Role of Social Network in Defining the Impact of Marketing - Mix on Satisfaction from Food Items at Subsistence Marketplace

Abstract

The current research study modified the traditional 4Ps (product, price, place, and promotion) of the marketing - mix model in an egalitarian manner for the consumers in subsistence or bottom of the pyramid (BOP) marketplace. For this study, subsistence marketplace was defined as composed of households earning less than ` 8000 per month and clustered in slum areas. A survey of such 600 households clustered in six different slum areas of Delhi was conducted. This study constructed the marketing - mix for non-core or compensatory construct of food items. This study not only redefined the marketing - mix, but also determined the impact of identified marketing- mix constructs on purchase satisfaction and analyzed whether the relationship was moderated by BOP consumers' participation in the social network. The key findings emerged in the form of a redefined marketing - mix comprising of : Value of Offer, Convenience, Quality Food, and Social Sources of Information. A significant direct influence of marketing mix variables on purchase satisfaction was observed. The participation in the social network significantly moderated the relationship between consumers' satisfaction and price-mix and promotional-mix elements. This study stressed the need to use the social network for ethical market exchanges. It marks an integral step towards the inclusion of the long-forgotten BOP market in the mainstream, thereby improving their standard of living. This paper makes an original contribution in the direction of the revival of existing Western marketing dynamics and the role of social networks in the context of subsistence marketplace.