Consumer Behavior From The Lens of Bottom of The Pyramid: Literature Review and Future Agenda

Management Review Quarterly
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-023-00356-2
Consumer behavior from the lens of Bottom

of the Pyramid: literature review and future agenda
K. Uttam1 · T. Rahul1
Received: 3 August 2022 / Accepted: 12 June 2023

© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
Abstract
Bottom of the pyramid (BOP) consumers differs in marketplace behavior owing to
their socio-economic and long exposure to poverty. The purpose of this study is to
summarize the latest literature on consumer behavior studies of the BOP consumers
and understand the reasons for the peculiar behavior of BOP consumers. Insights
gained from this study are very useful for the organizations and policymakers focus-
ing on the BOP segments. Systematic literature review of previous literature was
undertaken using TCCM (Theory, Contexts, Characteristics, Methodology) frame-
work. Findings suggest that BOP literature is still emerging, as it is evident from the
recent conceptual papers and qualitative studies. Most of the studies focused on the
new product adoption behavior at BOP followed by the aspirational consumption
and role of corporate social responsibility. It is one of the literature reviews which
focuses on the consumer behavior of BOP consumers holistically rather than focus-
ing on specific aspects of BOP consumer behavior. Insightful directions for organi-
zations and policymakers serving the BOP segments were given.
Keywords Bottom of the Pyramid · Base of the Pyramid · Subsistence

marketplaces · Systematic literarure review · Aspirational consumption · New
product adoption
JEL Classification M310
* K. Uttam
ku720125@student.nitw.ac.in
T. Rahul
rahult@nitw.ac.in
1
National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India
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Vol.:(0123456789)
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
1 Introduction
Consumer behavior is one of the subjects that has attracted the most in-depth
research in the broader field of business and management. Lately, academics and
businesses have emphasized the significance of exploring low-income customers in
order to improve living conditions for those throughout the world who are in vulner-
able situations (Sheth 2021). In business and management, low-income people are
studied under the concepts of Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) and Subsistence market-
places (Prahalad and Hart 1999; Viswanathan et al. 2007). Despite the fact that these
ideas first appeared in the early 2000s, little research has been performed on BOP
and Subsistence marketplaces (Sharma and Gupta 2021; Pels and Sheth 2021). The
BOP people’s consumption patterns, however, have only recently become the focus
of researchers. In his book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” Prahalad
(2005), C. K. Prahalad discusses how businesses might profitably meet the demands
of the impoverished. BOP markets are sources of income for businesses because of
their high population growth rate, large untapped wealth, and accelerated economic
growth (Gordon 2008). As per McKinsey’s report, three out of every four people in
India live below the BOP (Roy et al. 2021). Most Multinational Companies (MNCs)
neglected the BOP on the notion that poor markets don’t have market potential (Mar-
tinez and Carbonell 2007). This resulted in the alienation of poor people from global
markets. Businesses around the world are focusing on catering to the needs of the rich
and neglecting the profit potential of the poor, which has resulted in alienating the 4
billion poor (who have too little to spend) around the world from mainstream glo-
balized markets (Prahalad and Hammond 2002; Martinez and Carbonell 2007). More
than one billion population earns less than $1 a day (Prahalad 2005). Nearly 4 billion
people earn less than $2 a day (Prahalad and Hammond 2002; London et al. 2014).
These 4 billion people are referred to as the Bottom of the pyramid (BOP) or Base of
the Pyramid (Lappeman et al. 2019a, b; Martin and Hill 2012; Prahalad and Ham-
mond 2002). Which is expected to grow to 6 billion in next 4 decades (Panda et al.
2022). There are different income-based definitions of the Bottom of the Pyramid.
Prahalad and Hammond (2002) defined BOP as people with per capita income less
than $1500 per annum. Some of other definitions include, as per a National Sample
Survey of India (2011–2012), households having spending power less than INR 3453
($75) per month on basic amenities fall under BOP. BOP refers to a larger group of
people with daily incomes between $2 and $8 (Parthiban et al. 2022). BOP consum-
ers specifically live off an annual per capita income of $3000 or less (Srivastava et al.
2020). Low-income population fall in the base of the economic pyramid and they
live in developing (164) and least developing (47) countries. In developing countries,
India is one of the biggest markets, consisting of poor consumers, which constitutes
22.2% of the BOP market worldwide (Davies et al. 2017).
Over the last 20 years, the concept of BOP has evolved into three phases. BOP 1.0
focused on the poor as mere consumers (Prahalad and Hammond 2002). BOP 2.0
extended the role of the poor to co-creators (as distributors and suppliers) (Karnani
2009; Simanis and Hart 2008, 2009). In recent times, BOP 3.0 has discussed envi-
ronmental sustainability and the triple bottom line of the BOP (Hart and Cañeque
2015; London et al. 2014).
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Consumer behavior from the lens of Bottom of the Pyramid:…
Despite growing literature in BOP on themes such as microfinance, entrepre-

neurship, co-creation, marketing strategy, innovations, corporate social responsi-
bility, social entrepreneurship, and women entrepreneurship, there is a paucity of
consumer behavioral studies in the BOP segments (Chikweche et al. 2012; Dem-
bek et al. 2020; Gupta 2021). Consumer behavioral studies at BOP can shed light
on the detrimental outcomes of multidimensional poverty and how these multiple
aspects of poverty-induced deprivations can deplete and alter human needs and
capacities to consume. Consumer behavioral patterns at BOP are unique due to
their constrained circumstances. BOP consumers are more vulnerable than their
counterparts due to illiteracy, inequality, socio-economic constraints, depres-
sion, anxiety, and impairments in executive functions due to long exposure to
poverty (Chakravarti 2006; Karnani 2009; Mishra et al. 2021; Parthiban et al.
2022; Ridley et al. 2020). BOP Consumers always must make conscious choices
between basic needs and discretionary needs. Aggressive marketing to these seg-
ments may lead to the misallocation of the limited financial resources of the poor
(Srivastava et al. 2020; Karnani 2007) and this might further increase the pov-
erty levels. It is evident from the Public Health Foundation Report 2018, that
50–60 million Indian consumers were pushed below the poverty line in the years
2011–2012 due to excessive expenditure on discretionary or aspirational needs.
Misallocation of income may be due to aspirational consumption or compensa-
tory consumption (Dahana et al. 2018). Technological adoption in BOP segment
increases the availability and affordability of the services to consumers (Purohit
and Arora 2021). Technology adoption in the BOP segment is hampered by con-
straints such as a lack of awareness, ease of use, trouble with documentation, and
convenience (Pramani and Iyer 2023). To address and effectively target poverty, it
is paramount to study consumer behavior at BOP.
There are 5 peer-reviewed literature review articles (Table 1) published in
BOP (Vishnoi et al. 2022; Srivastava et al. 2020; Dembek et al. 2020; Reynoso
et al. 2015; Kolk et al. 2014). These reviews focused on the evolution of the BOP
concept (Kolk et al. 2014), service research in the BOP segment (Reynoso et al.
2015), the evolution of BOP and its conceptual validity (serving the poor profit-
ably) (Dembek et al. 2020). Srivastava et al. (2020) article focused on the aspi-
rational consumption at BOP, and the most recent review (Vishnoi et al. 2022)
focuses on the thematic evaluation of marketing to BOP consumers. In the above
reviews mentioned, only aspirational consumption covers some aspects of con-
sumer behaviour in the BOP segment. But aspirational consumption is one of the
other consumer behavioural patterns. It neglected other consumption patterns in
the BOP segment. This demonstrates the need for more systematic and thorough
research on consumer behaviour in the BOP category. BOP. To our knowledge, it
is one of the first papers to comprehensively cover consumer behaviour at BOP
and Subsistence marketplaces.
Given the current global management scenario, we believe that it is appropriate
time to address an updated state-of-the art literature on consumer studies of BOP.
In fact, there has been a global increase in interest in this field among researchers
and practitioners alike in recent years. Recent consumer studies of BOP research
have revealed that this field of inquiry is highly fragmented and diversified. This
13
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Table 1 Previous literatures reviews in BOP
S no. Study Title Journal Objective Review process and limitations
1 Srivastava et al. (2020) Aspirational consumption at the Journal of Business Research Studies factors that drive aspi- Systematic literature review. 85
bottom of pyramid: a review of rational consumption and the papers reviewed
literature and future research consequences of aspirational Focused mainly on the aspira-
directions consumption in BOP contexts tional consumption only
2 Dembek et al. (2020) A systematic review of the Journal of Business Ethics Studies the evolution of BOP Systematic literature review
bottom/base of the pyramid and BOP profitability of BOP 276 papers reviewed
literature: cumulative evidence segment Limited to evolution of conceptual
and future directions structure
3 Reynoso et al. (2015) Breaking new ground: base-of- Service Industries Journal Base of the pyramid service Narrative
pyramid service research research Focused on service research to
BOP
4 Kolk et al. (2014) Reviewing a decade of research Business and Society Evolution of concept of Bottom 104 papers reviewed. Systematic
on the “Base/Bottom of the of the pyramid literature review. Limited Con-
Pyramid” (BOP) concept ceptual structure evolution
5 Vishnoi et al. (2022) Marketing at the bottom of the International journal of con- Thematic analysis of marketing 88 papers reviewed. Limits to
pyramid: literature review and sumer studies in the BOP context effects of marketing to BOP
future agenda consumer
6 The present study Consumer behavior from the Bibliometric and TCCM Comprehensive coverage of
lens of bottom of the pyramid: framework-based review on consumer behaviour of BOP
literature review and future consumer behavior of the BOP segment
agenda segment Framework based future direc-
tions
Conceptual model development
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
fragmentation is evident in the topics of study, the methodology employed, the con-
texts in which it is employed, and the implementation routes it takes.
The primary objective of this study is to contribute to the BOP research field
through a thorough systematic literature review of consumer behaviour that offers
a critical analysis of the body of prior research and tracks the development of the
area over time. The study uses a qualitative review of the previous literature in addi-
tion to the quantitative bibliographic review approach. The purpose of the study is
to determine the general research production patterns and primary research goals of
previous literature on BOP consumer behaviour.
Establishing research objectives:
1. To determine the theoretical ideas and factors that help better understand studies
of BOP segment consumer behaviour.
2. To explore the methodological perspectives and contexts used in the studies of
BOP segment consumer research.
3. To evaluate the prospects for Bottom of the Pyramid consumer behaviour
research.
Previous reviews of BOP vary in scope and objective. To accomplish the above-
mentioned objectives, our study uses several distinctive tools and techniques that
will make it unique. Our review is unique in several ways. First, it categorizes and
contrasts BOP consumer research using a bibliometric analysis according to some
interesting criteria, such as the annual production of BOP consumer behavior stud-
ies, the most relevant sources, the most frequently cited influential studies and the
country to which they belong, and the most frequently cited keywords in the studies.
This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) provides a comprehensive and clear pic-
ture of recent trends in consumer behavior in the BOP segment. Second, it employs
a reporting approach based on Paul and Rosado-Serrano’s (2019) Theories, Con-
structs, Contexts, and Methods framework (TCCM), which none of the earlier works
of literature had. It explores the Context of the research (country of research), Meth-
odology used (in terms of research approach), Theories used and constructs studied
etc., Additionally, this is the first SLR to take into account the application of theo-
ries in BOP consumer research literature in order to: (1) provide a clear description
of which theoretical perspectives are adopted; and (2) encourage the application of
various theories in consumer behavior studies in order to comprehend how various
phenomena interact with one another. It is crucial to employ theories to analyse and
explain consumer behaviour because they can deepen our grasp of the dynamics at
play and help us appreciate the intricacy of a particular occurrence that has a signifi-
cant impact on BOP marketplaces. Lastly, it uses bibliometric analysis to summarise
the past literature on BOP consumer behavior.
These characteristics enable our study to make important contributions to BOP
consumer behaviour research. This article tries to synthesize and critically examine
the literature on BOP with a focus on consumer behavior. The paper aims at summa-
rising and identifying some gaps in the areas of consumer behavior through the lens of
BOP using the theory, context, characteristics, and methodology (TCCM) framework.
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
This study has implications for academia, business, and society. The entire study is
structured as follows. In Sect. 2, the methodology employed for the review process is
discussed. Section 3 presents the findings using bibliometric analysis and the TCCM
framework. Section 4 proposes future research directions developed for the BOP seg-
ments. Section 5 highlights the implications for marketers and policymakers working
in the BOP segments. Lastly, study concludes with the remarks.
2 Methodology
To understand the current state of the literature on consumer behavior patterns in the
BOP, an unbiased, transparent, and objective criteria-based systematic literature review
using the TCCM framework (Paul and Rosado-Serrano2019) was adopted. The TCCM
framework is a very emerging framework that has advantages over other framework-
based methodologies. In the context of BOP, TCCM has significance as it provides the
evolution, stage of evolution, and status of current research areas. Study relied on Sco-
pus database to identify the articles. Search criteria follow Keywords like “Bottom of
Inclusion:
Duration:2000-2022
Subject area: Business Management
and accounting.
Bottom of the Pyramid OR Base of Document type: Articles.
Publication stage: Final papers.
the Pyramid OR BOP OR Sources type: Journal.
Subsistence marketplace Language: English.
Exclusion:
Document type: conference
papers, reviews, book
chapters, notes.
Source type: conference
proceedings, trade journal,
book, book series etc.
Total Journal articles identified in

Scopus search (576)
Exclusion through Reading title and Abstract

Final articles reviewed (98)
Fig. 1 Data collection process
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the Pyramid”, “Base of the Pyramid”, “BOP” and “Subsistence marketplace” using the
Boolean operator OR as done by previous researchers (Vishnoi et al. 2022).
The steps followed in arriving at the final articles were summarised in Fig. 1.
2.1 Organising framework
In recent years, researchers in the marketing field have tended to utilize well-devel-
oped frameworks to study and synthesize the existing literature on particular topics
(Jebarajakirthy et al. 2021; Hassan et al. 2022). Distinguished scholars in literature
review suggest using framework based methods to organize, review, and synthesis
of the literature for their impact, information, and insightfulness (Paul et al. 2021).
Hence, our review uses (Paul and Rosado-Serrano 2019) Theories, Characteristics,
Contexts, and Methodology (TCCM) framework to study the existing literature and
draw insightful directions for marketers, policymakers, and future researchers who
are actively involved in improving the conditions of BOP consumers.
2.2 Inclusion and exclusion criterion
An initial search showed 7899 results. Since the goal was to review articles in the
area of consumer behavior studies in BOP for a time frame of 2000–2022, refining
the search led to 5884 articles. Further, multiple filters as shown in Fig. 1 were used
to arrive at relevant articles which limited the number of articles to 576. Data related
to citation information, bibliographical information, abstracts, and keywords were
obtained. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were employed for finalizing the articles
for review using the abstracts and titles of the articles.
The study excluded articles discussing innovations, entrepreneurship, business
model development, co-creation, microfinance, and other areas that focus on the
organization point of view.
The following section discusses the characteristics of the articles published and
some of the important contributions from the area of consumer behavior in the BOP
segment.
3 Findings
3.1 Bibliometric analysis
Figure 2 portrays the year-wise publication of consumer behaviour-related studies at

BOP. After the introduction of the BOP concept by C K Prahalad and Stuart Hart in
their book “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” in 2004, consumer behavio-
ral studies at BOP started appearing in 2007. Earlier to 2004, consumer behavior of
the poor was studied under the Subsistence marketplace and was very limited. Only
seven papers were published in the first 12 years (1997–2009), which shows that the
literature on consumer behaviour studies in the BOP category has grown relatively
slowly. It is the accepted norm for expanding research. But that is not the main cause
13
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
Annual Production Of Articles

12 11 11 11
10
10 9
8
Number of arcles
8 7 7
6 5 5
4
4 3 3
2 2
2 1 1 1
0
1997 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Year
Fig. 2 Annual scientific production
of the poor output of literary works. The main cause of this poor literary output is
the lack of attention that academics and researchers in the field of marketing have
given it. In the years 2014, 2020, and 2021, most (10) articles have been published.
There has been inconsistency in publications from 2010 to 2014. But since 2017,
there has been an incremental change in the number of articles published. Since
2017 there has been an increase in attention to BOP segment consumer behavior.
Figure 3 showcases the most prominent journals that have published consumer
behavior related studies in the BOP segment. The most prominent journals that
have published BOP consumer studies are the Journal of Business Research with 7
articles and the Journal of Consumer Marketing with 5 articles. Followed by them
are the Journal of Consumer Research (4), the Journal of International Consumer
Marketing (4), and the Journal of Consumer Psychology (3). Journal of Business
Research covers a wide scope of topics and it has well acknowledged the concept of
the Bottom of the Pyramid. Other leading journals that published consumer behav-
iour studies at BOP are journals that are specific to consumer behaviour in nature,
such as the Journal of Consumer Marketing and the Journal of International Con-
sumer Marketing. Though consumer research journals are publishing BOP consumer
behavior research, their numbers are limited. Not even a single consumer research
journal published more than five articles on BOP consumers.
The most cited journals in the consumer behavior studies at BOP can be observed
in Fig. 4. Journal of Business Research and with Journal of Consumer Research
have played key roles in shaping consumer behavioral studies. Articles from the
Journal of Business Research were cited 113 times, followed by the Journal of Con-
sumer Research with 111. Other leading journals with citations are the Journal of
Consumer Marketing (102), Journal of Marketing (98), and the Harvard Business
Review (77).
Figure 5 shows that country-wise contributions to the BOP segment consumer
behavioural. Most of the literature comes from the United States of America.
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Most Relevant Sources
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BANK MARKETING

EUROPEAN BUSINESS REVIEW
DIGITAL POLICY REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE
JOURNAL OF MACROMARKETING
Journals
JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY
JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of Publicaons
Fig. 3 Prominent journals shaping BOP consumer behaviour studies
Most Cited Sources
MIS QUARTERLY
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
MARKETING THEORY
Journals
JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH

JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Number of Citaons
Fig. 4 Most cited journals under BOP consumer research
The prominent authors from the USA are Viswanathan M., Shruthi Gupta and
Rosa JA. These authors played an influential role in shaping the consumer behav-
iour studies of low-literate and low-income consumers. Initially, studies were
restricted to the USA only. Gradually, they have also shifted their focus of con-
texts to developing nations consumers. India is the second-largest country to
contribute to the consumer behaviour studies of the BOP segment. From India,
Mukherjee S. and Datta B. are among the authors who are actively contribut-
ing to the BOP consumer behaviour studies. Although the earliest studies were
conducted in the USA, Indian academicians also began to investigate the BOP
marketplaces due to the high proportion of low-income consumers, tremendous
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
Countrywise Production
80
NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS
39
24
18
14
10
10
1
COUNTRY
Fig. 5 Country wise contributing authors to BOP consumer research
Keyword Occurrences
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Number of Occurances
7
5
4
3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Keywords
Fig. 6 Key words occurrences (thematic)
diversity, and significant market potential. Writers from several nations are step-
ping up to examine the low-income markets in developing countries.
Figure 6 shows the keyword occurrences. Poverty is at the centre stage for both
Subsistence marketplaces and BOP consumer studies. Lack of proper education,
and low income reinforce the poverty trap for BOP consumers. The influence of
poverty on consumer behaviour was mainly studied in India, Bangladesh, etc. The
main patterns of consumption studied are aspirational consumption, conspicuous
consumption, responsible consumption, and compensatory consumption. We can
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Theory Context Charecterstics Methods

• Trickle-down effect theory • India • Innovation adaption • Qualitative
• Social comparison theory • Bangladesh • Social comparison • Quantitative
• Theory of Consumption Values • South Africa • Executive functions • Mixed
• Habit adoption theory • China • Aspirational consumption • Conceptual
• Means end chain approach • Zimbabwe • Second hand products • Literature review
• Compensatory consumption • Brazil
• Consumer resistance • Cameron
• Theory on poverty by amatya sen • Sri Lanka
• Theory on culture by Robert House • USA
and colleagues’ • Thailand
• Concepts of human capital by • Madagascar
Anthony Bebbington’s • Indonesia
• resource based view of information • Mexico
technology by Anandhi Bharadwaj
• Kenya
• Conversion of resource theory
• Rwanda
• Technology acceptance model (TAM)
• Uganda
• Unified theory of acceptance and use
• Egypt
of technology (UTAUT2)
• Colombia
• Theory of buyer’s behaviour
• Tanzania
• Innovaon diffusion theory
• Peru
• Double jeopardy
• Merton’s anomie
• Social network theory
• ECM (expectation confirmation
model
• Self-determination theory
• Theory of innovation diffusion
• Big five personality
Fig. 7 Findings of consumer behavior research at BOP from TCCM framework
see that developing countries or emerging markets like India, Bangladesh, and
Zimbabwe are the main focus of BOP consumer research. We can see that there
is a lack of multidisciplinary and cross-cultural studies. There is no terminology
referring to fundamental marketing ideas like customer loyalty, engagement, etc.
as evident from the Fig. 6. It suggests that there is plenty of room to investigate
the customer behaviour patterns in the BOP markets.
All the theories used to study consumer behavior, the contexts in which they
have been studied, the characteristics of the studies, and the methodologies used
by the studies are summarised in Fig. 7.
3.2 Findings using the TCCM framework
Further, from the articles reviewed, for each element of the TCCM framework find-
ings are detailed.
3.2.1 Theories used
It is evident from Table 2 that the most widely studied theories are the Theory of
Social Comparison (Srivastava et al. 2020; Mukherjee et al. 2020) and the Com-
pensatory Consumption Theory (Jaiswal and Gupta 2015; Mukherjee et al. 2020).
The most recent theories used are the Trickledown Effect Theory, Theory of Con-
sumption Values, and Theory of Buyer’s Behaviour. Other theories include Habit
Adoption Theory (Leonhardt and Chu 2017), Means-End Chain Approach Theory
(Gupta and Srivastav 2016a; b), etc. These theories have been used because BOP
consumers feel they are deprived of their socioeconomic status in society, and to
compensate for the loss of status, they use different means to achieve status such as
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
Table 2 Theories used to explain consumer behaviour of BOP consumers

Name of the theory Studies
Compensatory consumption (3) Jaiswal and Gupta (2015)

Mukherjee et al. (2020), Zheng et al. (2018)
Social comparison theory (2) Srivastava et al. (2023), Mukherjee et al. (2020)
Amartya Sen’s theory on poverty (2) Antalis and Nakata (2015)
Nakata and Weidner (2012)
Technology Acceptance model (TAM) (2) Pipitwanichakarn and Wongtada (2019)
Hasan et al. (2019)
Trickle-Down Effect Theory (1) Srivastava et al. (2023)
Theory of Consumption Values (1) Janda et al. (2021)
Habit Adoption Theory (1) Leonhardt and Chu (2016), Chu et al. (2015)
Means End Chain Approach (1) Gupta and Srivastav (2016a; b)
Consumer Resistance (1) Jaiswal and Gupta (2015)
Robert House and colleagues’ theory on culture (1) Antalis and Nakata (2015)
Anthony Bebbington’s concepts of human capital (1) Antalis and Nakata (2015)
Anandhi Bharadwaj’s resource-based view of informa- Antalis and Nakata (2015)
tion technology (1)
Conversion of Resource Theory (1) Jayasundara et al. (2020)
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Hussain et al. (2019)
(UTAUT2) (1)
Theory of Buyer’s Behaviour (1) Roy et al. (2021)
Innovation Diffusion Theory (1) Hasan et al. (2019)
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Hasan et al. (2019)
Model (UTAUT) (1)
Double Jeopardy (1) Nagy et al. (2020)
Merton’s Anomie (1) Upadhyaya et al., (2014)
Social Network Theory (1) Shivarajan and Srinivasan, (2013)
ECM (expectation confirmation model) (1) Akter et al. (2013)
Self-Determination Theory (1) Martin and Hill (2012)
Theory of Innovation Diffusion (1) Nakata and Weidner (2012)
Big Five Personality (1) Rajagopal (2010a)
aspirational consumption compensatory consumption, or impulsive buying. These

theories explain peculiar consumer behavior at BOP.
Compensatory consumption is defined as “When an individual feels a need, lack,
or desire which they cannot satisfy with a primary fulfilment, so they use purchas-
ing behavior as an alternative means of fulfilment” (Woodruffe-Burton 1998, p.301).
In the BOP segment, these needs could be social power, social status, and social
inclusion, self-esteem etc. (Mukherjee et al. 2020; Dahana et al. 2018; Srivastava
et al. 2020; Jaiswal and Gupta 2015). Compensatory consumption is linked with
the conspicuous consumption and status oriented consumption in the BOP markets,
products that satisfy these needs are mostly “non-essential” or “higher order needs”
(Gupta and Pirsch 2014; Gupta and Srivastav 2016a).
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Table 3 Contexts studied
Context No of studies Studies
India 28 Srivastava et al. (2023), Janda et al. (2021), Purohit et al. (2021), Panda et al. (2022), Roy et al. (2021), Gandhi and Kaushik,
(2016), Gupta and Srivastav (2016a; b), Jaiswal and Gupta (2015), Khuntia et al. (2021), Sharma and Gupta (2021), Mukher-
jee et al. (2020), Baishya and Samalia (2020), Sinha and Verma (2020), Choudhury et al. (2019), Agarwal et al. (2018),
Chauhan et al. (2018), Jaikumar et al. (2018), Gupta and Srivastav (2016b), Gupta and Srivastav (2016a), Jose et al. (2015)
Deb and Sengupta (2020), Gupta and Pirsch (2014), London et al. (2014), Schoormans (2013), Jose and Buchanan (2013),
Azmat and Samaratunge (2013), Ramani et al. (2012), Viswanathan et al. (2007)
Bangladesh 7 Khuntia et al. (2021), Amir et al. (2020), Hussain et al. (2019), Rahman et al. (2018), Azmat and Samaratunge (2013), Akter
et al. (2013), Dey et al. (2013)
Brazil 6 Costa Filho et al. (2021), Silvestre and Neto (2014), Hall (2013), Hall et al. (2014), Lindeman (2012), Barki and Parente (2007)
USA 6 Bryant and Hill (2019), Riady (2019), Chipambwa et al. (2016), Viswanathan et al. (2007), Mead et al. (2011), Kang and
Lakshmanan (2016)
Zimbabwe 5 Chikweche and Fletcher (2011, 2012a, b), Chikweche et al. (2012), Chipambwa et al. (2016)
China 4 Chu et al. (2015), Hasan et al. (2019), Zheng et al. (2018), Leonhardt and Chu (2016)
South Africa 3 Janda et al. (2021), Chipp et al. (2019), Lappeman et al. (2019a)
Mexico 2 Díaz-Pichardo et al. (2017), Rajagopal (2010b)

Kenya 2 Howell et al. (2020), Foster (2014)
Cameroon 1 Cova et al. (2021)
Sri Lanka 1 Jayasundara et al. (2020)
Thailand 1 Pipitwanichakarn and Wongtada (2019)
Madagascar 1 Randrianasolo (2018)
Indonesia 1 Dahana et al. (2018)
Rwanda 1 Howell et al. (2020)
Uganda 1 Howell et al. (2020)
Egypt 1 Nagy et al. 2020)
Colombia 1 Upadhyaya et al. (2014)
Tanzania 1 Lindeman (2012)
Peru 1 Guillen-royo (2011)
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
3.2.2 Contexts studied
Table 3 clearly shows that the focus of BOP research was predominantly on develop-
ing countries. Due to the large number of impoverished people in India and Bangla-
desh, these countries are ideal locations for BOP research. A large number of stud-
ies are conducted in the Indian context, as India has the highest number of BOP
consumers in the world (Kolk et al. 2014; Nielsen and Samia 2008). Other countries
include China, Brazil, USA, Cameron, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh. It
can be observed from Table 3 that some of the authors (Gupta S., Chikweche) are
limited to a single country rather than multiple countries, irrespective of their origi-
nal country affiliation. Consumer behavior studies in the BOP context are carried
out in 20 countries. Most of the studies are performed in developing countries. Only
in one case BOP, consumer behavior study was performed in a developed country
like the USA. The most widely studied developing countries are India followed by
Bangladesh, Brazil, and Zimbabwe.
3.3 Characteristics
Previous academic researchers have studied factors influencing the adoption of

products and services, online banking adoption (Leonhardt and Chu 2017), smart-
phone adoption (Baishya and Samalia 2020), mobile commerce adoption (Pipitwan-
ichakarn and Wongtada 2019), M-payment adoption (Hussain et al. 2019). Other
domains explored are aspirational consumption (Srivastava et al. 2020; Gupta and
Srivastav 2016a, b), the role of corporate social responsibility (Amir et al. 2020;
Randrianasolo 2018), loyalty (Costa Filho et al. 2021; Cova et al. 2021), social com-
parison (Guillen-royo 2011; Riady 2019).
3.3.1 Social comparison
Social comparison is a very significant construct in shaping purchasing deci-

sions of the BOP segment. Social comparison (within and across the groups) trig-
gers aspirational consumption and compensatory consumption (Mukherjee et al.
2020; Srivastava et al. 2023). Social comparison leads to the need for social rec-
ognition, and to attain social recognition, the poor may buy branded second-hand
products (Mukherjee et al. 2020). Upward social comparison by holistic thinkers
tends to focus on the symbolic benefits of innovation, in contrast to how upward
social comparison by analytical thinkers tends to focus on the hazards connected
with innovation adoption, lessening the intention to adopt innovation (Ridley
et al. 2020). In some cases, social comparison leads to beneficial consumption. To
fight social exclusion and ethnic discrimination by the reference group, the BOP
segment tries to increase spending on children’s education and clothes (Guillen-
royo 2011). When consumers feel discriminated or excluded, they try to spend
their income strategically to blend with the society rather than stand out. They
purchase products that would increase the chances of social inclusion rather than
13
standing out (uniqueness, luxury products) (Mead et al. 2011). When the BOP
segment feels powerless, they try to compensate for this powerlessness through
consumption patterns that increase social inclusion and self-esteem (Mukherjee
et al. 2020; Srivastava et al. 2023). In doing this, they may even cut down the
expenditure on necessities such as food, education, and health (Mukherjee et al.
2020).
3.3.2 Executive functions
Planning, organising, prioritising, and time management are examples of executive

functions, which are cognitive processes that assist people in controlling their behav-
iour, making decisions, and achieving their goals (Diamond 2013). Long exposure
to poverty can reduce the effectiveness of these executive functions among the poor
(Gupta and Srivastav 2016a, b; Hackman et al. 2010; Chakravarti 2006; Nakata and
Weidner 2012; Choudhury et al. 2019; Mishra et al. 2021). Reduced executive func-
tions may result in low persuasion capability, lack of impulse control, understanding
functionality, and memorizing information in the marketplace (Mishra et al. 2021).
Executive functions are hampered if we increase the background noise in shopping
malls, the presence of noise results in a reduced recall function, and a reduced abil-
ity to evaluate the discount prices.
3.3.3 Innovation adoption
The process of innovation adoption is quite different for the BOP segment. Innova-
tion adoption by poor consumers can be challenging due to several factors, such as
limited resources, low levels of education, and a lack of exposure to new technolo-
gies. Certain factors play a crucial role in adopting any technological product or ser-
vice in the context of BOP. In the case of the adoption of Mobile-payment, perfor-
mance expectancy along with lifestyle compatibility, social influence, and habit have
a stronger effect on m-payment adoption (Hussain et al. 2019). In the case of Mobile
banking usage, trust is the most important factor (Kansal 2016).
Product bundling, after-sales services, perceived corporate integrity, monopoly,
and information opaqueness can influence mobile payment adoption in the BOP
context (Hasan et al. 2019). Economic, biological, and social resources strengthen
the likelihood of innovation adoption (Chu et al. 2015). Gender and age at the
time of migration have significant effects on the adoption of online banking (Leon-
hardt and Chu 2017). In the usage of mobile health service quality, cost, and past
user experience significantly impact trust and continuation intentions (Akter et al.
2013). Beyond the initial adoption of mobile phones by farmers, farmers appropri-
ate (use a product in a way the designer didn’t intend) mobile phones using their
own skills, experiences, creativity, and knowledge. Using mobile phones gives
them social occupational and emotional benefits. The use of technological prod-
ucts has an association with existing social and power relationships (Dey et al.
2013).
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
3.3.4 Wellbeing
Many variables, such as lack of access to necessities like food, shelter, and health-
care, financial stress, social isolation, and restricted access to opportunities and
resources, can have an impact on the well-being of low-income consumers. Study-
ing the well-being of the BOP segment is crucial. As poverty induced deprivations
affect the mental health and alter subjective well-being and ill-being (Chakravarti
2006). Well-being can be measured along the lines of economic well-being, capac-
ity well-being, and relationship well-being (London et al. 2014). In BOP, previous
studies have largely focused on economic well-being. Studies found that the effect
of conspicuous consumption is higher on subjective economic well-being (Jaiku-
mar et al. 2018) in BOP segments. The BOP consumers’ aspirational consumption
is driven by their overall wellness, which includes the wellbeing of their family and
children (Srivastava et al. 2023). BOP consumers believe that an organization’s CSR
initiatives are focused on the community’s well-being (Jose et al. 2015). By direct-
ing their corporate social responsibility initiatives at specific BOP communities,
businesses can acquire the trust of these consumers, which is advantageous for both
businesses and communities.
3.3.5 Second‑hand purchase
Due to their low financial means and need for inexpensive items, Bottom of the
pyramid (BOP) populations frequently acquire used goods. Reasons for the second-
hand purchase are affordability, accessibility, durability, sustainability, and social
status. There are also potential drawbacks to second-hand purchases. These can
include concerns about the quality of the goods, the risk of buying counterfeit or
dangerous products, and limited options in terms of selection and availability.
To fulfil their aspirations at affordable prices and with reliable quality, the poor
go for purchasing second-hand products (Arunachalam et al. 2019). Sometimes sec-
ond-hand purchases fulfil their lack of powerlessness and increase social inclusion.
In some countries (Pakistan, Zimbabwe) people even go for second-hand undergar-
ments because of their trendiness, quality, affordability, and durability (Chipambwa
et al. 2016). In India, most-purchased second-hand products are electronic and elec-
trical gadgets (8.98%), followed by mobile phones (5.02%), and vehicles (5.11%)
(Mukherjee et al. 2020). The potential of second-hand markets is huge in develop-
ing countries. Nearly half of the second-hand market’s potential comes from Africa
alone. BOP consumers consume second-hand products to fulfil their aspirations and
need for social status.
3.3.6 Aspirational consumption
In aspirational consumption, an individual will try to match the consumption

of the reference group by spending money on status-symbol goods and services
(Duffy 2016). Aspirational consumption has both positive and negative conse-
quences. The positive side of aspirational consumption is aspiring for good shelter,
13
better education, and training for the children (Srivastava et al. 2023). Sometimes, in
search of fulfilling their aspirations, BOP consumers end up buying luxury products.
Buying luxury products in developed nations is a symbol of uniqueness seeking, but
in BOP, it is a result of the social exclusion of the poor. Researchers tried to study
and explain aspirational consumption using Compensatory Consumption Theory
(Jaiswal and Gupta 2015; Mukherjee et al. 2020), Social Comparison Theory (Sriv-
astava et al. 2020; Mukherjee et al. 2020), Trickle Down Effect Theory (Srivastava
et al. 2020).
3.4 Methodologies
Table 4 suggests that previous researchers used five research methods to study
BOP. There is an almost equal contribution from the qualitative and quantitative
approaches. Quantitative and qualitative methods are followed by the conceptual
method, mixed methods, and literature reviews. In qualitative methodology, it was
Table 4 Methodologies used to study BOP consumer behavior

Methodology Studies
Qualitative Srivastava et al. (2023), Gupta and Srivastav (2016a, 2016b)

Jaiswal and Gupta (2015), Costa Filho et al. (2021), Cova et al. (2021), Sharma and
Gupta (2021), Jayasundara et al. (2020), Chipp et al. (2019), Choudhury et al. (2019),
Lappeman et al. (2019a), Agarwal et al. (2018), Díaz-Pichardo et al. (2017), Gupta
and Srivastav (2016a, 2016b), Chipambwa et al. (2016), Hasan et al. (2019), Deb and
Sengupta (2020), Upadhyaya et al. (2014), Foster, (2014), Silvestre and Neto (2014),
Hall et al. (2014), Dey et al. (2013), Chikweche and Fletcher (2011, 2012a, b), Chik-
weche et al. (2012), Barki and Parente (2007), Viswanathan et al. (2007)
Quantitative Gandhi and Kaushik (2016), Khuntia et al. (2021), Purohit and Arora (2021), Howell
et al. (2020), Baishya and Samalia (2020), Sinha and Verma (2020), Amir et al.
(2020), Nagy et al. (2020), Bryant and Hill (2019), Riady (2019), Pipitwanichakarn
and Wongtada (2019), Hussain et al. (2019), Rahman et al. (2018), Randrianasolo
(2018), Dahana et al. (2018), Zheng et al. (2018), Jaikumar et al. (2018), Kang
and Lakshmanan (2017), Leonhardt and Chu (2017), Chu et al. (2015), Jose et al.
(2015), Gupta and Pirsch (2014), Mead et al. (2011), London et al. (2014), Jose and
Buchanan (2013), Akter et al. (2013), Martin and Hill (2012), Guillen-royo (2011),
Rajagopal (2010b), Viswanathan et al. (2007)
Conceptual Pels and Sheth (2021), McGrath et al. (2021), Antalis and Nakata (2015), Mishra et al.
(2021), Lappeman et al. (2019b)
Venugopal (2017), Chakravarti (2006), Rajan (2014), Giesler and Veresiu (2014),
Shivarajan and Srinivasan (2013), Schoormans (2013)
Azmat and Samaratunge (2013), Piacentini and Hamilton (2013)
Ramani et al. (2012), Karnani (2012), Arora and Romijn (2012)
Scott et al. (2011), Viswanathan and Rosa (2010), Rivera-Santos and Rufín (2010),
Weidner et al. (2010)
Rajagopal (2010a), Anderson et al. (2010), Farias and Farias (2010)
Garrette and Karnani (2010), Martinez and Carbonell (2007)
Mixed Janda et al. (2021), Panda et al. (2022), Roy et al. (2021), Chauhan et al. (2018)
Review papers Srivastava et al. (2020), Dembek et al. (2020), Reynoso et al. (2015)
Kolk et al. (2014)
13
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
observed that some of the authors used a multi-method approach (Chikweche and
Fletcher 2011, 2012a, b; Chikweche et al. 2012). Some qualitative studies used tri-
angulation methods for confirmation and cross-validation (Dey et al. 2013). It can
be observed that until recently, qualitative studies are being published. This implies
that there is still a lot of scope for exploratory research in the BOP context. There
are very few studies that use secondary data to study consumer behavior at BOP.
The data sources used are Vision Spring (London et al. 2014), World Values Sur-
vey (WVS) (Martin and Hill 2012), and Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD)
Resources and Needs Questionnaire (RANQ) (Guillen-royo 2011). Some of the
quantitative methodologies used are Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), logit regres-
sion, structural equation modelling, factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis,
ordered probit model, stepwise multivariate linear regression and vignette design.
Qualitative studies used are interviews, ethnographic immersion, diary-keeping, net-
nography, etc.
Based on the findings obtained, the next section aims at proposing future direc-
tions for upcoming researchers.
4 Future directions
4.1 Theory development
The theories utilised in research to forecast the consumer behaviour of BOP con-
sumers are extremely constrained and are still in their infancy in comparison to
other studies like mobile advertising and consumer ethics (Hassan et al. 2022).
Many chances for developing, extending BOP, and validating theories are present,
by the studying BOP consumer behaviour. One can apply theories like the Theory
of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behavior (Jebarajakirthy et al.
2021). The fact that the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned
Behavior, two of the most popular theories currently used to study consumer
behaviour, have not yet been applied by BOP consumer researchers is fascinat-
ing. According to the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), an individual’s behav-
ior is determined by their intention to perform that behavior. This intention is, in
turn, influenced by two factors: the individual’s attitude towards the behavior and
their subjective norms. TRA suggests that low-income consumers may be influ-
enced by the attitudes and subjective norms of others in their social network, such
as friends, family, and community members. On the other hand, the Theory of
Planned Behavior (TPB) strengthens the impact of perceived control on attitude
and subjective norms. When it comes to low-income consumer behavior, the TPB
can provide insights into why low-income consumers may or may not engage in
certain behaviors. For example, low-income consumers may not purchase durable
goods or healthy food if they perceive them to be too expensive or if they do not
have access to healthy food options in their community. In such cases, the TPB
suggests that their perceived behavioral control is likely to be an important factor
in their behavior.
13
At the same time, the TPB also suggests that low-income consumers may be
influenced by their attitudes towards the behavior, such as the perceived benefits
of conspicuous products, and subjective norms. Perceived approval or disapproval
of others in their social network can be studied using TPB. For example, low-
income consumers may be more likely to purchase healthy food if they believe it
will improve their health and if they perceive their friends and family as supportive
of this behavior. The influence of socio-cultural norms plays an important role in
strengthening the ties among BOP networks, which play a crucial role in shaping
consumer decision-making (Lappeman et al. 2019b). Previous literature points out
that poor consumers have low self-control. With the strong evidence of sociocultural
norms and low self-control of BOP people, it is very insightful to use the Theory of
Reasoned Action and Theory of Planned Behaviour to study and predict consumer
behavior in the BOP segment.
BOP consumers have low cognitive abilities. Due to long exposure to poverty,
BOP consumers have low memorizing, language, and reasoning abilities (Choud-
hury et al. 2019). Researchers can study consumer behavior in the light of Infor-
mation Processing Theory to evaluate short-term memory and long-term mem-
ory effectiveness in decision making. The process through which information is
encoded, retained in memory, and remembered is discussed in information process-
ing theory (Resick and Schnicke 1992).
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is another theory to study the differ-
ences in responses to stimuli and the effect of these responses on consumer behavior
(Nakata and Weidner 2012). ELM can be used in a variety of contexts. For instance,
low-income consumers may be more prone to choose a less important alternative
while making purchases because they do not have the time or money to thoroughly
consider all of their options.
The ELM also contends that persuasion can be significantly influenced by the
message’s source. Low-income customers are more influenced by messages coming
from people they trust, including social networks or advice from the local Kirana
store vendors. Similar to this, low-income consumers are more receptive to mes-
sages when they are communicated in a way that speaks to their experiences and
values.
Overall, the Elaboration Likelihood Model can shed light on the thinking and
behaviour of low-income consumers.
Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) posits that behavior is influenced by the recipro-
cal interaction between personal factors, environmental factors, and behavior itself.
Personal factors include individual characteristics such as knowledge, attitudes, and
beliefs, while environmental factors include social norms, physical structures, and
access to resources. BOP consumers face a variety of personal and environmental
barriers that make it difficult to engage in certain behaviors. For example, they may
lack knowledge or access to some of the international brands, which may promote a
negative attitude towards those brands.
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
4.2 Contexts
Poor people in wealthy countries have long been exposed to reputable international
brands. Nonetheless, exposure has just recently begun for consumers in underdevel-
oped and developing nations. Today, consumers in developing countries have much
easier access to foreign brands. Future studies should compare the poor consumer
behaviour of industrialised and emerging countries in light of this. Research should
focus on the comparison of poor consumer behavior in developed and developing
nations. These comparative studies yield useful information on the effects of long-
term exposure to poverty on marketplace behavior. More studies must be made in
developing countries in order to generalize the findings to large populations. Further,
research needs to be performed in developed countries too, as there is an increase
in inequality everywhere around the globe. Most of the previous literature focused
mainly on the subsistence marketplaces, which are characterized by the transactions
happening at Kirana stores and neighbourhood stores. Future research should focus
on online contexts. With the rapid penetration of mobile technology in developing
nations (Baishya and Samalia 2020), more BOP consumers are actively seeking out
products on online platforms.
Research question: Exploring the antecedents and outcomes of the online pur-
chases of BOP consumers.
How do BOP consumers navigate on online platforms owing to their limited Eng-
lish language? In non-English-speaking developed nations, product packages con-
tain information in the native language, such as German, French, or Japanese. But in
developing nations such as India and Bangladesh, most of the product information is
displayed in the English language. BOP consumers in developing nations adopt their
own coping strategies to overcome the language barrier while shopping. Compara-
tive studies between BOP consumers of developed nations and those of developing
nations on perceived stress in navigating in their language and a foreign language
could be other areas to be explored.
4.3 Characteristics
It is observed that most recent studies were based on innovation adoption, social
comparison, executive functions, well-being, second-hand purchase intentions, cor-
porate social responsibility, and aspirational consumption. Observations from the
characteristics of the previous literature on consumer behavior research have been
briefed. Possible future directions were discussed in the following subsections.
4.3.1 Innovation adoption
The BOP’s adoption of innovations is very important. Frugal innovations, grassroot

innovation, Jugaad etc. at the BOP significantly reduce the pricing of the products.
Innovation adoption at BOP faces hindrances due to low literacy rates and impaired
executive functions, which arise from long exposure to poverty. Researchers should
13
pay attention to reducing the hindrances to innovation adoption at BOP. A lack of

resources, a lack of education, a lack of access to accurate information, the heavy
influence of sociocultural influences, etc., may all be barriers. Future researchers can
investigate these factors independently and make suggestions for solutions to these
challenges.
Due to COVID-19 lockdowns across the world, poor children are deprived of
their education and health due to their constrained circumstances. Research in edu-
cation and health sector could highlight inequalities raised in these circumstances
and possible solutions to reduce them. Study the relationship between COVID-19
induced deprivations and their impact on the marketplace behavior.
Research question: What are the hindrances to technological adaptation by con-
sumers in the educational and health sectors?
More innovation appropriation studies would shed some light on unserved needs
by product or service. Post-innovation adoption behavior in BOP consumer studies
is very limited, and future research can shed light in this direction. BOP consumers
use products beyond their life span. Some examples are, the use of paint contain-
ers as seating facilities and bathroom buckets in BOP homes. Usage of the plastic
package as a storage kit in the kitchens of BOP consumer’s homes. Ways of usage
of products beyond their life period, using the products in imaginative ways, creat-
ing new products by modifying the existing products, and reinventing products by
disassembling and combining the parts of the products are very useful directions for
further exploration.
Research question: What are the different ways in which BOP consumers extend
the product life, and modify the product usage after the product life?
BOP communities are very rich in social capital. The role of social capital in
innovation adoption can be very insightful.
4.3.2 Social comparison
In-depth sector specific studies such as beauty, health, education, etc., can be very
crucial to study in the light of social comparison. There are no studies on the effects
of predestinarianism on social comparison. How does social comparison mediate
the relationship between predestinarianism (the belief that one cannot alter one’s
fate) and conspicuous consumption or aspirational consumption? Hence, it might be
another critical avenue for future research.
Research question: What is the role of predestinarianism in shaping the con-
sumption patterns of BOP consumers?
The literature makes it clear that social comparisons are unable to promote
healthy food and health expenditures. Aspirational, compensatory, and conspicuous
consumption are all fuelled by social comparison. Yet, there aren’t any studies on
social comparison and how it affects healthy intake. Therefore, it is important to
research the obstacles to such behaviour.
Research question: How social comparison can be used as a technique to encour-
age BOP consumers to consume a healthy diet (beneficial consumption).
Personality traits impact consumer behavior in the marketplace. Different per-
sonality traits respond differently to different kinds of messages, have different
13
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
sources of information. Studying of personality traits and their impact on market-

place behavior is BOP another area of future research. There are certain instances
where consumers forego basic needs for conspicuous goods. This type of consump-
tion does not follow the hierarchy of needs. Future research should shed light on
to what extent aspirations of BOP consumers follow the hierarchy of human needs
(Maslow’s needs theory). If any deviations, what are the triggers for such deviations?
4.3.3 Executive functions
Decreased executive function can cause poor consumers to make less useful pur-
chases and suffer the consequences of their poor decisions. Research in this direc-
tion is in its nascent stage. More extensive studies would bring out effective market-
ing strategies that would compensate for the reduced executive functions. It is in the
stage of developing prepositions only (Mishra et al. 2021). Future research in this
direction could be.
Research question: What is the role of long exposure to material deprivation on
marketplace behavior mediated by reduced executive functions?
Research question: How do reduced self-controlling abilities impact compensa-
tory consumption or impulsive purchases in the BOP segment?
More qualitative and quantitative studies need to be performed to study impact of
executive functions on marketplace behavior in the BOP segment. More research on
habit formation and long-term management strategies to counter reduced executive
functions is crucial.
4.3.4 Wellbeing
Research needs to be carried out to find out the drivers of subjective well-being
under long exposure to poverty, poor with low aspirations, and low literacy rates.
Higher importance should be given to studying the role of predestinarianism in
shaping the well-being of the BOP segment. Rather than focusing only on perceived
economic well-being more studies on different components of well-being such as
psychological, social, and capacity need to be performed.
Research question: How does conspicuous consumption or compensatory
consumption impact psychological well-being, social well-being, and capacity
well-being?
After the rapid penetration of mobile technology into the BOP segment, people
are consuming a lot of digital online content (Rahman et al. 2018; Tarafdar et al.
2013; James and James 2020). Consumption is also somehow linked to the compen-
satory behavior of the poor. Future research in this direction could be,
Research question: Exploring the ways in which technology penetration affects
the social well-being of the BOP segment.
13
4.3.5 Second‑hand purchase
BOP consumers purchase second-hand products through known personal sources.

Future directions may study the various factors motivating a particular point of pur-
chase. Studies on demographic variables could provide more insights into second-
hand purchase patterns among the poor.
Research question: What are the perceived sources of trust in the purchase inten-
tions of second-hand products in BOP segments?
In India, platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart are selling refurbished products
online. Refurbished electronic and electrical goods are promising areas of research
in the BOP segment because of their low prices. Studies should focus on the trade-
offs between aspirational second-hand consumption and the potential reoccurring
maintenance cost that comes along with second-hand products.
4.3.6 Aspirational consumption
Future research should apply some of the theories like the consumer Need for
Uniqueness, Self-Determination Theory, and their ability to explain and pre-
dict aspirational consumption in the BOP segment could be very insightful. More
empirical research should be undertaken to study the role of durability in aspira-
tional consumption, as durability would decrease the repairs and maintenance costs
of the products. Cultures are crucial in shaping the aspirations of consumers. Future
research should explore the relationship between different cultural values across the
BOP segment and their impact on the shaping of the aspirations of BOP consumers.
Most of the BOP population lives in male dominated patriarchal societies. Future
research should explore the ways in which the structures of patriarchal societies are
hindering the capacity to aspire for female populations.
Research question: How do patriarchal societies in the BOP communities impact
the capacity to aspire among the female populations?
Sustainability and eco-friendly products are increasingly purchased by ToP (Top
of the Pyramid) consumers (The Cost of Sustainable Products | Deloitte Insights,
n.d.). Research should be carried out to study the role of ToP sustainable consump-
tion in creating aspirations among the BOP segments.
Research question: How do the sustainable purchase practices of the ToP con-
sumers affect the purchasing intentions of the BOP segments?
Aspirational consumption within the limits of sustainability is another major area
of future research.
4.4 Methods
It is evident from the study that both qualitative and quantitative studies are used
in most of the studies. There is still a lot of scope for exploratory research in the
BOP segment. More qualitative studies can be performed to bring out novel ide-
ologies in consumer behavior studies of the BOP segment. More importance must
be given to the bottom-up approach than the top-down approach, with a focus on
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K. Uttam, T. Rahul
Table 5 Overview of future directions using the TCCM framework
Theory development Future research can apply the Theory of Reasoned Action to study how con-
sumer’s attitudes, norms, and intentions shape their purchasing behavior in the
BOP context.
The Theory of Planned Behavior can be studied to get an idea of how control
beliefs and perceived power can control the behavior of BOP consumers.
Information Process Theory can be applied to study the consumer decision mak-
ing process at BOP.
Elaboration Likelihood Model can be very useful to explain the influence of core
functionality information and peripheral information about the product on deci-
sion making.
Context Most of the literature focuses on South Asian countries and Africa. Future
researchers can the study purchasing patterns of the poor in developed countries
and developing countries from Latin America, Asia and Europe.
Scholars can conduct Cross national or cross-cultural studies.
Future research should focus on consumer buying patterns on online platforms.
Characteristics More research has to be done on the executive functions of BOP and their role in
consumer decision making at BOP.
Social comparison is a very common phenomenon in the BOP segment, and it has
given rise to aspirational and compensatory consumption. More studies need to
be done to explore the negative consequences of such comparison outcomes.
Sustainability is a key issue the world is facing now. We cannot attain sustain-
ability without the active participation of the BOP segment. More studies on
sustainable or socially responsible consumption in BOP segment are in need of
the hour.
Methodology More quantitative and mixed methods can be applied in the future to provide evi-
dence that business can play a pivotal role in alleviating poverty and addressing
the needs of the poor profitably.
Emerging methods Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) is
needed to make an entry into BOP consumer behavior research.
consumer behavioral studies at BOP. It can be inferred from the study that quantita-
tive studies are very limited in number in consumer behavioral studies at BOP than
in other areas. Future researchers should focus more on quantitative studies. The
use of a mixed method approach should be deployed more. Qualitative tools such
as focus group discussion and ethnographic observations could be deployed more.
Mixed methods approach is useful in exploring the factors for particular behaviours
through a qualitative study followed by a quantitative study where it builds the rela-
tionship between the factors found out by the qualitative study and also provides
empirical evidence for the qualitative study.
Table 5 gives over view of future directions for upcoming scholars in the field of
consumer studies in BOP segment. Table 5 summarises the future directions in the
line with the TCCM framework. BOP consumers have different cognitive and psy-
chological abilities in comparison to other consumers. Consumers in BOP markets
have impaired cognitive abilities compared to other consumers. Depression, anxi-
ety, and other psychological aspects are high in poverty. These factors, in interaction
with group factors promote compensatory consumption, impulsive buying, and con-
spicuous consumption. These consumption patterns result in aspirational consump-
tion. Sometimes these patterns result in the misallocation of their limited financial
13
Fig. 8 Conceptual model
resources. Aspirational consumption gives rise to social recognition and improved

well-being. In some cases, aspirational consumption leads to second hand purchases
and counterfeit product purchases. Second-hand purchases increase recurring and
maintenance costs. Figure 8 depicts the conceptual model of BOP consumer behav-
ior. Figure 8 discusses the conceptual model of the BOP consumers antecedents and
outcomes.
5 Implications for marketers and policymakers
The study has several implications for marketers at multinational corporations and
policymakers.
Marketers can make use of social comparison to increase the purchase of benefi-
cial and healthy products. Organizations should strengthen some specific attributes
of the product by knowing its afterlife usage. It will extend product benefits and
also contribute to the sustainability aspect. Marketers need to be very careful when
designing advertisements for poor consumers. Marketing of harmful goods such
as alcohol, tobacco, and others should be very limited in BOP segments. Market-
ers should never take advantage of poverty-induced deprivations to sell their sin-
ful or status-oriented products. Marketers should make use of the social comparison
phenomenon prevalent in the BOP segment to promote beneficial products. In fact,
marketers need to compensate for those deprivations in such a way that the poor
can make effective purchase decisions. Examples include reducing or avoiding the
vocal sound of background music in stores to increase information retention among
poor consumers (Kang and Lakshmanan 2017). By having only pictorial informa-
tion, poor consumers can avoid information overload (Jae and Viswanathan 2012).
Such initiative increases the decision-making power of the poor and increases their
information retention. Organizations should focus on the BOP segment’s payment
methods. Payment methods should focus on distributing the fixed cost over a period
rather than paying the lump sum amount at initial pay. Business models such as Ola
13
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
and Uber not only facilitate commuting but also fulfils aspirations of the poor to
travel in air-conditioned cars. Organizations should encourage BOP consumers to
pool and share their properties rather than owning them. Pooling and sharing of
resources are sustainable and much more viable options than owing the products.
In developing countries, financial scams are mainly targeted towards BOP con-
sumers, such scams include ebiz, and chit fund scams. Some of them used network
marketing and target marketing to reach BOP consumers. Policymakers should take
responsibility for safeguarding the interests of the poor against such scams in the
marketplace. Organizations working in the BOP segment should focus on reducing
the hindrances to technological adoption in the BOP segment. Possible ways could
include giving a demonstration about the product or subsidizing the purchases. It
will reduce the digital divide in society. Material deprivations in childhood have an
impact on cognitive abilities. Governments and international organizations should
focus on reducing the material deprivations faced by BOP communities. Poor well-
being is the cause and outcome of poverty. Corporations and Governments should
actively come together to increase the well-being of the BOP communities. BOP
segment should have accessible and affordable healthcare facilities. Increased well-
being results in better decision-making abilities in the BOP segment. Policymakers
should impose restrictions on unethical target marketing to the BOP segment. Infor-
mation about the deep differences in executive functions between the rich and poor
can be leveraged by policymakers in designing and implementing welfare schemes
for the BOP segment. The Government should place strict regulations on marketers
to provide proper information about the product which can be easily understood and
memorized by the BOP segment. Based on available information about impaired
cognitive capabilities due to long exposure to poverty, the Government should frame
regulations for large retail store chains to create store environments conducive to
the BOP segment. Educational institutes should focus on improving the executive
functions of the poor to create a healthy competitive environment in the class. As the
BOP markets have large populations, it is very important to promote sustainable and
socially responsible consumption practices. Governments of developing countries
should conduct programmes to raise awareness about sustainable practices. Govern-
ments should think of incentivizing advertisements that promote sustainable prac-
tices in developing countries. Such advertisements may promote the pooling and
sharing of resources and the conservation of natural resources. Governments can
make use of the scales developed by marketing experts to measure the effectiveness
of Government welfare programs, such as the increase in well-being due to poverty-
alleviating programs.
6 Conclusion
There are literature reviews on BOP that are limited to studying evolution and check-
ing the core idea of the BOP concept put forward by C K Prahalad in the book “The
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”. In previous reviews, only aspirational con-
sumption at BOP was addressed. These are limited in scope regarding consumer
behavioural studies in the BOP segment, and there are no review studies conducted
13
on the consumer behavior of the BOP segment. The study tries to fill this vacuum
by performing a critical review of the literature on consumer behavior of the BOP
segment. This study was undertaken to give a critical overview of consumer behav-
ior studies at BOP using the TCCM framework. The contributions of this review
are manifold. The study focused on the question of why we need to study consumer
behavior in the BOP segment separately when there are already consumer behav-
ioral studies in marketing literature. The key findings are, BOP segment consumer
behavior studies are crucial not only because of their huge market potential but, also
because they have contrast consumer behavior that arises due to poverty-induced dep-
rivations. If we neglect to study these differences, we may not only lose opportuni-
ties as organizations but, but we may also lose the chances to reduce inequalities in
society. Cognitive abilities and psychological factors are distinct for BOP consumers
in comparison with their counterparts. Cognitive abilities and psychological factors
interact with group or social network factors to influence consumer behavior in the
BOP segment. These will give rise to compensatory consumption, conspicuous con-
sumption, Impulsive purchasing, and aspirational consumption patterns in the BOP
segment. Some of the above-mentioned consumption patterns lead to the misalloca-
tion of meagre financial resources of the BOP consumers. On a positive note, some
of the consumption patterns will increase the well-being and social inclusion of the
BOP consumers. By studying consumer behavior, we will get to know effective ways
of making and implementing pro-poor policies which will safeguard the interests
of the poor in the marketplace. Answering it is very crucial to the study because of
their constrained circumstances, reduced executive functions, and strong prevalence
of social comparison these consumers tend to behave differently from the ToP seg-
ment. The outcomes of this marketplace behavior play a crucial role in the well-being
of the poor. Poor consumers must pay more penalties for their wrong decisions than
the rich, which double penalizes them for being poor (one penalty which is poverty-
induced deficiency and the other being wrong decision making) may be termed as a
“Double poverty penalty”. Using the TCCM framework, it was observed that com-
pensatory consumption and social comparison theory are the most widely studied
theories, and India and Bangladesh are the most widely studied contexts. It found that
most studies focused on innovation adoption for the poor, the role of corporate social
responsibility, social comparison, and the well-being of the BOP segment. Finally,
quantitative, and qualitative studies are almost equally studied in numbers followed
by conceptual studies. After discussing the findings, we have provided some future
directions that will be of immense use to policymakers and researchers who want to
advance the knowledge of consumer behavior in the BOP segment.
Funding No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.
Data availability No datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.
Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of
this article.
13
K. Uttam, T. Rahul
Human and animal rights This is literature review. Does not involve any human participants/or animals.
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Management Review Quarterly

Consumer behavior from the lens of Bottom

Received: 3 August 2022 / Accepted: 12 June 2023

Keywords Bottom of the Pyramid · Base of the Pyramid · Subsistence

JEL Classification M310

Despite growing literature in BOP on themes such as microfinance, entrepre-

Total Journal articles identified in

Exclusion through Reading title and Abstract

Fig. 1 Data collection process

2.2 Inclusion and exclusion criterion

Figure 2 portrays the year-wise publication of consumer behaviour-related studies at

Annual Production Of Articles

Fig. 2 Annual scientific production

Most Relevant Sources

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BANK MARKETING

JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING

Fig. 3 Prominent journals shaping BOP consumer behaviour studies

Most Cited Sources

JOURNAL OF MARKETING RESEARCH

Fig. 4 Most cited journals under BOP consumer research

Fig. 5 Country wise contributing authors to BOP consumer research

Fig. 6 Key words occurrences (thematic)

Theory Context Charecterstics Methods

Fig. 7 Findings of consumer behavior research at BOP from TCCM framework

3.2 Findings using the TCCM framework

Table 2 Theories used to explain consumer behaviour of BOP consumers

Compensatory consumption (3) Jaiswal and Gupta (2015)

aspirational consumption compensatory consumption, or impulsive buying. These

Mexico 2 Díaz-Pichardo et al. (2017), Rajagopal (2010b)

Previous academic researchers have studied factors influencing the adoption of

Social comparison is a very significant construct in shaping purchasing deci-

Planning, organising, prioritising, and time management are examples of executive

In aspirational consumption, an individual will try to match the consumption

Table 4 Methodologies used to study BOP consumer behavior

Qualitative Srivastava et al. (2023), Gupta and Srivastav (2016a, 2016b)

The BOP’s adoption of innovations is very important. Frugal innovations, grassroot

pay attention to reducing the hindrances to innovation adoption at BOP. A lack of

sources of information. Studying of personality traits and their impact on market-

BOP consumers purchase second-hand products through known personal sources.

Table 5 Overview of future directions using the TCCM framework

Fig. 8 Conceptual model

resources. Aspirational consumption gives rise to social recognition and improved

5 Implications for marketers and policymakers

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2.2 Inclusion and exclusion criterion

3.2 Findings using the TCCM framework

5 Implications for marketers and policymakers