Potentials of Frugal Innovation to Combine the Social and Economic Objectives in the Marketing of Social Enterprises
Social enterprises strive to address social problems and pursue economic goals. In doing so, they also have to deal with the question of how to structure their marketing approaches to balance social and economic marketing goals. Frugal innovation often aims to address social problems with solutions that are affordable and of high quality. At the same time, these innovations are embedded in economic structures and aim to generate profits. Thus, it is assumed that such innovations influence the design of marketing strategies. This case study reveals how the social enterprise EinDollarBrille e.V. combines social and economic aims in its marketing approach based on a frugal innovation. The findings are consistent with previous research that social enterprises should try to overcome seeming contradictions of marketing goals. It is proposed that social enterprises could consciously pursue strategies that create synergy between their dual aims. Thereby, frugal innovations can be advantageous.