Sustainable Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of the Pyramid: An Identity-Based Perspective

Jackson Musona, Kaisu Puumalainen, Helena Sjögrén and Anna Vuorio
Additional contact information
Jackson Musona: School of Business & Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, LUT, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Kaisu Puumalainen: School of Business & Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, LUT, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Helena Sjögrén: School of Business & Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, LUT, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland
Anna Vuorio: School of Business & Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, LUT, P.O. Box 20, 53851 Lappeenranta, Finland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-37

Abstract: Entrepreneurial behavior research has widened its scope to focus on founders who engage in creating enterprises for both their economic self-interest and their concern for others. Yet, there is a lack of an empirically grounded understanding of the sustainable enterprise creation behavior of entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid. This study contributes to sustainable entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behavior literature streams by applying founder identity theoretical perspectives to explore and understand bottom of the pyramid entrepreneurs’ self-perceived identities in the creation of sustainable enterprises. The study applies a multiple case study design with qualitative data collected through field observations and in-depth interviews with enterprise founders and stakeholders. The data were complemented with secondary materials such as websites, founder blogs, online videos, news articles, and other media coverage. The data were analyzed in stages through thematic analysis. Findings show that sustainable entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid possess multiple frames of reference, basic social motivations and adopt either single or multiple role identities, which influence their behavior during the process of creating their enterprises. Moreover, the analysis reveals that Fauchart and Gruber’s social identity typologies and the role identities of Cardon et al. can be applied to entrepreneurs at the bottom of the pyramid to understand their identity profiles and illuminate on how these identities result in observed behavioral differences during the process of creating their enterprises.

Keywords: bottom of the pyramid; developing country; entrepreneurial behavior; founder identity; role identity; social identity; sustainable entrepreneurship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:812-:d:481015

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