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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The purpose of this study is to consolidate the existing literature on small retail and develop a conceptual framework using thematic analysis.

The relevant set of 224 articles has been obtained from the Scopus database by applying the PRISMA framework. Bibliometric analysis has been performed using Biblioshiny in Bibliometrix and VOSviewer.

Four major themes have been identified within the conceptual structure of the small retail domain, and a conceptual framework has been developed using the interlinkages within the themes. The intellectual structure of the domain has been explored using citation analysis, co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling. Future research directions are also identified and documented based on the thematic analysis and overall consolidation of the literature.

This is perhaps one of the first attempts to consolidate the published literature on small retail using bibliometric analysis.

This study aims to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on small retailers, and their response to it, using the crisis management model. The research documents the impact and responses and attempts to identify the factors contributing to and hindering retailers’ attempts to achieve resilience.

Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data from small retailers. The interview transcripts were analysed using MAXQDA 2020 Analytics Pro data analysis software. The heterogeneity in responses to the challenges posed by the pandemic is explained using self-determination theory and diffusion of innovation theory.

One of the most significant impacts of the crisis was the disruption in the regular supply chain network on which the studied retailers relied for their traditional buying. The retailers increased customer services such as free home delivery and enhanced the use of technology in their shops. However, and worryingly, although the retailers faced two waves of the pandemic, the urge to plan and prepare was missing. The overall crisis can, therefore, be seen as an opportunity for small retailers to improve their responses when facing similar situations.

Small retailers are part of the social fabric in many emerging economies and function as a source of employment. They have been facing challenges from organised retail and e-commerce. The Covid-19 crisis pushed them to respond, and the authors hope that they will take some cues from this disruption and become more efficient and competitive in the future.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first studies to map the impact of the crisis on small retailers and their response to it, drawing implications for retailers and companies and analysing the efforts made by small retailers to achieve resilience.

The year 2020 was heavily marked by an unprecedented pandemic affecting society as a whole. However, under-represented groups may have seen their financial and social situation affected differently from other groups. Thus, it was found that in the literature, the term inclusive entrepreneurship, which addresses these issues, was fragmented in view of its similarity and association with social entrepreneurship, inclusive business and sustainability. In this sense, this paper aims to map the scientific knowledge on this topic.

To fulfil this aim, a systematic literature review was supported by bibliometrics (performance analysis and scientific mapping) and by the use of the software Bibliometrix R and VoSviewer.

The results obtained show that in the Web of Science, there are 121 documents related to this topic whose content analysis revealed that they are distributed between sustainability, entrepreneurship and inclusive entrepreneurship in the close triple association.

The main contributions of this study are the connection established between the three concepts and the emergence of continuing to develop research on inclusive entrepreneurship, given its binary function: employment generation for disadvantaged groups and inclusive business creation.

The relevance of this bibliometric analysis stands out, providing the positioning of academics on the importance of leveraging emerging research on this topic, not only in poor countries but also in others.

This study aims to explore the factors influencing the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) consumers’ adoption and usage intention towards mobile payment (m-payment) to achieve financial inclusion and sustainable development goals.

A qualitative research design is used to explore the enablers and inhibitors that influence BOP consumers’ m-payment adoption and usage intention. To collect the qualitative responses, semi-structured in-depth interviews with BOP respondents were conducted. The thematic analysis using the text mining technique will be used to analyse qualitative data for exploring the predominant factors affecting m-payment adoption intention and usage.

The results suggested awareness, social influences and self-efficacy as crucial enablers and privacy and security risks and vulnerability concerns as crucial inhibitors towards m-payment adoption and usage.

As a novel contribution to the BOP, financial inclusion, sustainable development goals and m-payment literature, this study unfolds several unknown perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices that influence the BOP consumers’ m-payment adoption intention and usage. The study’s findings help the government and banks formulate and implement strategies to achieve financial inclusion among BOP consumers.

The conceptualization of the Base of Pyramid (BOP) proposes that low-income markets can lead to profitable opportunities for businesses. The purpose of this study is to identify key success factors of a BOP business strategy based on a case study of the discount retailer, Dollar General, in the USA.

The research design used in this research is an in-depth case study of Dollar General in the USA. Qualitative methods are applied in both the primary and secondary data collection and during the follow-on data analysis of Dollar General.

Dollar General’s strategic profile is achieved through the combination of the following four actions which are tailored to compete effectively at the BOP in the USA: creating the neighborhood discounter, raising aspirational appeal, reducing service and eliminating internationalization.

The case is specific to Dollar General in a US cultural context.

The case of Dollar General demonstrates how a discounter retailer should not only follow a low-cost strategy to compete at the BOP. Its ability to craft a distinctive strategy is coherent with meeting the logistical, rational and emotional needs of the low-income consumer in the USA.

Many businesses have neglected rural areas of the USA as being unprofitable. The ability for businesses such as Dollar General to serve the BOP segment can foster the socio-economic well-being of communities.

The overwhelming body of the BOP literature is based on emerging markets. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the few studies to investigate BOP business strategy in the USA.

Drawing on the adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) framework in the bottom of pyramid (BoP) context, this paper examines the number of causal recipes that foster m-health adoption in a developing country (Bangladesh). This paper aims to propose an extended UTAUT2 model along with identifying the necessary and sufficient factors affecting the m-health adoption intention in the BoP market.

The research model was empirically tested, combining two approaches: structural equation modelling (SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Data were collected from 221 housemaids and female security guards who earn around US$6 per day.

The SEM results revealed that while performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions, perceived cost (PC) and technology anxiety (TA) significantly influence the behavioural intention of BoP markets, hedonic motivation is the non-significant predictor. The fsQCA revealed that the two necessary conditions, PC and SI, can be combined with TA to increase the possibility of the success of m-health adoption in the BoP market.

For practitioners concerned with fostering the m-health adoption intention in BoP markets, the present study, which points out equifinality, recommends integrating the PC and SI in several combinations with PE, EE and TA.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous studies using the UTAUT2 theory examined the m-health services in the BoP market. This study contributes empirical data to the predominantly theoretical literature by offering a deeper understanding of the inclusion of TA and PC in several combinations with other UTUAT2 factors as predictors for explaining the m-health adoption intention of BoP markets.

Driving economic development at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) is an enduring global challenge. While the market-based approach places hope on entrepreneurship as a major impetus to drive the underdeveloped economy, the performance of entrepreneurial businesses and their impact on poverty reduction are sometimes below expectations. This paper seeks to examine the factors that may be hindering entrepreneurship within the BOP context. This paper presents preliminary answers and provides research suggestions related to this question.

In order to identify the reasons behind the underperformance of entrepreneurship at the BOP, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to see what is already known about this puzzle.

By reviewing extant literature, four clusters of factors were found to shape entrepreneurial activities at BOP: (1) Individual-level factors may be restraining entrepreneurial activities within BOP context, (2) gender inequality at BOP is hindering female entrepreneurship, (3) insufficient institutional support is holding back entrepreneurial activities in BOP and (4) business development initiatives are making multi-faceted impacts on entrepreneurial activities in BOP.

This paper contributes to theory in that it is the first comprehensive review of literature on constraints of entrepreneurship in the context of BOP. In investigating influential factors of entrepreneurial success in the BOP context, the authors recognize four major influential forces that are shaping entrepreneurial processes at the bottom of the pyramid and further propose three directions of future research that are worthy for further exploration.

Digital technologies (DTs) are key and essential in firms and communities. Countries in low-income areas, such as Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) contexts, struggle with digital development. To understand how firms in BOP countries access DTs, a qualitative study was conducted to provide insight into how firms in these contexts access DTs and the challenges they face while accessing these technologies.

An in-depth qualitative study was done, which included semi-structured interviews with digital enterprises. In total, 12 chief executive officers (CEOs) and owners of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) from Ghana and Nigeria were interviewed. NVivo 12 Pro was used for thematic analysis.

Four main findings were identified as follows: (1) how firms in BOP contexts access DTs, (2) the challenges in accessing DTs, (3) factors considered when selecting a technological provider in BOP contexts and (4) solutions and recommendations to the challenges identified. From the results, cost, low technological infrastructure, high transaction costs, regulatory issues, lack of trust, poor digital skills and lack of support were among the barriers to accessing DTs in BOP contexts.

Governments and stakeholders of firms in BOP contexts need to be intentional with their digitalization development to ensure digital inclusion.

The study developed a synopsis of the factors involved in accessing DTs in BOP contexts and is the first to conceptualize firm digital access in BOP contexts.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2023-0213

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.