Under-Served, Under-Nourished and Under-Employed: Understanding and Improving the Lives of the World’s Poorer Three Billion People

Abstract

This paper, guided by the literature concerning vulnerable populations, food deserts and bottom of the pyramid markets, presents a new conceptual model to further our understanding of how businesses can do good, while doing well in under-served/under-nourished/under-employed markets that exist around the world. The model incorporates “antecedents” (historic, economic and social realities of vulnerable populations), “moderators” (education levels, sustainable transportation options and the need to view vulnerable populations as both consumers and producer),“mediators” (appropriate marketing strategies for vulnerable populations) to theorize how organizations can do both well (realizing sales and profit growth from vulnerable populations) and do good (uplifting the lives of vulnerable populations from the plights they face currently). The paper concludes with a call for further research into this area of research, particularly empirical investigations into the veracity of the proposed model.