Integrated approach to understanding consumer behavior at bottom of pyramid

Article Review: Integrated Approach to Understanding Consumer Behavior at Bottom of Pyramid
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The article studies and investigates on the consumer habits of the section of the world that is considered to be the bottom most of the economic pyramid. It looks to address the reasons why they consume, and the different needs that they have in the market. According to the study, “despite income and resource constraints, BoP consumers are sophisticated and creative.” Consumers are good at prioritizing and choosing their consumption patterns. The study concluded that “BoP markets offer profitable opportunities.” (Subrahmanyan & Gomez‐Arias, 2008) This means that firms should concentrate on this lower part of the pyramid that is more often than not ignored, due to the assumption that they are irrelevant in the market. Considering they make a majority of the market, products need to be designed and tailored to suit their specific needs.
“According to Maslow, there are five core human motives that are satisfied hierarchically: physiological; safety and security; belonging; self-esteem; and finally self-actualization.” (Subrahmanyan & Gomez‐Arias, 2008) This rule means that the needs of the consumers are usually satisfied in ascending order. Despite the cultural, geographical, or marketing strategies used in the different locations, consumer needs are tackled from the lowest to the highest (Subrahmanyan & Gomez‐Arias, 2008). “Maslow framework is a useful way to categorize basic needs, motivation and priorities for BoP’s higher order needs might perhaps be explained by other concepts such as social capital and family systems, cultural differences and compensatory consumption.

” (Subrahmanyan & Gomez‐Arias, 2008)“While survival and safety needs are indeed critical, building bonds with the community and higher order needs such as self-esteem and self-fulfillment lead to greater productivity and profit opportunities.” (Subrahmanyan & Gomez‐Arias, 2008)
Bottom of the pyramid customers is influenced by different things such as “social capital, for cultural reasons or as a means to compensate for deficiencies in other areas of their lives.” Therefore, for the success of different firms in the BoP market, they need to identify these different factors among the individuals. These populations have proven over time to be the backbone of the global market and firms should ensure they maximize this factor. Owing to the marketing strategies that are eased by technology today, there is the possibility of creating products and services that are not only efficient but meet the needs of this crucial group in the market.
Reference
Saroja Subrahmanyan, J. Tomas Gomez‐Arias, (2008) “Integrated approach to understanding consumer behavior at bottom of pyramid”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 Issue: 7, pp.402-12, https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760810915617