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Is It Exploitation for a Company to Profit from Selling Soaps, Shampoo, Personal Computers and Ice Cream and so on, to People with Little Disposable Income?

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Submitted By yanyun24
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More than 4 billion people still live at the bottom of the pyramid with less than US$2 a day even after years of charitable organizations and national governments’ efforts in eradicating poverty. The traditional perspective of the poor being an insignificant market segment is outdated as major markets become more saturated and now, marketing to the BOP serves as a potential area to venture into. It magnified ethical concerns to surface when firms target their products to these ‘aspirational poor’ for profit. However I feel that it is not exploitation for a company to profit from selling soaps, shampoo, personal computers and ice cream and so on, to people with little disposable income.
By engaging the poor in commerce is a win-win approach for them as well as the companies, and might be the best way out to poverty as it will ultimately move the poor up the income distribution ladder. It would be a greater harm to the people at the bottom of the pyramid if corporations are to overlook them altogether as they will not be able to enjoy the benefits of globalization without an active engagement and without contact to products and services that represents global quality standards. With firms entering into the BOP market create more choices for the consumers, and at the same time they also benefit in terms of market expansion and additional profit channel.
It is not exploitation when company profit from selling necessities like soaps and computers to people with little disposable income because in each successful transaction, there is mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller. The buyer with little disposable income can choose to refuse purchase from the company if they do not want to or cannot afford to. Therefore the consumers despite being poor still possess the rights to choose, they do not have to spend if the stated price is over the maximum price they

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