associated with the brands.

Reviewing the previous research studies, the paper advocates new strategies for enhancing the performance of global brands in BoP market segments, improving brand‐positioning approaches, measuring brand performance and consumer value, evaluating brand attributes, and underlining brand dynamics in the competitive marketplace.

The study argues that the performance of global brands in low‐profile consumer market segments is constrained by high transaction costs and coordination problems along the brand promotions, consumption and consumer value chain. Hence, firms looking towards managing brands in BoP market segments need to reduce brand costs by increasing the volume of sales and augmenting consumer value. Brands of BoP market segments are socially and culturally embedded. They are co‐created by consumers and firms, and positioned with the influence of brand equity of the premium market. Unlike traditional brands, BoP brands may be sufficiently malleable to support brand interpretations in the rural and suburban consumer segments.

Acquired brands need to be merged into the existing structure, especially where these brands occupy market positions similar to those of existing brands. A balance needs to be maintained between the brand name and its equity. Managers should keep themselves better informed about consumer needs, market changes and company initiatives, thereby enabling staff to help consumers to improve service quality, which in turn can improve market positioning.

In today's rapidly changing product markets, a firm needs to focus on a limited number of strategic brands in international markets in order to consolidate and strengthen its position and enhance brand power. The paper offers new business strategies to managers on brand positioning and targeting in suburban and rural markets with convenience packaging, pricing and psychodynamics.

New initiatives to manage global brands in BoP markets comprising suburban and rural markets that need to be implemented in the existing organizational culture are discussed.

Pro-poor innovations are innovations targeted at economically poor consumers. These innovations have the potential to improve consumer wellbeing. However, while take up of some such innovations has been rapid (e.g., mobile phones) take up of others has been slower (e.g., fuel efficient stoves). What explains why some pro-poor innovations fail and some succeed? While the literature on consumer innovation adoption in economically wealthy countries is vast, there is very little literature in the context of the “bottom-of-the-pyramid” (BoP) and subsistence marketplaces. This chapter aims to begin answering this question through a review of the extant literature in the area of consumer innovation adoption, which is integrated with literature in the area of consumption within subsistence marketplaces and the BoP. A conceptual model is proposed which outlines key parameters for marketers and managers. The chapter closes by outlining implications and a future research agenda.