As a , University of Vermont (̽̽) students are among the principal beneficiaries of faculty who prepare and publish leading-edge research. This is no exception for students of Srinivas (Srini) Venugopal, associate professor of marketing at the Grossman School of Business (GSB), who co-wrote an article, “Negotiated Agency in the Face of Consumption Constraints: A Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Subsistence Contexts,” that was recently published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. Along with his co-author, Srini was named a winner of the 2023 for this article.
This discipline-wide award is granted to societally impactful research through a competitive selection process. A diverse team of scholars with input from dozens of subject matter expert reviewers selected the winners out of a pool of more than 40 nominations. Nominated works needed to exemplify the that support the general notion of “better marketing for a better world.”
The research papers honored this year explore topics such as obesity, how taxes can affect nutrition, the effect of internet access on public schools’ academic performance, stigmatization, the negative consequences of social media, and more. The focal topic of Srini’s paper that won the award is ".” The paper tracks 25 women entrepreneurs from low-income settings and studies how women in poverty overcome the iron grip of institutional barriers to become entrepreneurs.
“This is a discipline-wide award that honors outstanding research that produces both credible and useful knowledge that can be applied to benefit society,” Srini said. “This research is squarely aligned with GSB’s distinctive mission and strengths in the area of sustainable innovation, and I’m grateful for GSB’s continued support for my research program.”
Srini’s research program examines the intertwined nature of consumption and entrepreneurship in subsistence marketplaces where more than a billion poverty-stricken entrepreneurs run micro-enterprises to meet basic consumption needs. In a parallel stream of research, he examines how social enterprises entering contexts of poverty negotiate institutional differences to bring about positive social change.
Srini is also an award-winning teacher who was voted Professor of the Year by his Sustainable Innovation MBA, or SI-MBA, students for three years in a row. Prior to pursuing an academic career, Srini led a technology-based social venture in India. His venture was focused on delivering education services to low-income consumers in rural India. Committed to being an engaged scholar, he continues to run an education-focused social enterprise that operates in several low-income neighborhoods in South India.