Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Serving Low-Income Communities

The bottom of the pyramid (BOP) is a socioeconomic concept used in reference to the largest but poorest group of the world's population, who live on less than $2.50 a day. The importance of addressing the needs of the world’s poorest citizens was most prominently underscored by business writer C. K. Prahalad, who believed that much innovation can come from developments in emerging markets such as China and India.15 Firms operating in those markets are forced to innovate in order to be able to do more with less.

Satisfying the bottom of the pyramid also requires careful planning and execution. Although they may collectively be worth several trillion dollars, each individual low-income consumer may have very little ...