Does Lower Income Affect the Development of One's Innovative Ability in the Education Niche

The need of using creative and innovative education strategies in the low-income consumer setting has never been felt until this wake of the pandemic to assist for sustainable well-being. In this chapter, the role of improved education as a collective innovation measure in promoting awareness of the inclusive cover to the low-income consumers in the emerging countries will be perused in the wake of the 2019-nCoV virus in their struggle to cope with the unexpected management of risks in a more calculated way. The study provides the education challenges in the low-income insurance area posed to both consumers and providers and explains how their involvement is important through innovative programmes in the low-income cover niche such as digitalization amongst others. Since education indeed plays a huge role in enhancing participation in this field of low-income cover to entail sustainability, it will be wise that the policymakers, government officials, and others work closely with their consumers so that this problem can assist for sustainable livelihoods.

Regulatory focus and construal level theory on low-income consumer indebtedness: Evidence from an emerging market

PurposeThis study aims to further analyse the decision-making process of low-income consumer from an emerging market by verifying the influence of regulatory focus and construal level theory on indebtedness.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study was carried out with a design 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs prevention) × 2 (psychological distance: high vs low) between subjects, with 140 low-income consumers.FindingsOur study points out that the propensity towards indebtedness of low-income consumer is higher in a distal psychological distance. We found that promotion and prevention groups have the same propensity to indebtedness. Moreover, we highlight that low-income consumers are prone to propensity to indebtedness due to taking decisions focused on the present with an abstract mindset.Social implicationsFinancial awareness advertisements should focus on providing more concrete strategies in order to reduce decision-making complexity and provide ways to reduce competing situations that could deplete self-regulation resources. Also, public policy should organize educational programs to increase the low-income consumer's ability to deal with personal finances and reduce this task complexity. Finally, educational financial programs should also incorporate psychology professionals to teach mindfulness techniques applied to financial planning.Originality/valueThis study is the first to consider regulatory focus and construal level to explain low-income indebtedness. This paper provides a deeper analysis of the low-income consumers' decision process. Also, it supports and guides future academic and decision-making efforts.

Characterization of the shopping preferences and needs of low-income consumers living in food deserts

PurposeLack of access to supermarkets and fresh produce continues to be a problem for low income consumers in many countries. The purpose of this research was to identify the shopping preferences and needs of such consumers in the Eastern U.S. Additionally, the research sought to determine the interest and preferences of low income consumers in a mobile grocery intervention which would provide neighborhoods with a consistent, convenient shopping experience.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methods approach included conducting focus groups in low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and a quantitative survey (n = 202) administered via Survey Monkey to low-income consumers. Thematic analysis was conducted on focus group data and surveys were administered and analyzed to assess applicability of themes identified to consumers over a larger geographic area.FindingsResults indicated that consumers in food desert neighborhoods reported an interest in purchasing a wide range of food staples, household goods, and personal items from any shopping intervention. Participants indicated a need for a more convenient overall shopping experience for a range of foods and goods in addition to fresh food choices. Findings indicate that mobile interventions to increase food access may benefit from expanding products available through the intervention beyond fresh produce and perishable goods.Originality/valueThis research explored purchasing preferences with low income consumers living in food deserts. It identifies products and goods they would prefer to see in an intervention to increase food access and is unique in that it explores the wants and preferences of consumers living in food deserts.

The Potential for Healthy Checkout Policies to Advance Nutrition Equity

Background: As the only place in a store where all customers must pass through and wait, the checkout lane may be particularly influential over consumer purchases. Because most foods and beverages sold at checkout are unhealthy (e.g., candy/sweets, sugar-sweetened beverages, and salty snacks), policymakers and advocates have expressed growing interest in healthy checkout policies. To understand the extent to which such policies could improve nutrition equity, we as-sessed the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of purchasing items from checkout. Methods: We assessed self-reported checkout purchasing and sociodemographic characteristics in a national convenience sample of adults (n=10,348) completing an online survey in 2021. Re-sults: Over one-third (36%) of participants reported purchasing foods or drinks from checkout during their last grocery shopping trip. Purchasing items from checkout was more common among men; adults <55 years of age; low-income consumers; Hispanic, non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic Black consumers; those with at least a bachelor’s degree; parents; and consumers diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes (p-values<0.05). Conclusions: Purchasing foods or beverages from store checkouts is common and more prevalent among low-income and racial and ethnic minority groups. These results suggest that healthy checkout policies have the potential to improve nutrition equity.

Nutritional Compositions of Optimally Processed Umqombothi (a South African Indigenous Beer)

Umqombothi (a South African indigenous beer) is an important dietary beverage for many undernourished, low-income consumers in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Umqombothi was brewed using optimal conditions earlier obtained and compared to the customary beer brew (CB) and mixed raw ingredients (RI). The products were evaluated for proximate compositions, minerals, amino acids, B-group vitamins, and sugar compounds. The optimised beer brew (OPB) was relatively higher in energy (165 kcal), crude protein (8.6%), and ash content (1.0%). The CB had the highest concentration of sodium (299.8 mg/kg), magnesium (1170.5 mg/kg), potassium (2993.8 mg/kg), and phosphorus (2100.7 mg/kg). Glutamic acid was the highest detected amino acid, with concentrations of 1.5 g/100 g, 1.5 g/100 g, and 1.6 g/100 g in the RI, CB, and OPB, respectively. The OPB contained a higher concentration of the two forms of vitamin B3, nicotinamide (0.2 µg/g) and nicotinic acid (0.7 µg/g) in comparison to the CB. The concentration of the antioxidant, mannitol, was 0.4 mg/g, 0.2 mg/g, and 2.0 mg/g in the RI, CB, and OPB respectively. Overall, OPB displayed a desirable nutritional profile compared to the CB.

Defining frugal innovation: a critical review

Frugal innovation (FI), which has gained traction in various sectors, is loosely defined as developing quality solutions in a resource-constrained environment that are affordable to low-income consumers. However, with its popularity, multiple and diverse definitions have emerged that often lack a theoretical foundation. This has led to a convoluted conceptualisation that hinders research and adoption in practice. Despite this plethora of perspectives and definitions, scholars do agree that there is a need for a unified definition. This critical review across the management, entrepreneurship, business and organisation studies literatures explores the multiple definitions of FI that have appeared in the last two decades and seeks to examine the commonalities and differences. One definition is supported by a theoretical underpinning, and main themes include affordability, adaptability, resource scarcity, accessibility and sustainability, however, there remains significant ambiguity around what constitutes an FI. Defining FI as a concept should not deter from focusing on its core aim and identifying an FI may be best achieved by comparing it to an incumbent alternative, rather than against an ill-defined concept. There is merit in developing a common understanding of FI to support strategies for its successful acceptance and diffusion globally.

The Coexistence of Nanostores within the Retail Landscape: A Spatial Statistical Study for Mexico City

This paper aims to improve understanding of the grocery retail landscape in a megacity in the developing world. Over the past ten years (i.e., 2010–2020), retail in the grocery sector in Mexico City has changed significantly. The fast growth of chain convenience stores (CCS) and the financial stability of modern channel stores (MCS) has provoked speculation about whether nanostores (i.e., mom-and-pop stores) are going to disappear or if they will endure. In developing countries nanostores dominate the grocery retail market, providing a source of income to millions of families. While some studies suggest that nanostores will keep growing in number because they are more likely to be attached to growing middle- and low-income consumers in developing countries, our results show that high- and medium–high-income consumers purchase at nanostores too. Through a comprehensive spatial statistical analysis, we provide evidence that nanostores will endure and, most importantly, coexist with MCS and CCS regardless of the socioeconomic levels that coexist in the urban areas of a developing megacity. To gain a thorough understanding of how the grocery retail market is organized in Mexico City, and provide a richer discussion on the logistics and managerial implications for stakeholders (e.g., customers, practitioners, shopkeepers, suppliers, and policymakers), we also validate hypotheses from the literature related to this context and the three channels studied in this work.

Disentangling the role of income level on premium brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty: A comparative study within Thailand and Indonesia

The level of income is one of the specific consumer conditions that susceptible to influence their brand decision-making. Unfortunately, studies on the influence of income mainly focused on price without considering the relationship between brand and consumers. This study aims to examine how brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty related to the level of income in emerging countries like Thailand and Indonesia. Premium and high-class coffee chain brands choose as the object of this study as the exponential growth of the coffee culture in both countries. A total of 283 respondents have completed an online questionnaire and verified it to be processed into the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and LSD post hoc test for multiple comparison statistical analysis. The result of this study shows that although high-income and low-income consumers in Thailand tend to have the same perceived quality toward the premium coffee brand, in general, there is a significant difference in the mean of brand perceived quality, awareness, and association between various consumers income level in Thailand. Interestingly, this study found that there is no significant difference in the mean of premium coffee brand perceived quality, awareness, association, and loyalty within the group of income levels in Indonesia. This indicates that Indonesians tend to ignore how much money they have in their pocket when it comes to coffee as the coffee culture becoming a new habit and lifestyle.

The Role of Behavioral Frictions in Health Insurance Marketplace Enrollment and Risk: Evidence from a Field Experiment

We experimentally varied information mailed to 87,000 households in California’s health insurance marketplace to study the role of frictions in insurance take-up. Reminders about the enrollment deadline raised enrollment by 1.3 pp (16 percent) in this typically low take-up population. Heterogeneous effects of personalized subsidy information indicate misperceptions about program benefits. Consistent with an adverse selection model with frictional enrollment costs, the intervention lowered average spending risk by 5.1 percent, implying that marginal respondents were 37 percent less costly than inframarginal consumers. We observe the largest positive selection among low income consumers, who exhibit the largest frictions in enrollment. Finally, we estimate the implied value of the letter intervention to be $25 to $53 per month in subsidy dollars. These results suggest that frictions may partially explain low take-up for marketplace insurance, and that interventions reducing them can improve enrollment and market risk in exchanges. (JEL C93, G22, G52, H75, I13)