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Indigenous marketing practices and theories in emerging economies: Consumer behavior and retail transformations in India

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  • Dholakia, Ruby R.
  • Dholakia, Nikhilesh
  • Chattopadhyay, Atish

Abstract

Large emerging economies like India present major challenges to international marketers as well as to academic theorists. The retail sector in India is particularly challenging because, numerically, it is the world's largest and most heterogeneous, with millions of tiny small traditional outlets competing with thousands of rapidly growing and expanding modern retail chain outlets. Based on extensive fieldwork in India entailing observation, interviews and secondary research, this paper presents a multifaceted view of how consumer patronage of small traditional stores provide competitive advantages to these small competitors. The empirical results suggest historical patterns do not apply in this context. Managerial and theoretical implications follow. The working conclusion is that retail developments in India and other major emerging economies would require not just innovations in practice but strong, ongoing efforts for theoretical renewal so that better explanatory frameworks are available for understanding marketing strategies and consumer behaviors in emerging settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Dholakia, Ruby R. & Dholakia, Nikhilesh & Chattopadhyay, Atish, 2018. "Indigenous marketing practices and theories in emerging economies: Consumer behavior and retail transformations in India," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 406-415.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:86:y:2018:i:c:p:406-415
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.09.030
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    Cited by:

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    2. Vidal Vieira, José Geraldo & Ramirez Navarro, Hector Angel & Fransoo, Jan C., 2021. "Understanding urban logistics and consumer behavior in São Paulo city," Other publications TiSEM 26630a72-a59e-4502-ab56-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Mukherjee, Debmalya & Kumar, Satish & Mukherjee, Deepraj & Goyal, Kirti, 2022. "Mapping five decades of international business and management research on India: A bibliometric analysis and future directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 864-891.
    4. Vikram Choudhary & Rajesh K Aithal, 2023. "Low-cost Technologies for Kirana (Small) Retail: A Game Changer?," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(2), pages 250-258, July.
    5. Morales, Andrés & Calvo, Sara & Guaita Martínez, José Manuel & Martín Martín, José María, 2021. "Hybrid forms of business: Understanding the development of indigenous social entrepreneurship practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 212-222.
    6. Arpita Khare, 2020. "Location and agglomeration factors predicting retailers’ preference for Indian malls," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(4), pages 245-266, December.
    7. Garg, Shamita & Sushil,, 2022. "Impact of de-globalization on development: Comparative analysis of an emerging market (India) and a developed country (USA)," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1179-1197.
    8. Arpita Khare, 0. "Location and agglomeration factors predicting retailers’ preference for Indian malls," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-22.
    9. Patil, Ashutosh & Borle, Sharad & Singh, Siddharth, 2023. "An empirical investigation of unique traits of retailing industry in emerging economies: The perspective of consumer-packaged goods manufacturers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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