Consumer well‐being and social responsibility of subsistence entrepreneurs in subsistence marketplace

Business malpractices, such as the sale of overpriced, underweight and adulterated foodstuffs and essential commodities, can pose serious threats to subsistence consumers' wellbeing, given they are more vulnerable than their affluent counterparts. Drawing on 40 interviews with subsistence entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, our findings provide insights into the interplay between religiosity and social responsibility of entrepreneurs. We further explore how socio‐economic conditions and local embeddedness—two important characteristics of individuals in subsistence marketplaces—moderate the relationship between religiosity and social responsibility of entrepreneurs, providing implications for consumer welfare at the macro‐level. Our research makes a distinctive contribution to three streams of literature relating to social responsibility, subsistence marketplaces, and consumer affairs, with specific policy implications.     

Why art matters: Artistic consumer‐entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces

This reflective essay explores the role art can play in subsistence marketplaces, focusing particularly on its role in consumer‐entrepreneurship. Using informal field engagement in Mexico, Tanzania, and Native American tribes, in dialogue with the literature, it poses three questions as the basis for a research agenda: How can consumer‐entrepreneurs preserve art and heritage to sustain socioeconomic value? What transformative role does art play in subsistence marketplaces for the consumers and entrepreneurs involved? How can indigenous consumers and entrepreneurs protect their cultural identity and sovereignty through art? Directions for future research include the need to better understand the role of assemblages and intermediaries for artisan consumer‐entrepreneurs, an issue with evident policy implications. As indigenous and near‐indigenous societies seek identity, meaning, and cohesion in a turbulent world, art can preserve, transform, and assert.     

Fostering fair and sustainable marketing for social entrepreneurs in the context of subsistence marketplaces

Abstract

In recent years, in-depth, on-the-ground research has generated many insights into the nature and functioning of subsistence marketplaces and the people who operate in them. Such knowledge is bound to be useful to various companies and organisations, as they seek to engage such marketplaces, particularly for marketing managers, who quite likely have not had education or experience in marketing in such impoverished settings. This paper complements these practical insights with a normative ethical framework, presented in the marketing literature and labelled the integrative justice model (IJM) for impoverished markets, so as to synthesise a new framework for fair and sustainable marketing for social entrepreneurs in the context of subsistence marketplaces.     

Introduction to the special section on subsistence marketplaces

We provide an introduction to the special issue on subsistence marketplaces. We briefly describe the stream of subsistence marketplaces, and the conference series associated with the call for papers. We provide a brief overview of the diverse set of papers in the special section.     

Extreme exclusion and relative deprivation in subsistence marketplaces: A study in a refugee settlement in Nakivale,Uganda

We study how refugees in a settlement face extreme marketplace exclusion through three phases of qualitative research. Overlaying the context of subsistence marketplaces, such exclusion is accentuated by refugee status, fleeing from unimaginable suffering. We interpret our findings in terms of relative deprivation, or the state of feeling deprived relative to some social reference, often used to understand how consumers feel deprived in terms of their relative financial status. We extend relative deprivation theory in research, introducing extreme marketplace deprivation. Whereas most relative deprivation research emphasizes social comparisons to other people, our study of the refugee settlement demonstrates the adverse effects of intrapersonal relative deprivation, that is, feeling deprived relative to one's past. We develop a theoretical framework to demarcate types of extreme marketplace deprivation, classifying these experiences in terms of consumption and livelihood along three facets (material, social, and psychological). We derive implications for consumer affairs.     

The institutional work of a social enterprise operating in a subsistence marketplace: Using the business model as a market‐shaping tool

The void between formal and informal institutionalized practices that coexist in subsistence marketplaces can render them inaccessible to subsistence consumer–merchants. We conducted an in‐depth auto‐ethnographic study of Novo Dia Developments, a social enterprise in Maputo, Mozambique, seeking to make the housing market accessible. Our study extends the extant understanding of the transformation of subsistence marketplaces in two ways. First, our study characterizes the institutional work done by a social enterprise to open up a subsistence marketplace. Second, our study theorizes the business models in use as a mechanism through which institutional work can be organized and performed, by (a) transforming an idea for market change into new market offerings and practices that begin to fill the void, (b) materializing and making visible other institutional voids that need to be filled, and (c) serving as a juncture at which formal and informal institutionalized practices can connect.     

What the subsistence marketplaces stream is really about: Beginning with micro-level understanding and being bottom-up

This commentary reiterates the essence of the subsistence marketplaces stream in light of the focal paper. The subsistence marketplaces stream provides a granular, micro-level understanding of the intersection of poverty and marketplaces. The term ‘subsistence marketplaces’ was deliberately coined to keep the focus on preexisting marketplaces to learn from in order to design solutions for all contexts. Such marketplaces should be studied in their own right, and not as a means to a preconceived end, whether it be for outside companies or government policy and so forth. We study subsistence marketplaces inside-out rather than outside-in – beginning at the micro level and being bottom-up in deriving implications for many sectors of society. We traverse a journey which is in the opposite direction to beginning with ideological lenses, wherein we have developed an ecosystem of research, forums, curricular innovations and community outreach.     

Quality‐of‐life as chronotopefication and futurization: Subsistence consumer experiences in India

In the poverty‐ridden settings in neo‐liberal India, we explore how subsistence consumers construct their quality‐of‐life (QOL). Drawing on the concepts of chronotope and futurization, we posit two additional dimensions of subsistence consumers' construction of QOL namely, chronotopefication and futurization. Our findings suggest that chronotopefication and futurization are defining processes of subsistence consumers' construction of QOL perceptions; their sacrifices, efforts, and costs, however painful they may be, would be perceived as QOL enhancing from the prism of chronotopefication and futurization; and subsistence consumers chronotopize and futurize QOL for the whole extended household within the intergenerational temporal space by focusing on stable input–outcome pathways. Based on the evidence, we propose QOL as chronotopefication and futurization framework (QOL‐CFF). The framework suggests that subsistence consumers construct QOL as chronotope building, futurized and having a symbolic effect. They consider current agonies as a foundation for future building.     

Exploring the impact of mobile money services on marketing interactions in relation to consumer well-being in subsistence marketplaces – lessons from rural Cambodia

Abstract

The mobile phone has increasingly become a channel for providing access to formal financial services. There is a need to understand how financial service offerings, increasingly accessed through mobile phones, impact marketing interactions, specifically marketing exchange activities and social network relationships, to enhance consumer well-being (CWB) in subsistence marketplaces. Through interviews and contextualised observational research in rural Cambodia, findings reveal that the impacts of mobile money services on marketing interactions in relation to CWB can be categorised at two distinct levels. The first-level impact is the actual physical money transfer transactions as part of the marketing exchange activities which leads to the second-level impact on the social network relationships at interpersonal, social group and cultural levels. Drawing from these insights, policy-makers and industry stakeholders can formulate strategies and develop innovative service offerings through mobile phone technology to enhance CWB in subsistence marketplaces.     

Understanding consumption and entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces

This article describes exploratory research on how consumers and small entrepreneurs navigate subsistence marketplaces, with particular emphasis on social networks, a central characteristic of these contexts. Existing studies have characterized subsistence contexts as 1-to-1 interactional marketplaces due to the prevalence of face-to-face interactions among consumers and sellers when evaluating products, making purchases, and operating small businesses. This research uses survey methods to study these networks, paying particular attention to how individuals interact within them, the kind of information being shared, their influence on purchase decisions and business decisions, and finally, their impact on the marketplace skills of subsistence consumers and entrepreneurs. Consideration of both consumers and entrepreneurs provides perspective on the role of social networks from both sides of the business transaction. The article also discusses implications for business research and practice.     

Marketing to subsistence consumers: Lessons from practice

Over 4 billion people live in what is commonly referred to as the “bottom of the pyramid” or as subsistence marketplaces. These individuals and families live in substandard housing, with limited or no access to sanitation, potable water, and health care, have low levels of literacy, and earn very low incomes. Scholars and practitioners alike suggest that the problems existing in subsistence marketplaces demand the attention and involvement of responsible businesses and that doing business with consumers in such marketplaces can be both socially responsible and profitable. This research explores the strategies and tactics currently being used across commercial and social enterprises engaged in subsistence marketplaces. The analysis leads to recommendations about marketing practices currently used by companies and organizations that are successfully operating in subsistence marketplaces.     

Understanding subsistence marketplaces: Toward sustainable consumption and commerce for a better world

This article provides the background and the events leading up to this special issue, and the composition of articles that follow. This special issue includes articles that take a bottom-up approach in understanding and explaining subsistence marketplaces, focusing on individual, communal, and cultural factors that influence consumers and entrepreneurs who live at or near subsistence, and who comprise a majority of the world's population. This bottom-up focus is distinct and complementary to the macro-level economic development and mid-level business strategy (e.g., base of the pyramid) approaches to the role of business in poverty alleviation. This special issue consists largely of papers based on presentations at the second subsistence marketplace conference held in Chicago in 2008, with articles and essays reflecting a healthy commingling of disciplinary perspectives that cuts across social and commercial enterprises.     

农民生存权视野下的农村社会保障——我国农村社会保障制度的法理透视

我国政府在制定有关“三农”问题的社会政策和法律制度时,应该从农民最基本的生存利益出发,从法律上来说,必须围绕着如何保障农民的生存权利,展开各项制度建设。我国目前已经通过各种形式的立法,努力确保农民的生存权。农村社会保障法是落实农民生存权的最为重要的法律途径。本文将从法理上廓清农民生存权与农村社会保障制度的内在关联,从而对农民生存权和农村社会保障问题进行总结和展望。     

Marketplace literacy education and coping behaviors among subsistence consumer–entrepreneurs during demonetization in India

We study the impact of marketplace literacy education on marketplace coping behaviors in the face of systemic shock due to demonetization, deriving important implications for consumer affairs from this radically distinct context. We study whether and how such education can have positive impact even in the face of such macrolevel disruption that disproportionately affects those with the least resources and renders them even more vulnerable. Marketplace literacy education encompasses awareness and knowledge about marketing as well as self‐confidence and awareness of rights as buyers and sellers. We examine the influence of marketplace literacy in urban and rural areas on coping behaviors of low‐income women consumer–entrepreneurs during demonetization in India, using a retrospective survey. We derive implications to mitigate the effect of future shocks on consumers and entrepreneurs at the vulnerable end of the income spectrum.     

Low literacy,policy and consumer vulnerability: Are we really doing enough?

A perennial issue in transformative consumer research and public policy is the plight of low‐literate vulnerable consumers. Low‐literate consumers have been observed misinterpreting labels, misusing products and purchasing the wrong item, which leads to devastating outcomes as they continue to make poor decisions out of ignorance. Based on a thorough review of past studies on consumer literacy and vulnerability, we explore how stigma and attribution operate as underlying mechanisms for influencing how low‐literate consumers behave in the marketplace. This paper problematises blanket statements that all low‐literate consumers are vulnerable and addresses the possibility that universal policy actions may inadvertently create further marginalization for those it is meant to protect. Our paper contributes by introducing a new typology of low‐literate consumer vulnerability to challenge conventional understandings of who the vulnerable consumers are in relation to their literacy level and actual marketplace behaviour. From a policy standpoint, the insights gained from our review speak to the need for differentiating low‐literate consumers in terms of their status of vulnerability, which inform public policy initiatives and effective consumer education for their empowerment and protection.     

The Village Network™: Partnership and collaboration to alleviate poverty in subsistence marketplaces

The Village Network is a unique model of poverty alleviation involving the collaboration of a host subsistence market community and a nonprofit organization, typically a university, with a multidisciplinary academic module. All parties in this partnership stand to gain from collaboration. The subsistence market benefits from the skill set and labor provided by the university. The university benefits by placing their students in a position to apply theory guided by the social and economic development experience and insights of the indigenous village leadership. The coordinating organization improves relationships and fosters growth in developing communities. The discussion then focuses on insights about subsistence marketplaces that emerge from this initiative.     

Unequal but essential: How subsistence consumer–entrepreneurs negotiate unprecedented shock with extraordinary resilience during COVID‐19

We use qualitative interviews to study subsistence consumers confronting the global, pervasive and extended challenges of COVID‐19, encompassing literally all realms of daily life. For subsistence consumers whose circumstances are filled with day‐to‐day uncertainty and a small margin of error to begin with, the pandemic has led to manifold uncertainties and a disappearing margin of error, with potentially lethal consequences. Their constraints to thinking and lack of self‐confidence arising from both low income and low literacy are magnified in the face of the complex, invisible pandemic and the fear and panic it has caused. Characteristic relational strengths are weakened with social distancing and fear of infection. Yet, subsistence consumers display humanity in catastrophe, and confront the uncontrollable by reiterating a higher power. Consumption is reduced to the very bare essentials and income generation involves staying the course versus finding any viable alternative. We derive implications for consumer affairs.     

Subalterns,empowerment and the failed imagination of markets

In our earlier paper, we drew upon Franz Kafka’s literary writings to attend to the repressive sides of the State and markets and their impact on subaltern positions. Moreover, we pointed to some of the key limitations in the theories of the base of the pyramid and subsistence marketplace. In this paper, responding to the commentaries, we clarify some doubts, provide correctives to misinterpretations and further develop the broad theoretical argument we made in our earlier paper. In response to Viswanathan’s commentary, we specifically clarify the role of neoliberal ideology as it impels discourse of subsistence markets. Moreover, as a corrective to Karnani’s reading, we explain the limitations of the State, markets and private enterprises in alleviating poverty in India. Through these clarifications, we ask scholars to attend to systemic features of the current political economy that create poverty and call for an imagination beyond the current capitalist zeitgeist to empower the subaltern.     

Understanding factors that influence purchases in subsistence markets

International marketers face the challenge of understanding the decision making process that consumers in subsistence marketplaces go through when choosing which products to buy. The unique characteristics of these marketplaces pose distinct challenges which researchers need to address in order to understand what motivates consumers in these markets to make purchases. This paper identifies the potential influencers of purchase by subsistence consumers using a study conducted in Zimbabwe. The findings from this study indicate a set of purchase influencers which motivate consumers to buy products, discussed in terms of their order of importance.     

Exploring unheard voices: Best practices in interviewing women prosumers in Indian subsistence contexts

A growing body of literature is focused on subsistence markets and how marketing interventions can increase well-being for those whose daily existence is a struggle to ensure access to necessities of life. To understand the lifeworld of those living at the subsistence level, interviews are favored as a data collection tool. This methodological paper examines interviewing in the subsistence context with a focus on women whose lived experiences are affected by the intersection of gender, power imbalance, and culture. The study context is India. Specifically, we draw upon data from three previous author-conducted academic studies and conduct a reflective analysis that leads to a series of reflections and recommendations for the interview process. This paper calls for more work to be done in the area and raises the need for a new research paradigm rather than reliance on western-oriented approaches that may not fit the context.