Making the invisible visible: A study of the influence of institutions on the adoption behavior of base-of-the-pyramid consumers toward transformative service innovations

This dissertation explores and offers new perspectives on why market-based innovations designed to alleviate poverty often fail to gain traction among consumers at the base of the pyramid (BOP). Focusing on understanding the link between institutional barriers and BOP consumer behavior, it reveals how local rules, norms and practices shape resistance to pro-poor innovations. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives from service-dominant logic, transformative service research, and institutional theory, and using qualitative and quantitative evidence from Zambia, the work offers a grounded understanding of how institutional voids can impede the process of institutional change which necessarily goes hand in hand with the adoption of transformative services such as mobile banking and insurance designed for BOP target groups.
By developing a conceptual framework that links local (incomplete) sets of institutions to innovation adoption, the book advances theory on market-based poverty alleviation and transformative service innovation. It provides valuable insights for scholars and practitioners seeking to design more inclusive, context-sensitive strategies for sustainable development and institutional transformation in impoverished markets and beyond.