Empowering entrepreneurship to advance inclusivity and deliver greater value

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For Asper School of Business professor Kiran Pedada, rigorous and thorough academic research is also personal, passionate, and a way to broaden perspectives. Together with colleagues, Pedada, Assistant Professor of Marketing and The Associates Fellow in Marketing and Inclusive Business, recently published a study in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

The paper, "Rural women microentrepreneurs, consumer acquisition, and value delivery," examines how recruiting women entrepreneurs living in rural India can aid in consumer acquisition and value delivery, finding that rural areas with more women than men microentrepreneurs experienced a 40.8% increase in consumer acquisition and delivered 64.1% greater value to consumers.

Having worked with co-authors Aindrila Chatterjee and Amit J. Chauradia, Pedada describes the study as a highlight of his career so far, emphasizing how much the subject resonates with his own background.

"I personally came from one of these rural villages, and I witnessed many of the challenges that rural women face. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to work on this project because it is very close to my heart," he explains.

Using data from the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), a large NGO based in India that strives to empower rural villages with digital technologies, Pedada examined the work of rural women microentrepreneurs. With the support of DEF, these small business owners connect rural consumers to information about welfare programming offered by the government, bringing more consumers out of digital darkness and helping them access crucial resources.

Pedada studied the effects of recruiting more rural women microentrepreneurs for DEF and speaks with pride about the key findings.

"First, we found that the rural locations with more women microentrepreneurs delivered more value and consumer acquisition. The second finding is that these women can also deliver better value to women consumers specifically. The third finding, which we are very proud of, is that not only are these women creating more value in their own work, but it seems that their passion and commitment is contagious," he notes.

To this point, the research shows that male microentrepreneurs working in these inclusive settings with more women microentrepreneurs delivered greater value to their consumers than those working in predominantly male work environments.

This research is a source of personal and professional pride for Pedada, as he explains that it combines his core research interests—emerging markets, digital environments, and the intersections of marketing and finance. He also hopes it can broaden perspectives and inspire more work that examines inclusive practices that might be taking place on demographic or geographic fringes.

Pedada's work in this, and future research, he explains, aims not just to rethink a concept like entrepreneurship, but instead strives to think bigger about what entrepreneurship is—who can become an entrepreneur and how that identity can be a source of personal and community empowerment and a compelling value proposition for businesses.

More information: Aindrila Chatterjee et al, Rural women microentrepreneurs, consumer acquisition, and value delivery: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in rural India, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s11747-024-01053-6

Journal information: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Provided by University of Manitoba