Sustainable value co-creation at the Bottom of the Pyramid: using mobile applications to reduce food waste and improve food security

ABSTRACT

Mobile apps redistributing surplus food are receiving increased attention for their sustainability benefits. Nevertheless, there is limited research on the opportunities created for businesses to penetrate the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) market. Drawing on Service-Dominant (S-D) logic, affordance and means-end theories, this study investigates how food waste mobile apps can support sustainable value co-creation at the BoP. Using a laddering approach, data were collected through semi-structured interviews in Sri Lanka. Despite similarities in respondents’ perceptions of app functions, there are noticeable gaps in the perceived affordances and end goals, which may challenge the value co-creation process. Additionally, opportunism, stigma and goal misalignment may result in value co-destruction, i.e. the diminishment of value through stakeholder interactions. Our findings demonstrate that to develop technologies which enable value co-creation, an in-depth understanding of factors driving perceptions of value is essential.

KEYWORDS:

• Sustainable value co-creation
• food waste
• mobile apps
• Bottom of the Pyramid
• affordance theory
• laddering

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that there is no potential conflict of interest in this research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chrysostomos Apostolidis

Chrysostomos Apostolidis is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Director of Transnational Education at Northumbria University. His research focuses on digital marketing and sustainable consumer behaviour, exploring the development and implementation of (digital) marketing strategies, to encourage responsible consumption and improve the sustainability of organisations and businesses in various industries. His research puts strong emphasis on innovation and the use of digital technologies, to support sustainable value (co-)creation and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities, within the context of different industries/sectors.

David Brown

David Brown is Leader of the Business School PhD programme at Northumbria University and a Senior Lecturer in Marketing. His own PhD explored stakeholder experiences of internal marketing, and his book on this subject was published in 2020. His other current and research projects focus on women’s mountain leisure, innovation amongst food and drink consumers, and the use of learning technology amongst postgraduate students. Prior to joining academia in 2012, he gained 18 years’ experience in sales and marketing management roles with a multinational marketing agency, a major European capital equipment manufacturer and a carmaker. He is a qualified teacher and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dinuka Wijetunga

Dinuka Wijetunga is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management & Finance of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, Australia, an MBA from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and a BSc in Marketing (Special) from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.

Eranjana Kathriarachchi

Eranjana Kathriarachchi is a Lecturer attached to the Department of Marketing, Faculty of Management & Finance of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He holds an MBA from the Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka and a BBA in Marketing (Special) from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.