A qualitative study of subsistence consumer-merchants (SCMs) in Chennai, India, reveals that they sustain relationships in three interdependent relationship domains: vendor, customer, and family. Relying on long interview data, the authors interpret the subsystems as closed-loop and self-sustaining relationships. Subsystems are managed by SCMs through buying and selling activities alongside the receiving and granting of credit, and these activities engender three facets of commitment: continuance, affective, and normative. Different facets of commitment underlie the relationships in the three subsystems. Through different role-based activities, SCMs enhance or diminish commitment levels to keep all three types of relationships viable while moving their scarce time, energy, and financial resources into the domain with the greatest need. Activities and the management of commitment are performed within 24-hour business cycles, with negligible resources, and in highly unstable environments, providing valuable theoretical insights and managerial implications that guide recommendations for firms wanting to serve subsistence markets successfully.
Multinational companies increasingly focus on subsistence marketplaces, given their enormous market potential. Nevertheless, their potential is untapped because subsistence consumers face extreme constraints. The authors contend that subsistence consumers need marketplace literacy to effectively and beneficially participate in marketplaces. Marketplace literacy entails the knowledge and skills that enable them to participate in a marketplace both as a consumer and as an entrepreneur. This is crucial for subsistence consumers, as they often need to function in both roles to survive. Past research, however, has not empirically examined the influence of marketplace literacy on wellbeing or marketing outcomes related to wellbeing. To address this gap, the authors implemented three large-scale field experiments with approximately 1,000 people in 34 remote villages in India and Tanzania. They find that marketplace literacy causes an increase in psychological wellbeing and consumer outcomes related to wellbeing (e.g., consumer confidence and decision-making ability), especially for subsistence consumers with lower marketplace access, whereas it causes an increase in entrepreneurial outcomes related to wellbeing (e.g., starting a microenterprise) for those with higher marketplace access. Overall, this research generates practical implications for the use of marketplace literacy as a pathway to a better world.
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