Purpose This study provides empirical evidence for the impact that income and expenditure fluctuations have on understanding the fundamentals of BoP household share-of-wallet in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study used a longitudinal financial diary methodology to record household income in 80 households (in four different geographic areas) over four monthly waves. Findings The study showed the lack of reliability of aggregated population income and expenditure surveys when understanding the specific behaviour of BoP households. The study concludes that major category trade-offs occur on a monthly basis, and that these trade-offs directly impact our fundamental understanding BoP SoW. Originality/value While the BoP consumer theory is developing (especially in the last decade), most of the theory is focused on development and business strategy. Empirically based consumer theory is noticeably lacking, given that the BoP is the largest population segment on earth. In addition, research is largely absent of highly rigourous and in-depth quantification of consumer SoW behaviour. This study contributes to the BoP theory by examining monthly fluctuations in income and expenditure, a line of analysis not done before to this extent. In doing so, the study proposes a new metric for the measurement of category expenditure as an index of the total spend.

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Purpose This paper aims to show that a generic bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) segmentation strategy does not represent a multi-country BoP consumer profile. A series of multinational entry failures has clearly shown that a one-size-fits-all strategy is inappropriate for emerging markets, especially in Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study analysed literature defining and profiling BoP consumers at both a global and local level using South Africa as a case study. Being Africa’s largest economy, South Africa was an ideal subject. The findings were then independently triangulated with seven experts for validation. Findings The results show that the South African BoP has eight characteristics that align with definitions in global BoP consumer literature. An additional five characteristics were identified that were not general BoP characteristics, and that applied specifically to South Africa. Practical implications The findings add to the growing evidence that BoP markets are complex and heterogeneous, and they make a case to consider each BoP market individually. As there is yet to be a model to define BoP market differences systematically, this study provides a foundation for new developments in BoP segmentation in Africa and in other emerging markets. Originality/value While there is evidence that BoP markets are complex and heterogeneous, there is yet to be a model to begin the process of defining these differences systematically to improve strategic direction for multinational companies and regional decision makers. This study, therefore, provides a foundation for new developments in this field of segmentation in Africa and in other emerging markets globally.

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This study explored digital privacy concerns in the use of chatbots as a digital banking service. Three dimensions of trust were tested in relation to user self-disclosure in order to better understand the consumer-chatbot experience in banking. The methodology selected for this research study followed a conclusive, pre-experimental, two-group one-shot case study research design which made use of a non-probability snowballing sampling technique. Privacy concerns were found to have a significantly negative relationship with user self-disclosure in both treatment groups. Respondents exposed to their preferred banking brand experienced lower user self-disclosure and brand trust than those exposed to a fictitious banking brand within the South African context. It is recommended that companies using chatbots focus on easing privacy concerns and build foundations of trust. The gains that chatbots have made in the form of increased productivity and quality of customer service rely on relationships with users who need to disclose personal information. Through this study, we concluded that, despite its power to influence decision-making, the power of a brand is not enough for consumers to considerably increase self-disclosure. Rather, a bridge of trust (through education, communication and product development) is needed that encompasses all three elements of trust, which are brand trust, cognitive trust and emotional trust. Limited research exists on the relationship between financial services marketing and chatbot adoption. Thus, this study addressed a theoretical gap, by adding brand trust to existing studies on cognitive and emotional trust regarding user self-disclosure.

PurposeThis study analysed the effect of online negative word-of-mouth (nWOM) firestorms in the retail banking sector. By understanding negative sentiment and sentiment recovery across an entire retail banking sector, the research exposed a unique view of banking in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe study made use of both a sentiment and topic analysis of over 1.7 million social media posts in South Africa. The methodology made use of both NLP and human validation techniques to measure changes in social media sentiment during online firestorms. This measurement included each of South Africa's major retail banks over a twelve month period.FindingsFrom the analysis, key trigger characteristics for these firestorms (product failures, service failures, social failures and communication failures) were categorised. In addition, the average duration of a firestorm was calculated and factors that impact sentiment recovery were explored.Originality/valueThe study was located in South Africa and, unlike firm level studies, researched nWOM for the whole retail banking sector. A theoretical footprint depicting the typical anatomy of a firestorm was derived in order to aid stakeholders to be more vigilant and better equipped to provide correct intervention in such times of crisis.