Consumer response to social entrepreneurship: the case of the Big Issue in Scotland

Abstract

The Big Issue is the most prominent example of social entrepreneurship in the UK. Initially started as a nonprofit organisation, it is now a limited company that provides homeless individuals with the opportunity to earn an income and donates its profits to a charity that addresses problems of homelessness. The paper explores how consumer response to the Big Issue is influenced by the fact that the magazine is sold by homeless people themselves. The findings suggest that consumers buy it both because they like the magazine and because they believe that they are helping the homeless, often paying more than the magazine cover price for the latter reason. The results also reveal that consumers see the direct involvement of homeless people in the exchange positively, recognising it as an empowering process.

An epistemological critique of social entrepreneurship definitions

“…(Catania 2012; with modifications and additions by the authors). Note: The "definitional components of SE" column and some sources are added by the authors a https://ssir.org/articles/entry/social_entrepreneurship_the_case_for_definition Nicholls 2006;Dees 1998a;Gartener, 1990;Hibbert et al 2002;Austin et al 2006;Boschee, 1998;Alvord et al 2004;Mort et al 2002;Sarasvathy and Wicks 2003;Peredo and McLean 2006;Anderson and Dees 2002;Townsend and Hart 2008;Matin, 2004. Innovation a Schumpeter 1951Drucker 1985;Herbert and Link 1989;Nijkamp 2000;Galindo and Mendez 2008;Covin and Slevin 1991;Lumpkin and Dess 1996;Morris and Kuratko 2002;Kuratko et al, 2005;Zakić et al 2008;Miller and Friesen 1982;Covin and Miles 1999;Burgelman 1984;Kanter 1985;Alterowitz 1988;Naman and Slevin 1993;Zahra and Covin 1995;Rwigema and Venter 2004;Slater and Narver 2000;Smart and Conant 1994;Lumpkin and Dess 1996;Ussahawanitchakit 2007;Mohd Osman et al 2011;Salarzehi andForouharfar 2011.…”

“…Usually, the SE scholars define SE differently and bold various keywords in this knowledge (Table 1). For example different scholars have seen a concept like "social change" as "social results" (Dees 1998a;Thake and Zadek 1997;Emerson & Twersky 1986), "social welfare" (Bugg-Levine et al 2012;Scheuerle et al 2013;Alvord et al 2004;Battilana et al 2012;Haigh and Hoffman 2012;Weisbrod 1977) or "social value" (Nicholls 2006;Dees 1998a;Gartener 1990;Hibbert et al 2002;Austin et al 2006;Boschee 1998;Alvord et al 2004;Mort et al 2002;Sarasvathy and Wicks 2003;Peredo and McLean 2006;Anderson and Dees 2002;Townsend and Hart 2008;Matin 2004). Therefore, their justifications for the inclusion of definitional components mostly originate from internal and subjective grasp of the phenomenon.…”

Understanding Consumer Behavior toward Social Enterprise Products

“…Based on the above theoretical conception, this study builds following hypothesis: Growth of social enterprises has a quest for solving social problems; therefore, consumer of social enterprise's products hold positive behavior when they evaluate their purchase decisions. Although consumer helping behavior is relatively neglected by marketing researchers [16], but the intangible rewards of helping disadvantaged people are somehow likely to play at least some role in motivating consumers to buy [17]. Based on the literature, following hypothesis has been constructed: There are many ways on how consumers seek for knowledge and evidence, which suggest that consumers are seeking knowledge by reading the product label [18,19].…”

Inspiration Exploring for Entrepreneurs through Case Analysis on the Development of the Big Issue

“…"The Big Issue is the most prominent example of social entrepreneurship in the UK" (Hibbert et al, 2002: 288) [1]. John Bird launched The Big Issue in London in 1991 because Gordon Roddick of the Body Shop suggested to John Bird to set up a paper in Britain similar to the Street News of USA after Gordon Roddick visited New York and found the homeless people were helped in the New York （Hanks and Swithinbank, 1997: 149） [4].…”