Marketing and Poverty Alleviation: Synergizing Research, Education, and Outreach Through the Subsistence Marketplaces Approach

In this article, we describe our journey through the creation and development of the stream of subsistence marketplaces, summarize our learning, and discuss implications at the intersection of the field of Marketing and poverty alleviation. Distinct from macro level economic research in impoverished contexts, or mid-level approaches, such as the base of the pyramid (BOP) approach in business strategy, this approach is rooted at the micro-level, enabling bottom up understanding of buyer and seller. The term, subsistence marketplaces, reflects understanding these contexts in their own right, not just as markets to sell to, but as individuals, communities, consumers, entrepreneurs, and marketplaces to learn from

The measurement of individual differences in preference for numerical information

Includes bibliographical references (p.25-26)

Individual differences in "need for precision" / 1992:102

Includes bibliographical references (p.25-27

Maximum versus Meaningful Discrimination in Scale Response: Implications for Validity of Measurement of Consumer Perceptions about Products

This paper argues for the use of the number of response categories that are meaningful to respondents as a criterion in designing attribute rating scales in marketing in contrast to a focus in past research on using scales to maximize the discrimination elicited from respondents. Whereas scales eliciting a maximum level of discrimination may be more reliable than scales eliciting a meaningful level of discrimination, the latter are argued to be more valid in measuring sameness and difference between brands that are meaningful to respondents. Specifically, a distinction is drawn in this paper between the maximum number of categories that consumers can discriminate between and the number of categories that are meaningful to them. The meaningful number of categories refers to the number of categories that individuals typically use in thinking about an attribute in such situations as making a choice or judgment. Thus, the unique perspective of consumer behavior with its central focus on phenomena such as product judgment and choice is incorporated into the measurement of consumers\u27 perceptions about attributes. Several studies were conducted to test hypotheses generated on the basis of the notion of the meaningful number of categories. The first study used an open-ended method (i.e., a sorting task) to measure the number of categories that are meaningful to consumers for specific attributes. Using the results of the first study as a basis, two studies demonstrated the effect of the meaningful number of categories for an attribute on scale response such that fewer scale points were used to rate products on attributes with fewer meaningful numbers of categories. Another study showed that a scale with the meaningful number of categories might be more accurate than other scales in predicting sameness and difference between brands that are meaningful to consumers. The significance of using scales with a meaningful number of categories is in validly measuring differences between products that are meaningful to consumers

A study of comparative judgments based on numerical and verbal attribute labels / 1992:113

Includes bibliographical references (p. [1])

An examination of the categorization process for pictures and words / Madhubalan Viswanathan ; Terry L. Childers 1992:124

Bibliography: p. [29-32]

An Empirical Comparison of Consumer Innovation Adoption Models: Implications for Subsistence Marketplaces

So called “pro-poor” innovations may improve consumer wellbeing in subsistence marketplaces. However, there is little research that integrates the area with the vast literature on innovation adoption. Using a questionnaire where respondents were asked to provide their evaluations about a mobile banking innovation, this research fills this gap by providing empirical evidence of the applicability of existing innovation adoption models in subsistence marketplaces. The study was conducted in Bangladesh among a geographically dispersed sample. The data collected allowed an empirical comparison of models in a subsistence context. The research reveals the most useful models in this context to be the Value Based Adoption Model and the Consumer Acceptance of Technology model. In light of these findings and further examination of the model comparison results the research also shows that consumers in subsistence marketplaces are not just motivated by functionality and economic needs. If organizations cannot enhance the hedonic attributes of a pro-poor innovation, and reduce the internal/external constraints related to adoption of that pro-poor innovation, then adoption intention by consumers will be lower