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How Do Incumbents Respond to Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Firm Entry?

Ajay Bhaskarabhatla and Chirantan Chatterjee
2013
Working Paper No
410
Body

Scholars argue that serving markets at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), composed of consumers with low purchasing power, has been offered as a strategic business opportunity. Beyond serving low-end consumers, do BOP firms affect market prices and the strategic choices of incumbent firms? We examine the impact of a BOP firm's potential and actual entry on incumbent pricing behavior, particularly that of high-end firms. We find that the threat of a BOP firm's entry, as well as its actual entry lowers high-end prices and raises low-end prices in the market. We document similar changes in package sizes revealing a potential mechanism through which this impact on prices is manifested. A BOP firm's entry lowers the package size offered by high-end firms, limits their ability to effectively price-discriminate, and leads to lower high-end prices and an overall increase in the volume of sales. The anticipation of a BOP firm's entry increases low-end prices prior to actual entry, as low-end incumbents adjust their package-size strategy. We relate these results to recent theoretical models of mixed markets featuring high-end and low-end firm entry and reflect on what makes the BOP strategy sustainable.

Key words
entry, mixed markets, bottom-of-the-pyramid, pharmaceuticals, India.

How Do Incumbents Respond to Bottom-of-the-Pyramid Firm Entry?

Author(s) Name: Ajay Bhaskarabhatla and Chirantan Chatterjee, 2013
Working Paper No : 410
Abstract:

Scholars argue that serving markets at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), composed of consumers with low purchasing power, has been offered as a strategic business opportunity. Beyond serving low-end consumers, do BOP firms affect market prices and the strategic choices of incumbent firms? We examine the impact of a BOP firm's potential and actual entry on incumbent pricing behavior, particularly that of high-end firms. We find that the threat of a BOP firm's entry, as well as its actual entry lowers high-end prices and raises low-end prices in the market. We document similar changes in package sizes revealing a potential mechanism through which this impact on prices is manifested. A BOP firm's entry lowers the package size offered by high-end firms, limits their ability to effectively price-discriminate, and leads to lower high-end prices and an overall increase in the volume of sales. The anticipation of a BOP firm's entry increases low-end prices prior to actual entry, as low-end incumbents adjust their package-size strategy. We relate these results to recent theoretical models of mixed markets featuring high-end and low-end firm entry and reflect on what makes the BOP strategy sustainable.

Keywords: entry, mixed markets, bottom-of-the-pyramid, pharmaceuticals, India.