Purpose: The USA is witnessing a conflict between LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) consumers/supporters and Christian fundamentalist service providers/opponents regarding whether service can be denied based on religious values. The purpose of this paper is to make a timely investigation into this conflict between marketplace inclusion (for LGBTQ consumers) and freedom of religion (for religious service providers). Design/methodology/approach: The intersection of marketplace inclusion for LGBTQ consumers and religious freedom for service providers is examined by identifying appropriate strategies that address this conflict and reviewing how differing religious perspectives influence perceptions of LGBTQ consumer rights, all building off the social identity threat literature. Findings: LGBTQ and religious identities often conflict to influence consumer behavior and service provider interactions. Such conflict is heightened when there is a lack of substitutes (i.e. only one service provider in an area for a specific service). Common LGBTQ consumer responses include changing service providers, providing justification for the provision of services and pursing legal recourse. Suggested strategies to address this conflict include highlighting common social identities and using two-sided messages for service providers, using in-group interventions for social groups and using government interventions for public policy. Originality/value: Research has yet to examine the conflict between marketplace inclusion and religious freedom, particularly for the inclusion of LGBTQ consumers. Thus, this paper provides a novel conceptual model detailing these relationships to stimulate discussion among consumers, service providers, social groups and public policy in addition to serving as a foundation for future research.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how technological innovations mitigate inefficiencies in marketing channels in the context of microfinance markets in emerging markets. By examining in detail, specific market inefficiencies that inhibit the efforts of micro and small enterprises to access microfinance in emerging markets and the use of technology to alleviate these failures, the authors bridge the literatures on marketing channel inefficiencies and technological innovation relevant to emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a qualitative method in the form of phenomenological interviews and participant observation in Ghana, West Africa, to investigate the research question.Findings: The three themes that arise from the findings are: channel structure and structure selection; power-dependence relationships and relational outcomes; and conflict mechanisms and control behaviors. Customerization of technology is observed to mitigate inefficiencies in mobile marketing channels by facilitating data sharing, reminders, peer referencing and other marketing strategies of awareness, affordability, access and scalability.Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this study are the fact that the context of the study is only one emerging market country – Ghana. This market is however experiencing dynamic changes in mobile technology innovations that is revolutionizing the microfinance industry.Practical implications: Mobile money innovations have advanced the scope of marketing channels to the point that an updated perspective of the role of mobile technology in mitigating marketing channels inefficiency is both appropriate and timely.Originality/value: The authors make the contribution of customerization as an aspect of mobile technology that is a key enabler in microfinance marketing channels, serving to mitigate microfinance market inefficiencies. Additionally, the study augments theories on the marketing channels framework by contributing perspectives on mobile technology.

Increasingly, environmental sustainability has become an important consideration for customer value co-creation, which is collaboration between a firm-provider and its customers to jointly create value. Our research question is therefore “how does customer value co-creation (CVC) enhance environmental sustainability?” We argue that attention to CVC globally would significantly enhance environmental sustainability in emerging markets. The findings of the study revealed that firms that do not enhance customer engagement and their environmental sustainability will lose patronage. Secondly, the attitude of most of these tourists who continually visit unclean tourism destinations such as littered beaches and polluted water bodies would continue to make these TDs not improve in their environmental products, hence, performing poorly in environmental sustainability performance. This study makes important contributions to research and practice of connecting customer value co-creation to environmental sustainability in emerging markets. Our study finds out that CVC in emerging markets can result in environmental sustainability.

This study highlights the impact of digital financial services as enhancing the capacity of development goals as well as social sustainability. The selected emerging markets are Ghanaian financial service providers (FSP)s and microenterprise customers (CME)s, where we examine how “Ubuntu”, an African philosophy of humanism, legitimizes spaces for a more democratic, egalitarian, and ethical engagement of human beings. This study adopts a grounded theory methodology for investigation of the phenomena with a sample size of 70 relationship managers. The findings further existing sustainability literature pertaining to social sustainability and consumer wellbeing. We contribute to theory by presenting a psychological perspective which be leveraged for digital financial services branding to expand usage within communal systems. This leverage of Ubuntu becomes especially relevant when there is the need to compensate for deficits in weak business infrastructures in low-income but expanding markets. Our study highlights digital financial services can be used to improve the emotional and psychological consumer wellbeing and to strengthen business relationships, meeting joint goals of market share expansion, brand image enhancement and profitability. This perspective also contributes to social sustainability on a global scale since the Western world depends on quality products from emerging markets.

This study investigates metaphors used in the marketplace when providing microcredit to micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Metaphors are associations between abstract concepts and tangible things, wherein the former is understood and even experienced in terms of the latter. This study culls metaphors from interviews with managers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and their MSE customers and shows widespread use of metaphors by both groups. Three metaphoric themes emerged during the interviews: (1) love and war; (2) freedom and servitude; and (3) life and death. The widespread use of metaphors provides strong implications for communication in subsistence markets. Specifically, MFIs should intentionally use metaphors to compensate for MSEs’ lack of business and financial literacy. The prevalence of metaphors in MFI-MSE conversations also suggests possibilities for consumer education in subsistence markets, thus contributing to research on macromarketing.