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.     

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.