Consumer behaviour at the bottom-of-the-pyramid: A systematic review of rural marketing, brand trust, and distribution challenges

Abstract

This systematic review examines consumer behaviour at the bottom of the pyramid through three connected domains: rural marketing, brand trust, and distribution challenges. The review treats low-income rural markets as socially embedded exchange systems rather than as simplified versions of mainstream consumer markets. Using a comprehensive literature review, the study systematically integrates insights from consumer research with related evidence on entrepreneurship, digital access, governance, knowledge systems, institutional change, and sustainable development. This broader synthesis provides a multidisciplinary foundation for examining consumer behaviour, brand trust, rural marketing, and distribution challenges at the bottom of the pyramid. The findings show that consumer participation depends on more than low prices. Trustworthy brand signals, perceived value, product accessibility, local intermediation, reliable distribution, information quality, and institutional credibility jointly shape purchase intention, trial, repeat purchase, and market inclusion. Distribution failures weaken value even when products are affordable, while weak trust can prevent participation even when products are physically available. The review also finds that rural consumers actively interpret packaging, origin, social recommendations, retailer behaviour, and digital information when evaluating brands. A conceptual framework is developed in which consumer behaviour, brand trust, and distribution challenges act as contextual drivers; value, local intermediation, digital and financial access, and inclusive communication operate as enabling conditions; and market participation links these forces to market inclusion and sustainable performance. The study contributes an integrated, governance-aware account of bottom-of-the-pyramid consumption and offers practical direction for firms, rural intermediaries, development actors, and policymakers seeking to build trustworthy and accessible markets.