ABSTRACT It is argued that improving access to products and services can increase the material well‐being of BoP consumers. However, little is known about the kind of products available or consumed at the BoP, particularly if they are essential or non‐essential, and the implications of their consumption for a consumer segment with limited resources. BoP ventures have also been criticized for creating economic value for the firm without truly creating social value for BoP consumers, but extant literature includes anecdotal or qualitative evidence, and there is a need for quantitative data on products available and consumed at the retail store level in a BoP marketplace. We address these questions in the present study. Using a mixed‐methods research design combining store‐level quantitative purchase data ( n = 170 individuals over 1 month) with qualitative interviews, we examine product availability and consumption in a BoP marketplace. We find that a majority of available and consumed products are non‐essential, with consumption driven by exposure to advertisements, celebrity appeals, lower entry prices and strong distribution. These findings suggest that while marketing actions increase access and consumption, the dominance of non‐essential goods limits their potential for meaningful social value creation. We further offer recommendations on how organizations can enhance value creation for the BoP through product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategies.
Shehzala et al. (Fri,) studied this question.