「釋義」

“貧困溢價”這一概念最早由普拉哈拉德（C.K.Prahalad）及艾倫·?哈蒙德（Allen Hammond）于2002年在《哈佛商業(yè)評論》上撰文提出。他們指出，跨國公司可以通過服務于新興市場中的貧困消費者獲利。

擁有規(guī)模經(jīng)濟和高效供應鏈的大公司，可以通過低價提供高質量的產(chǎn)品來搶占市場。分銷效率低、缺乏競爭及標價過高這三大原因造成了貧困溢價。

「應用場景」

事實上，在窮人可以從低價中獲益的地區(qū)，他們其實付出了其他代價。例如，非正規(guī)的經(jīng)營活動無法確保安全的工作環(huán)境及合理的工資，產(chǎn)品質量和國家稅收也難以得到保證。這些外部因素帶來的損害都由作為工人、消費者和政府基金受益人的窮人在承受。在這些地區(qū)，“貧困溢價”或許依然存在，跨國公司能夠幫助人們消除它，但這種溢價并不以高價的形式出現(xiàn)。

In places where poor consumers benefit from lower prices, they often incur other costs. For example, the informal economy fails to ensure safe working conditions and reasonable wages, product quality controls, or taxes for the state. The brunt of these externalities is borne by the poor, as workers, consumers, and beneficiaries of government funds. Such places may have a “poverty premium” that multinationals could help eliminate, but that premium does not take the form of higher prices.

向窮人提供他們買得起的產(chǎn)品，聽上去十分崇高，然而，跨國公司應當意識到以低價作為賣點的難度——現(xiàn)有價格可能比他們想象的低得多；當?shù)匾恍╇y以被外界察覺的情況可能會影響產(chǎn)品接受度。因此，企業(yè)需要準確、切實地了解窮人做出購買決策時可能會考慮的所有因素。否則，他們很可能得到慘痛的教訓：服務于如今的金字塔底部市場，遠比理論所言復雜。

Bringing affordable products to poor consumers can be a noble calling. Multinationals need to be aware, however, of how hard it can be to compete on the basis of price. Existing prices may be much lower than they think, and local practices that aren’t obvious to outsiders may influence product adoption. Companies need to develop a nuanced, on-the-ground understanding of all the factors poor consumers consider when making purchasing decisions. Otherwise they’re apt to learn the painful lesson that serving a bottom-of-the-pyramid market today is trickier than the theory suggests.

《“貧困溢價”失靈？》

伊桑·凱，伍迪·萊溫斯坦

2013年4月刊

“The Problem with the “Poverty Premium”

by Ethan Kay and Woody Lewenstein

編輯：馬冰侖?