What Shapes Us Episode 5: In Talks with Madhu Vishwanathan

Madhubalan Viswanathan, Professor of Marketing at Loyola Marymount University, has built a career by asking a question most mainstream marketing frameworks overlook. What do markets look like when consumers live under chronic scarcity.

Rather than focusing on affluent segments or high growth categories, he immersed himself in low income communities across countries, studying how individuals with limited financial, educational, and institutional endowments make everyday marketplace decisions. Out of this work emerged the concept of the Subsistence Marketplace, now recognised as a legitimate and growing sub field within marketing scholarship. It reframes people living in poverty not as passive beneficiaries, but as active economic participants navigating complex trade offs.

Beyond theory, his work translates into practice. His marketplace literacy programs have reached tens of thousands of low income entrepreneurs, especially women, equipping them with tools to price products, manage cash flows, evaluate risk, and negotiate with suppliers. The emphasis is not on charity. It is on capability building and decision making power.

In this episode, Prof. Madhu speaks with Vidya about why he chose a path that diverges from the conventional metrics of academic success. He reflects on the structural constraints that shape the lives of those with low endowments. Limited access to formal education. Weak legal protections. Informal credit systems.

The conversation pushes further into what meaningful opportunity really means. When policy, institutions, and intent align, markets can become vehicles for dignity and upward mobility. When they do not, they can reinforce vulnerability. His perspective challenges both scholars and policymakers to rethink how inclusion is designed, measured, and sustained.