IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/buspol/v14y2012i1n4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Marketing to the Base of the Pyramid: A Corporate Responsibility Approach with Case Inspired Strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Santos Nicholas J.C.

    (Santa Clara University)

  • Laczniak Gene R.

    (Marquette University)

Abstract

The economic and political outcomes of market globalization continue to be complex. As international corporations engage developing markets, they increasingly find consumers who lack market sophistication, meaningful purchasing options and economic leverage. Such conditions are ripe for the exploitation of these market segments but also can be mitigated by enlightened managers willing to thoughtfully consider their ethical and professional obligations to vulnerable consumers. This paper builds on a normative ethical framework, labeled the integrative justice model (IJM) for impoverished markets that was introduced in the marketing and public policy literature. Specifically, the paper will extend the normative ethics of the IJM by proposing logically reasoned decision principles for managers, particularly in MNC subsidiaries, that might better shape ethical business strategy when targeting impoverished segments. Additionally, numerous case examples are given to illustrate how a number of these decision principles are already being applied by companies around the world. Such an approach can serve as a counterweight to the difficulty of crafting global regulations for market development.

Suggested Citation

  • Santos Nicholas J.C. & Laczniak Gene R., 2012. "Marketing to the Base of the Pyramid: A Corporate Responsibility Approach with Case Inspired Strategies," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-44, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:14:y:2012:i:1:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/1469-3569.1364
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/1469-3569.1364
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/1469-3569.1364?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dana Brown & Antje Vertterlein & Anne Roemer-Mahler, 2010. "Theorising transnational corporations as social actors : An analysis of corporate motivations," Post-Print hal-02312984, HAL.
    2. Ron Berger & Chong Choi & Jai Kim, 2011. "Responsible Leadership for Multinational Enterprises in Bottom of Pyramid Countries: The Knowledge of Local Managers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 553-561, July.
    3. Brown Dana L & Vetterlein Antje & Roemer-Mahler Anne, 2010. "Theorizing Transnational Corporations as Social Actors: An Analysis of Corporate Motivations," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-39, April.
    4. Brown, Dana L. & Vetterlein, Antje & Roemer-Mahler, Anne, 2010. "Theorizing Transnational Corporations as Social Actors: An Analysis of Corporate Motivations," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-37, April.
    5. Rüdiger Hahn, 2009. "The Ethical Rational of Business for the Poor – Integrating the Concepts Bottom of the Pyramid, Sustainable Development, and Corporate Citizenship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(3), pages 313-324, February.
    6. Bishop, John Douglas, 2000. "A Framework for Discussing Normative Theories of Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 563-591, July.
    7. Scott Kelley & Patricia H. Werhane & Laura P. Hartman, 2008. "The End of Foreign Aid as We Know It: The Profitable Alleviation of Poverty in a Globalized Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Charles Wankel (ed.), Alleviating Poverty through Business Strategy, chapter 0, pages 5-32, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. A. Coskun Samli, 2008. "Globalization from the Bottom Up," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-0-387-77098-7, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Santos & Gene Laczniak & Tina Facca-Miess, 2015. "The “Integrative Justice Model” as Transformative Justice for Base-of-the-Pyramid Marketing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 697-707, February.
    2. Laczniak, Gene R. & Murphy, Patrick E., 2019. "The role of normative marketing ethics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 401-407.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lindsey M. Bier & Candace L. White, 2021. "Cultural diplomacy as corporate strategy: an analysis of Pasona Group’s “New Tohoku” program in Japan," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 180-192, June.
    2. Dominik Aaken & Florian Buchner, 2020. "Religion and CSR: a systematic literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(5), pages 917-945, June.
    3. Jette Knudsen, 2013. "The Growth of Private Regulation of Labor Standards in Global Supply Chains: Mission Impossible for Western Small- and Medium-Sized Firms?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 387-398, October.
    4. Akrum Helfaya & Nasser Fathi Easa, 2022. "Islamic Religiosity and CSR Attitudes—The Case of Egyptian Managers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Alvise Favotto & Kelly Kollman, 2021. "Mixing business with politics: Does corporate social responsibility end where lobbying transparency begins?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 262-279, April.
    6. Johan Graafland & Niels Noorderhaven, 2020. "Technological Competition, Innovation Motive and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from Top Managers of European SMEs," De Economist, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Corrie Mazereeuw-van der Duijn Schouten & Johan Graafland & Muel Kaptein, 2014. "Religiosity, CSR Attitudes, and CSR Behavior: An Empirical Study of Executives’ Religiosity and CSR," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 437-459, September.
    8. Saghiri, Soroosh Sam & Mirzabeiki, Vahid, 2021. "Buyer-led environmental supplier development: Can suppliers really help it?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    9. Chuluunbat Tsendsuren & Prayag L. Yadav & Seung Hun Han & Seongjae Mun, 2021. "The effect of corporate environmental responsibility and religiosity on corporate cash holding decisions and profitability: Evidence from the United States' policies for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 987-1000, September.
    10. Linda Westman & Christopher Luederitz & Aravind Kundurpi & Alexander Julian Mercado & Olaf Weber & Sarah Lynne Burch, 2019. "Conceptualizing businesses as social actors: A framework for understanding sustainability actions in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 388-402, February.
    11. Jacob Hörisch & Isabell Wulfsberg & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "The influence of feedback and awareness of consequences on the development of corporate sustainability action over time," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 638-650, February.
    12. Nicholas Santos & Gene Laczniak & Tina Facca-Miess, 2015. "The “Integrative Justice Model” as Transformative Justice for Base-of-the-Pyramid Marketing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 697-707, February.
    13. Stefan Schaltegger & Jacob Hörisch & Derk Loorbach, 2020. "Corporate and entrepreneurial contributions to sustainability transitions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1617-1618, March.
    14. Thomas Magnusson & Viktor Werner, 2023. "Conceptualisations of incumbent firms in sustainability transitions: Insights from organisation theory and a systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 903-919, February.
    15. Brigitte Aoko Odipo & Agnes W. Njeru, 2016. "To Examine the Influence of Market Place as a Factor of Corporate Social Responsibility on Competitive Advantage within Pharmaceutical Companies in Kenya," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(7), pages 130-141, July.
    16. Bor, Sanne & O'Shea, Gregory & Hakala, Henri, 2024. "Scaling sustainable technologies by creating innovation demand-pull: Strategic actions by food producers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    17. Lindsey M. Bier & Candace L. White, 0. "Cultural diplomacy as corporate strategy: an analysis of Pasona Group’s “New Tohoku” program in Japan," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-13.
    18. Chuluunbat Tsendsuren & Prayag Lal Yadav & Sangsoo Kim & Seunghun Han, 2021. "The Effects of Managerial Competency and Local Religiosity on Corporate Environmental Responsibility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, May.
    19. Harjoto, Maretno Agus & Rossi, Fabrizio, 2019. "Religiosity, female directors, and corporate social responsibility for Italian listed companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 338-346.
    20. Zhuo Ban & Xiaohui Pan, 2020. "An analysis of national image communication strategies of Chinese corporations in the context of one-belt-one-road," Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 16(1), pages 97-106, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:14:y:2012:i:1:n:4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.