The Consumer as Barrier vs. The Consumer as Partner

Sammanfattning: First objective: To bring forward managers’ perceptions of the underserved consumers in emerging markets. Second objective: To reveal what implications managers’ perceptions of underserved consumers in emerging markets provide for branding in these markets. Our study indicates that managers’ perceptions are still lacking consumer insights within five elements (value, loyalty, purchasing power, consumers and consumption). Hence, we identified that the mindset of managers is focused to short-term gains rather than viewed from a long-term perspective. We believe that managers today possess an old mindset (e.g. short-term, passive, consumer as barrier), whereas managers should engage in a new mindset (e.g. long-term, proactive, consumer as partner) in order to become successful.