Innovation in the subsistence marketplace: an analysis considering multiple concepts and approaches

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the different concepts of innovation in thesubsistence marketplace from top-down and bottom-up approaches. This study analyzes the literatureon the theme and identified research gaps by constructing a framework based on approaches andinnovation concepts, which can guide future research efforts. Additionally, this paper presents two casestudies, which can improve the way innovation is developed and diffused in the subsistencemarketplace.Design/methodology/approach – Through a literature review, this study develops a framework byanalyzing innovation concepts in the subsistence marketplace (i.e. base of the pyramid innovation, disruptiveinnovation, frugal innovation, reverse innovation and inclusive innovation) in light of subsistencemarketplace approaches (top-down and bottom-up).Findings – The analysis showed critical research gaps, especially a lack of studies involvingdisruptive and frugal innovations from a bottom-up approach. This paper also concludes that the topdown approach is more common than the bottom-up one. To fill these gaps, this study presents twobusiness plans by illustrating disruptive innovation vs bottom-up approach and frugal innovation vsbottom-up approach.Originality/value – The use of real business plans to illustrate proposals having an actual impact onsubsistence marketplace regions sheds light on how to address these challenges. By doing so, this paperintends to fill the theoretical gap in disruptive and frugal innovations within a bottom-up approach to promote the development and diffusion of different types of innovation in the subsistence marketplace, andthus provide solutions to alleviate povert