Doing well by doing good: Pursuing commercial success by internalizing social good in subsistence markets

This paper examines the strategies that successful firms employ in subsistence markets. Using qualitative research and case studies, we argue that it is essential for firms to internalize social good in order to succeed in subsistence markets. In other words, customer and societal welfare concerns move from the periphery to the center of strategic planning and to permeate business functions and processes. We do not propose that the business exists for the social good; but rather that business exists for making profits and that in the subsistence context, the pursuit of social good will increase the likelihood of commercial success. We develop a set of propositions about selected aspects of business processes such as product development and pricing.