When a company communicates their BoP efforts, this could, in turn, impact how these mainstream consumers perceive the company, and potentially harm the company's standing in the mainstream market
While mainstream (non-BoP) consumers have a negative opinion of companies that treat poorer customer segments unequally in the marketplace
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How do consumers react to a company’s marketing efforts to lower-income segments in emerging countries? Can reactions vary depending on the product, culture, and company?
Reetika Gupta, Deputy Dean and Associate Professor of Marketing at ESSEC Business School Asia-Pacific, along with Deepa Chandrasekaran from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Sankar Sen, from Baruch College, City University of New York, and Tanvi Gupta from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, analyze the implications of marketing to the “bottom of the pyramid” in today’s globalized world.
“Bottom-of-the-Pyramid” (BoP) consumers are consumers living in a state of extreme poverty and deprivation. Numbering 4 - 5 billion people, they make up the largest and poorest part of the world population, living on less than $2 a day. Nowadays, an increasing number of companies launch products and market them to BoP consumers. These could be products like “Minute Maid Vitingo”, a drink by the Coca-Cola Company addressing malnutrition in rural India, or Shiseido’s “Les DIVAS” make-up line for women in rural Bangladesh.
While mainstream (non-BoP) consumers have a negative opinion of companies that treat poorer customer segments unequally in the marketplace, they also have beliefs about what the poor should be consuming. When a company communicates their BoP efforts, this could, in turn, impact how these mainstream consumers perceive the company, and potentially harm the company’s standing in the mainstream market.
Researching this topic helps us understand how companies should communicate their BoP efforts to mainstream consumers. In fact, a good BoP communications strategy could even lead to a competitive advantage.