Shruti Gupta

To buy or not to buy? A social dilemma perspective on green buying

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw on social dilemma theory and reference group theory to explain the attitude‐behavior inconsistency in environmental consumerism. This research seeks to better understand why, despite concern towards the environment (attitude), consumers fail to purchase environmentally friendly or green products (behavior).Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument was developed that used scales to measure eight independent and one dependent variable. In addition, socio‐demographic data were also collected about the study participants. To discriminate between green and non‐green buyers, classification with discriminant analysis was used.Findings – The framework presented contributes to the environmental consumerism literature by framing the attitude‐behavior gap as a social dilemma and draws on reference group theory to identify individual factors to help understand the gap and suggest ways in which to bridge it. Results from the study reveal that several characteristi...

The company‐cause‐customer fit decision in cause‐related marketing

Purpose – Cause‐related marketing activities are increasingly becoming a meaningful part of corporate marketing plans. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the company, cause and customer, and how fit between these three groups influences consumer response via generating a positive attitude toward the company‐cause alliance and purchase intent for the sponsored product.Design/methodology/approach – Two studies are carried out, first among students and second among consumers.Findings – Two studies (study 1=232 students, study 2=531 consumers) demonstrate that company‐cause fit improves attitude toward the company‐cause alliance and increases purchase intent. Additionally, this effect is enhanced under conditions of customer‐company and customer‐cause congruence, and the consumers overall attitude toward the sponsoring company. Skepticism about the companys motivation for participating in a cause‐related marketing initiative was not relevant to consumer purchase decisions.Research limitatio...

A Taxonomy of Cause-Related Marketing Research: Current Findings and Future Research Directions

ABSTRACT Cause-related marketing is an increasingly popular method of improving marketing relationships with customers, both for the sponsoring company and for the participating cause. This paper outlines the rewards and risks for the company and the cause as they consider this type of partnership, as well as the benefits and drawbacks for the customers asked to participate in these programs through the purchase of the sponsored product or service. Future directions for research are recommended in order to (1) expand the findings within this domain, and (2) to maximize sales results from cause-related marketing initiatives for businesses and causes.

Consumer Evaluation of Target Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid

ABSTRACT Bottom of Pyramid (BOP) research has emphasized how marketing to the worlds poor is profitable for companies and can generate significant revenue growth. But marketing targeting BOP consumers can also do harm, creating ethical concerns over exploitative marketing practices. This article measures the ethical evaluation by the average (non-BOP) consumer of target marketing to the BOP, and measures the consumers willingness to take action against the company when it is marketing unethically. Findings show that non-BOP consumers do not consider companies to be ethically wrong in marketing to the BOP, provided marketing practices are evaluated as fair for BOP consumers. However, non-BOP consumers will take action against companies perceived to be marketing unethically to BOP consumers.

The influence of marketing on consumption behavior at the bottom of the pyramid

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the nature and degree to which marketing affects consumption behavior of bottom of the pyramid (BOP) population. The objective of the study is to examine, identify and explain aspects of consumption behavior that evidences the influence of marketing practices on the BOP consumers. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a long interview-based approach for an in-depth qualitative investigation of consumption behaviors of BOP consumers. Findings – Key findings that emerged from the research are: widespread usage of international brands and expenditure on products outside of the core bundle of consumption, susceptibility to sales promotions, need to look and feel good and use “fairness” creams, susceptibility to advertising and celebrity endorsements and influence of store personnel. Practical implications – For managers, this research suggests a careful examination of the likely consequences of their marketing actions. A set of guidelines are provided to them for do...

An Empirical Examination of a Multinational Ethical Dilemma: The Issue of Child Labor

ABSTRACT Todays global marketplace presents a variety of ethical dilemmas for multinational corporations. This ethical decision-making process becomes particularly challenging when the ethical standards in the companys home country are higher than those in host markets. One global ethical issue that has received significant attention in international research is that of child labor, particularly the minimum age of employment. This article examines the issue of corporate ethical policies on the minimum age for child labor in emerging markets by using the universalist versus relativist ethical framework. Study results show that while both home and host consumers overwhelmingly prefer the universalist approach, the relativist option is acceptable only when the context of the host country is explained to both groups.

Despite unethical retail store practices, consumers at the bottom of the pyramid continue to be loyal

Research in the area of retail store loyalty agrees that consumers reward retailers when they are satisfied with its products, services, and its image. Moreover, one would agree that if the retailer engages in unethical practices, the customer would quickly defect and even engage in word of mouth to influence others to defect. But this might not be the case universally. One consumer group that continues to be loyal to a retailer despite widespread unethical practices is the poor. A growing stream of research under the label of bottom of pyramid (BoP) and subsistence consumers has increasingly pointed out the market attractiveness of this segment to multinational companies. These poor consumers are individuals who earn approximately

Efficacy of Promotional Offers in Poor Households: Insights from the Bottom of the Pyramid

2 per day. In this paper, we explain the nature of widespread unethical retail practices prevalent amongst the neighborhood retail stores (or kirana as they are referred to in India) that serve the BoP consumer, types of patronage behaviors, and the reasons ‘why’ these consumers continue to support the kirana store. The data for this paper comes from a qualitative study conducted with 58 urban poor consumers in India. This study carries significant implications for both domestic and multinational companies that market fast-moving consumer goods in the BoP market.

The Nature of Family Decision Making at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP): Social and Managerial Implications

Research in the area of sales promotion has shown that a combination of tactics that include but are not limited to cash discounts, coupons, product premiums, rebates etc. is effective in driving consumer action such as purchase, new product trial, stock up, encourage habitual purchase, and brand switching. In studying the efficacy of promotional offers, some research has attributed deal proneness to a number of sociodemographic and personality traits. Though traditional economic theory predicts deal proneness to be positively correlated with income, research in marketing has instead supported a negative relationship where low-income consumers tend to be more price sensitive, instead. Despite this consumer marketers continue to spend marketing funds in promotional offers in the fast moving consumer good (FMCG) category targeted toward low-income consumers. A growing stream of research under the labels of bottom of pyramid (BoP) and subsistence consumers has increasingly pointed out the market attractiveness of this low-income population to multinational companies especially in the FMCG sector. These poor consumers are individuals who earn approximately

A framework for understanding corporate social responsibility programs as a continuum : An exploratory study

2 per day. The largest BoP market in the world by size of population is in India where, according to a 2011 World Bank estimate, 69 % of the country’s total population (approximately 1.2 billion) earns