Marketing at the Margins: How Informal Street Vendors Adapt the Marketing Mix Strategy

Abstract

Purpose:
This study explores how street vendors in informal markets operationalize and adapt the elements of the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion). It aims to contribute to informal marketing literature by examining how traditional marketing concepts are reconfigured in informal markets.

Design/methodology/approach:
Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on ten in-depth interviews with vegetable street vendors in Delhi, India. Data were analyzed thematically, guided by the 4Ps framework.

Findings:
The findings reveal that informal vendors strategically adapt the marketing mix in ways that emphasize flexibility, relational engagement, and survival logic. Product strategies revolve around seasonal availability, cooperative assortment, and freshness signaling. Pricing is dynamic, negotiated, and responsive to perishability and buyer characteristics. Place is defined by mobility, social zoning, and informal governance. Promotion centers on interpersonal persuasion, sensory cues, and performative merchandising. These practices diverge significantly from formal marketing assumptions, highlighting the need for contextualized marketing theory.

Originality/value:
The study offers a theoretically grounded yet practice-oriented contribution to the literature on informal markets and subsistence entrepreneurship. It expands marketing mix theory by demonstrating how informal vendors operationalize the 4Ps through adaptive, relational, and often collective strategies. The paper also identifies future research directions at the intersection of informality, digitalization, and inclusive marketing.