research title about market vendors

Informal street vending: a comparative literature review

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy

ISSN : 0144-333X

Article publication date: 29 September 2020

Issue publication date: 23 June 2021

Informal street vending is traditionally widespread and studied concerning developing countries. Nevertheless, recently, interest in the study of this practice has also increased regarding specific developed countries. The aim of the article is to contribute to overcoming the tendency to investigate this informal economy sector with different analytical lenses between the global South and global North and to highlight the usefulness of analyzing the phenomenon from a comparative perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

Therefore, the article represents a comparative review of the existing literature on informal street vending considering both the global South and global North.

The analysis revealed similarities and differences in the characteristics the phenomenon assumes in the two areas of the world while at the same time, showing how there are aspects mainly explored in the literature of southern countries and little explored in the literature of northern countries and vice-versa.

Research limitations/implications

This analytical attempt allows us to highlight any gaps present in the literature, which may represent the basis for future comparative research on the topic. Comparative research will improve both theoretical and empirical knowledge of the phenomenon.

Originality/value

On the one hand, the article represents an innovative literature review attempt, as it explicitly compares the street vending between developing and developed countries. On the other hand, it represents the first academic contribution to review street vending in the global North.

• Informal economy
• Street vendors
• Global South and global North
• Urban policies
• Strategies of resistance

Recchi, S. (2021), "Informal street vending: a comparative literature review", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy , Vol. 41 No. 7/8, pp. 805-825. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-07-2020-0285

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Sara Recchi

Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Introduction

Street vending represents one of the most visible manifestations of the informal economy and has been studied for over forty years by various disciplines, especially anthropology, economics and sociology. Street vending is traditionally rooted in the social and economic fabric of many southern countries and, therefore, has mostly been studied concerning Africa (e.g. Steel et al. , 2014 ; Brown et al. , 2010 ), Asia (e.g. Milgram, 2011 ; Schindler, 2014 ) and Latin America (e.g. Crossa, 2009 ; Donovan, 2008 ). Nonetheless, in recent decades, interest in the study of the phenomenon regarding European and North American countries has also increased (e.g. Devlin, 2011 ; Boels, 2014 ). In fact, street vending is no longer considered as a residual activity typical of global South and destined to disappear, but rather as a constantly growing phenomenon, affecting both developed and developing countries ( Graaff and Ha, 2015 ). Despite the knowledge concerning street vending activities and more in general the informal economy has increased, to date there is no a univocal theory in defining the causes and characteristics of the informal economy. The theoretical contradictions are even more evident when one compares this phenomenon between developing and developed countries ( Gerxhani, 2004 ; Chen, 2012 ). Moreover, while the literature on street vending in developing countries is characterized by a great deal of research, still few studies in industrialized countries exist. Besides, while some literature review articles strive to analyze this informal activity in the global South exist (e.g. Forkour et al. , 2017 ; Mitullah, 2004 ), there are no similar contributions concerning developed countries. Furthermore, except for some review articles that adopt a global perspective to study street vending (e.g. Bromley, 2000 ; Cross, 2000 ; Wongtada, 2014 ), there are no review attempts that explicitly compare the phenomenon in the two areas of the world. Therefore, this article represents a comparative literature review on street vending, considering both the southern and northern countries. It also constitutes the first attempt to review street vending in developed countries. The aim is to contribute in overcoming the tendency to investigate this informal economy sector with different analytical lenses between the global South and global North. Moreover, the article also aims to highlight how the comparison across the two institutionally distinct types of countries is fundamental to understand the informal street vending sector dynamics. Although the main focus of the article is on informal actors, it groups different manifestations of street vending. This choice stems from the difficulty of clearly distinguishing between the formal and informal economy as well as the awareness of the varying degrees of informal practices and, in turn, of different violations of trade regulations.

In the first section, the article will highlight the criteria for choosing and analyzing the studies included in the review. Subsequently, the article will present the main research methods and techniques adopted to study the phenomenon. The subsequent sections will discuss the aspects dealt with by the literature, highlighting the similarities and differences between the global South and global North. Therefore, the second passage will focus on street vendors' daily strategies and working conditions and, subsequently, it will highlight the street vendors' profile. The following section will present the informal street vending causes as well as the individual motives that drive to work informally. Subsequently, the article will underline the dimensions through which the literature investigates the link between the formal economy and the informal street trade sector. Then, the urban governance theme will be analyzed, by describing the perceptions behind street vending and the policies and practices adopted to regulate it. Finally, the paper will emphasize the street vendors' strategies to confront exclusionary policies and to negotiate for space. In the last paragraph, a discussion of the main similarities and differences between developing and developed countries will be proposed, supporting theoretical explanations. The article will conclude by presenting the implications for future comparative research on the topic.

Literature review: selection criteria and method of analysis

To select and identify the most relevant studies on the topic, the Google Scholar online database was used. The selection process was guided by specific keywords, which have been reproduced in the following search phrase: informal street vending OR street vendors OR street vendors' practices and working conditions OR street vending urban polices . The search resulted in about 26,300 studies. Then the search was limited to studies published from 2000 to 2019, to present an updated picture of the phenomenon. Following this criterion, the search was reduced to approximately 20,100 studies. Moreover, non-scientific journals were excluded from the analysis. Therefore, the article considered scientific peer review journal articles, book chapters, research reports and working papers. Finally, only empirical studies were included in the analysis. Considering these selection criteria, the unqualified studies were rejected, through the implementation of a screening process. Initially, a large number of studies were eliminated after reading the title, the abstract and the keywords. Subsequently, other studies were excluded after a more detailed full-text screening. After the selection process, only 59 studies were considered: 42 concerning developing countries and 17 regarding developed countries. In the analysis process, each study was read twice, identifying: the main topics and objectives, the research method and techniques and the geographical context. The analysis led to the construction of two tables: one for studies conducted in developing countries ( Table 1 ) and one for those carried out in developed countries ( Table 2 ). The tables summarize the main topics addressed in the literature, which have been included through a codification scheme, based on categories and subcategories of analysis. For instance, in relation to urban policies, the category “ Urban policies and regulations ” has been created, which corresponds to the subcategories: neoliberal and other exclusionary policies; evictions; harassment; displacement policies and relocation; tolerance policies and others regulations . Moreover, for each considered study has also been outlined: the name of the author, the year of publication, the city/country in which the study was conducted, the name of the journal or publishing house and the research techniques adopted.

Review of methodology: doing research on street vending

In both developing and developed countries’ literature, qualitative investigation techniques are predominantly employed to study street selling. Nonetheless, in the literature on developing countries, 21 out of a total of 42 studies adopt qualitative investigation techniques ( Table 1 ). In the literature on developed countries almost all studies, 14 out of 17, resort to participant observation, qualitative interviews or focus groups techniques ( Table 2 ). This methodological tendency can be explained in light of the complexity of studying the informal economy through quantitative techniques, due to the lack of official statistical data. Moreover, almost all the studies considered represent case study research, studying street vending concerning a specific city or neighborhood. This aspect responds to the tendency to implement qualitative techniques, which inevitably affect the empirical context dimensions. Nevertheless, ten cross-national and continental studies, conducted in different developing countries, were also selected. These studies, which consider either several cities in the same country or various cities across different continents, employ a comparative approach to study the phenomenon ( Table 1 ). Despite the tendency to adopt qualitative techniques, a portion of the studies conducted in developing countries implement quantitative investigation techniques, six of them use mixed method techniques and eight resort to survey techniques ( Table 1 ). In the developed countries' literature, this methodological aspect hardly emerges. Indeed, only 3 out of 17 studies adopt quantitative techniques ( Table 2 ). Finally, as regards the geographical composition of the selected studies, 13 of them were conducted in Asia, 12 in Latin America and 7 in Africa. As regards the developed countries, 11 studies were conducted in Europe and 6 in North America.

The street vendors' daily strategies and working conditions

Informal street vending is defined as the production and selling of legal goods and services in urban public spaces, which is not officially regulated by the law and is carried out in non-permanent built structures ( Cross, 2000 ). Although street vending represents an important informal sector, the exact global number of street vendors is unknown. Despite that, official regional statistics and research, which highlight the vast extent of the sector in specific developing counties, exist. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa, street vendors account from 12 to 14% of the total urban informal employment, in India 14% and in Lima and Peru, street vendors represent 9% of the total informal urban workers ( Roever, 2014 ). Moreover, while in the global South a large segment of street vendors work informally ( Roever, 2016 ), in many developed countries, informal sales activities still represent a minority in relation to the entire sector ( Boels, 2014 ; Blanchard, 2011 ). Traditionally, street vending is defined using the dichotomous distinction between formal and informal, or regular and irregular economic activities. Nevertheless, to highlight the heterogeneity of the phenomenon, in both developing and developed countries literature, the tendency to distinguish the sector according to street vendors' working strategies, prevails. In this regard, three main street vendors' categories can be defined: mobile or itinerant vendors , who undertake their activities by moving to different places throughout the working day; fixed-stall or stationary vendors , who work in a stable place during the working day and semi-fixed street vendors, who momentarily dispose their goods on improvised structures along the street ( Coletto, 2019 ; Boels, 2014 ; Mitullah, 2004 ; Brown et al. , 2010 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ; Cuvi, 2016 ). Each category of street vendors corresponds to a different degree of legal regulation violation, but also to differences in terms of working conditions. Commonly, the street vendors' working conditions are characterized by low incomes, the absence of social security or state benefits, long working hours and unsafe workplace environments ( Eltzon, 2015 ; Saha, 2009 ). Furthermore, several studies highlight how street vendors' working conditions also depend, for instance, on street vendors' sex ( Turner and Schoenberger, 2012 ; Milgram, 2011 ; Munoz, 2016 ) and ethnicity, thus their context of origin ( Martin, 2014 ; DeLuca, 2012 ). Finally, the working conditions of street vendors can also vary regarding the type of goods sold ( Cuvi, 2016 ). Street vendors' daily working conditions and strategies are aspects highly investigated in the recent literature on the phenomenon, emerging in almost all the studies considered, both in developing and developed countries ( Tables 1 and 2 ).

The street vendors' profile

Almost all the selected studies highlight the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of street vendors ( Tables 1 and 2 ). In many developing countries, street vending represents an important source of income mainly for marginalized and poor people, especially for internal rural migrants ( Roever, 2014 ; Onodugo et al. , 2016 ; Turner and Schoenberger, 2012 ; Swider, 2015 ). Moreover, in many developing countries, petty trade is performed mainly by less educated people ( Steel et al. , 2014 ; Turner and Schoenberger, 2012 ). Street vending requires low professional skills and human capital resources, is chosen especially by those who have fewer resources to invest ( Roever, 2014 ). In many developing countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, gender also influences street selling practices. In fact, in many southern countries, women represent a majority of street vendors ( Bhowmik, 2001 ; Milgram, 2011 ; Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ). Finally, as some studies emphasize, the sector is also comprised by workers who were previously employed in the formal sector and who, in the absence of alternatives, were forced to enter the informal economic circuit ( Milgram, 2011 ; Schindler, 2014 ). In developed countries, instead of internal rural migrants, informal street vending activities are carried out by immigrants. In some North American cities, Latin Americans represent the main categories of migrants who carry out informal street vending activities ( Bhimji, 2010 ; Martin, 2014 ; Munoz, 2016 ). Moving the analysis to the European context, the majority of informal street vendors are from North-African and South-East Asian countries ( L'Hote and Gasta, 2007 ; Blanchard, 2011 ; Harvey, 2004 ; DeLuca, 2012 ). The close relationship between informal street vending and immigrant status highlights how in many developed countries, migrants, mostly irregular, suffer from socio-economic discrimination, which drives them to find work in unskilled segments of the labor market, often in the informal economy ( Raijman, 2001 ; Boels, 2014 ; DeLuca, 2012 ).

Street vending causes and individual motives

Another amount of studies, almost half of those conducted in the northern countries and a half in the southern ones ( Tables 1 and 2 ), investigates the informal street vending causes and the individual reasons that drive to work informally. In many developing countries, the low level of industrialization, the surplus of labor and the process of urbanization, combined with an economic system based on the use of little technology and low-paid unskilled workers, represent the main factors affecting the high presence of the informal economy ( Gerxhani, 2004 ; Roever, 2014 ). Moreover, the ambiguous role of the law and high level of institutional corruption also affect the high impact of informal street vending in many developing countries ( Milgram, 2011 ; Schindler, 2014 ; Mitullha, 2004 ). In developed countries, instead, the growth of the informal economy is linked to the recent economic crisis, the growing levels of unemployment and the decrease in welfare spending. Moreover, globalization has accelerated non-standard work activity and a type of low-capital and labor-intensive tertiary sector, which is often reproduced in the informal economy, thanks to the implementation of unskilled migrant labor force ( Coletto, 2019 ; Devlin, 2019 ; Boels, 2014 ).

Specific individual motivations also influence the choice to undertake informal economic activities. In both areas of the world, street vending represents, first and foremost, an economic survival activity. In fact, in the absence of alternatives, street vending represents a choice driven by the necessity to obtain daily income ( Boels, 2014 ; Raijman, 2001 ; Crossa, 2009 ; Bromley and Mackie, 2009 ). Moreover, in many developing countries, street selling is also described as a voluntary and rational choice, which allows individuals to reach a certain degree of flexibility and work independence ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ). Furthermore, while in many southern countries, street vending represents a traditional and stable activity, performed for generations ( Crossa, 2009 ; Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ), in industrialized countries it often represents a temporary occupation ( DeLuca, 2012 ; L'hote and Gasta, 2007 ). In addition, while in many developing countries street vending often represents a cultural choice, in which social capital and family network play an important role ( Turner and Schoenberger, 2012 ; Crossa, 2016 ; Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ), in many industrialized countries, the diffusion of informal vending activities can be explained by the fact that migrants often reproduce in their host countries economic activity that are traditionally widespread in their countries of origin ( Boels, 2014 ; Blanchar, 2011 ).

The relation between formal and informal economy

The link between the formal economy and informal street vending represents another aspect investigated in the literature, even if by relatively few studies ( Tables 1 and 2 ). First of all, the analysis of this piece of literature denotes the blurriness of the boundary between the informal and formal economy, because street vending activities are often characterized by an overlap of regular and irregular, legal and illegal conditions ( Milgram, 2011 ; Schindler, 2014 ; Coletto, 2019 ). Considering the literature on developing countries, the relationship between the formal economy and street vending is mainly addressed concerning the system to obtain permits to sell on the streets and regarding the connection between informal workers and the global value chains system ( Schindler, 2014 ; Cuvj, 2016 ; Martinez et al. , 2018 ). In fact, some studies highlight how the supply chain process of the products sold by street vendors take place, in almost all cases, in the formal economy ( Schindler, 2014 ; Sekhani et al. , 2019 ). Moreover, despite the various efforts to formalize street vendors, other studies highlight how workers often remain in a condition of permanent informality, due to often ambiguous commercial and urban regulations as well as the element of discretion with which, in many cases, state or local authorities grant permits to sell in the urban public space ( Milgram, 2011 ; Schindler, 2014 ; Cuvi, 2016 ). Furthermore, in some cases, the total number of licenses available is lower than the number of overall requests ( Anjaria, 2006 ). In addition, many street vendors highlight the difficulty of earning enough money to pay regular fees ( Roever, 2014 ). Focusing instead on developed countries, the link between informal street vending and the formal economy mostly concerns the dynamics of conflict between regular and informal street vendors. In this regard, several studies show how informal selling activities often take place within open-air markets, where informal actors share the location with regular vendors ( Coletto, 2019 ; Boels, 2014 ; Blanchard, 2011 ; Devlin, 2019 ). The coexistence, often in the same urban spaces, of the two types of vendors encourages dynamics of conflict and competition ( Coletto, 2019 ; Tchoukaleyska, 2015 ). Some other studies also highlight the regulation system and the procedures for obtaining licenses as factors that affect the informal street vendors' condition. In fact, migrants often sell without regular permits, since licenses are inaccessible in terms of costs and unobtainable due to the incompatible status of irregular migrants, which is common to many street vendors in developed countries ( Martin, 2014 ; Tchoukaleyska, 2015 ).

Urban policies and street vending regulations

The aspects mostly addressed in the recent literature concern the policies adopted to regulate the street vending sector and the informal actors' reactions when faced with such regulations. In this section, the article will investigate the policies and practices adopted by local authorities, while in the next section it will highlight the informal actors' resistance strategies. The literature on the global South gives particular attention to urban policies and practices adopted by local and state authorities to regulate street vending, with 34 out of 42 studies addressing this theme ( Table 1 ). In contrast, the literature on developed countries includes a less substantial number of studies focused on local regulations and enforcement agents practices ( Table 2 ).

The perceptions behind street vending

The analysis of this piece of the literature allows presenting a picture of how public opinion and local authorities perceive and describe the street vending activity. Although different studies, conducted both in developing and developed countries, describe street vending as a fundamental economic activity, which acts as a social safety net for marginal and poor populations ( Rogerson, 2016 ; Bhowmik, 2001 ; Boels, 2014 ; DeLuca, 2012 ), the tendency to perceive street vendors as a problem prevails. Primarily, street vendors are often accused of illegally using public spaces and of damaging the image of the city ( Lindell, 2019 ). This emerges mostly in the literature on developing countries, where informal street vending undermines the success of modernization projects aimed at making Southern cities of the world competitive with the Northern global cities ( Donovan, 2008 ; Rogerson, 2016 , Anjaria, 2006 ). Moreover, street vendors are also accused of promoting forms of degradation and chaos and, therefore, of undermining the social order ( Saha, 2009 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ; Turner and Schoenberg, 2012 ; Devlin, 2019 ). Finally, informal street vending competes with the formal trade market, generating negative economic effects for the commercial sector ( Steel, 2012 ; Forkuor et al. , 2017 ; Mitullah, 2004 ).

Urban governance model: between exclusionary policies and more tolerant regulations

During the 1970s, a tolerant policy against street vending prevailed in almost all developing countries. Nevertheless, between the 80s and 90s, the tendency to intervene to reduce the street vendors' presence spread, in line with the neoliberal urban governance model promoted in the United States and later introduced to many developing countries ( Lindell, 2019 ; Swansom, 2007 ; Donovan, 2008 : Crossa, 2016 ). Therefore, the recent public discourse on security have stimulated street trade criminalization and the adoption of exclusionary policies in many developing countries ( Reyes, 2013 ; Rogerson, 2016 ; Eltzold, 2015 ; Hanser, 2016 ; Morange, 2015 ). First of all, in various developing countries, the adoption of eviction campaigns against street vendors, to make cities more attractive for foreign investment and international tourism is a widespread trend ( Falla and Valencia, 2019 ; Reyes, 2013 ; Rogerson, 2016 ; Setsabi and Leduka, 2008 ; Eltzon, 2015 ). Other studies highlight the implementation of displacement policies and relocation projects, aimed at moving street vendors to decentralized areas of the city, assigning them regular working places ( Reyes, 2013 ; Swanson, 2007 ; Donovan, 2008 ; Weng and Kim, 2016 ). Nonetheless, the objective to make street vendors invisible often persists behind most of the relocation projects, in line with the gentrification plans widespread in many developing countries, especially in Latin American cities ( Hunt, 2009 ; Bromley and Mackie, 2009 ; Crossa, 2009 ). Finally, another set of studies shows how policemen and local authorities often adopt forms of harassment and abuse against street vendors, such as monetary extortion or arbitrary confiscation of merchandise for personal consumption ( Schindler, 2014 ; Rogerson, 2016 ; Lyons and Snoxell, 2005 ; Etzold, 2015 ; Milgram, 2011 ; Brown et al. , 2010 ). Despite that, a small number of other studies highlight how local authorities appear to oscillate between the adoption of exclusionary policies and more tolerant regulations ( Table 1 ). Indeed, the awareness that street vending represents an important source of income for marginalized people also persists. These ambivalent positions often generate contradictory regulatory models ( Rogerson, 2016 ; Bell and Loukaitou-Sideris, 2014 ; Huang et al. , 2014 ).

An analysis of the urban policies adopted in the global North reveals, instead, the contrast between the more heterogeneous and tolerant model that prevails in the European context and the repressive and no-tolerance regulations dominant in the US ( Table 2 ). Recent studies conducted in different North American cities highlight how various local governments are characterized by forms of uncertainty and legislative ambiguity in the regulation of street trade ( Devlin, 2019 ; Bhimji, 2010 ). In this regard, contradictory laws favor city authorities' discretionary acts against street vendors, who are in some cases, subjected to intimidation mechanisms and physical expulsion measures ( Martin, 2014 ; Devlin, 2019 ). Moving the analysis to the European context, the literature reveals how in some cities, street vending activities are repressed because the control of street vendors is often linked to the aim of controlling irregular immigration ( Moffette, 2018 ; L'hote and Gasta, 2007 ). Nevertheless, the local authorities' tendency to give little priority to informal vending activities emerges ( Nelken, 2006 ; Boels, 2014 ). In fact, some studies highlight how greater attention is often paid to intercepting the mechanisms behind the sale of counterfeit goods, rather than to massively controlling those who sell the goods on the streets ( Boels, 2014 ; Schmoll and Semi, 2013 ; Milliot and Tonnelat, 2013 ).

Street vendors' strategies of resistance and negotiation

For decades, street vendors have been considered as marginal individuals who passively practice their activities ( Lindell, 2019 ; Falla and Valencia, 2019 ). More recently, several studies, mainly those conducted in global South, have emphasized the role of the street vendors' agency, highlighting the strategies of resistance and negotiation they employ to confront exclusionary policies and guarantee their right to work in the public space ( Crossa, 2016 ; Schindler, 2014 ; Hunt, 2009 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ). In this regard, almost all studies conducted in both developing and developed countries ( Tables 1 and 2 ), highlight the informal actors' ability to modify their daily strategies and resiliently resist political limitations. Through the analysis of the literature, it is possible to identify both individual and collective strategies of resistance.

Individual strategies

At a more individual level, street vendors, in both developing and developed countries, adopt similar strategies of resistance. First of all, street vendors often act in an itinerant manner, adjusting their practices of vending. Bringing fewer goods and constantly moving around the streets not only allows to escape faster but also to be more invisible and attract less attention ( Milgram, 2011 ; Crossa, 2009 ; Boels, 2014 ; DeLuca, 2012 ). Another strategy, in this sense, is to move the businesses to less controlled places, to avoid forms of harassment and confiscation by city authorities ( Stell, 2012 ; Milgram, 2011 ; Boels, 2014 ). Moreover, street vendors also tend to anticipate the local authorities' actions as a way of avoiding forms of control. Indeed, they identify the police working hours and adjust their activities accordingly, to coincide with the lower presence of the police ( Bhimji, 2010 ; L'hote and Gasta, 2007 ; Coletto, 2019 ; Recio and Gomez, 2013 ; Turner and Schoenberger, 2012 ). Finally, another daily strategy involves bribing city authorities or street gangs, to guarantee the possibility to work on the street. This practice makes it possible for street vendors to improve their conditions and survive in the urban public space ( Eltzon, 2015 ; Milgram, 2011 ; Munoz, 2016 ; Anjaria, 2006 ; Mitullah, 2004 ).

Collective strategies

The literature also highlights how social capital and street vendor networks play an important role in deploying daily strategies of collective resistance ( Lyon and Snoxell, 2005 ). Some studies conducted in both developing and developed countries, show how vendors tend to support each other, for example by sending messages or adopting communications signals to prevent eviction from city authorities ( Cuvi, 2016 ; Crossa, 2009 ; Steel, 2012 ; Lyons and Snoxell, 2005 ; L'Hote and Gasta, 2007 ; Boels, 2014 ). Other studies, conducted in some developing countries, show how, in specific situations, street vendors resort to public demonstrations to protect their right to work on public spaces ( Crossa, 2009 ; Recio and Gomez, 2013 ; Roever, 2016 ; Millgram, 2011 ). Moreover, in many developing countries, the presence of street vendors' associations and organizations is often crucial for negotiating with local authorities and improving bargaining power. In fact, local street vendors' associations, which are spreading across many cities of the global South, give voice to the street vendors' interests ( Donovan, 2008 ; Weng and Kim, 2016 ; Roever, 2016 ; Saha, 2009 ; Crossa, 2016 ). Other studies highlight how, in many less developed countries, street vendors can also use their vote as bargaining power ( Donovan, 2008 ; Milgram, 2011 ). The leaders of local associations, who control the street vendors' political consensus, grant the local authorities electoral and political favors in exchange for privileged treatment and the possibility to work ( Crossa, 2009 ; Eltozon, 2015 ). Finally, in many less developed countries, non-governmental organizations also play an important role. For example, Street Net International and WIEGO negotiate with governments and local authorities to defend informal workers' rights and encourage the regularization of their conditions ( Roever, 2014 ; Bhowmik, 2001 ; Cuvi, 2016 ).

The following table summarizes the main differences and similarities that emerged to study street vending in both developing and developed countries, aimed to explain these comparative findings ( Table 3 ). The table represents an attempt at synthesis, which necessarily extremes some comparative elements that are more subtle and complex and, therefore, need to be deepened and investigated through future research.

The first distinction emerges if we look at the informal street vending sector size. In the global South, many street vendors work informally, while in developed countries informal vending activities represent a minority compared to the entire sector. Another difference concerns the street vendors' profile and the sector role. In global South, street vending is mainly performed by internal rural migrants and by poorer and less educated people, while in developed countries it is carried out by immigrants. Moreover, in southern countries street vending represents a stable working activity, performed for generations, however in industrialized countries it is mainly perceived as a temporary occupation, carried out as immigrants' first activity in host countries. The different economic system and the diversified effects that economic globalization has generated in the two types of countries may partially explain these differences ( Temkin and Veizaga, 2010 ; Gerxhani, 2004 ). In the literature several are the theories that look at economic factors to explain the different degrees of the informal economy between countries. For instance, the world-system theory applied to the study of informality allows us to highlight how due to the developing countries' economic system, based on a low level of industrialization, on the use of little technology and low-paid unskilled workers, these countries have experienced more rapid and widespread development of the informal economy than developed countries. Furthermore, the rapid urbanization process of the 1980s, which affected many southern cities, has increased the surplus of labor, encouraging the development of informality. On the contrary, the industrialized countries tend to specialize in capital-intensive and high-skill service sectors ( Roberts, 2013 ; Bhowmik, 2012 ). Therefore, in these contexts, only people without the skills to compete for high-tech formal employment, especially immigrants, are forced to work informally, mostly in the labor-intensive tertiary sector ( Sassen, 2007 ). Other theoretical approaches look rather at institutional factors to explain the size and characteristics of the informal economy of a given country. Borrowing the institutionalist approach , the high weight of the informal street vending sector in many developing countries can be explained by a widespread distrust in institutions and by the asymmetry between formal institutions and informal norms. This asymmetry promotes a distance between the state morality and that of the individual, who therefore may be more inclined to enter the informal economy ( Lyon, 2007 ; Williams et al. , 2015 ). Continuing to analyze the main differences, in the global South literature the relation between formal economy and informal street vending is mostly studied concerning the system to obtain permits to sell in public space and regarding the link between the informal workers and the global value chains system. Meanwhile, in the developed countries' literature, this link has mostly been studied regarding the conflict dynamics between regular and irregular street vendors. Furthermore, the studies on Southern countries focused more on the policies implemented to regulating street vending and the street vendors' resistance strategies, while the literature on industrialized countries analyzed more the relationship between possessing the discriminating status of immigrant and entering into the informal economy. Finally, while a substantial number of studies on both developing and developed countries highlight the street vendors' strategies of resistance, only several studies on developing countries emphasize the individual agency's role and the street vendors' collective bargaining power. This can be explained by the fact that are mostly global South' researchers who adopt an actor-oriented approach to study manifestations of urban informality ( Devlin, 2019 ; Lindell, 2019 ). Using the conceptual framework proposed by Bayat to study informality in global South, street vending is not simply an activity to cope with socio-economic injustices but also an intentional resistance practice that transgresses spatial and legal norms ( Bayat, 2004 ).

Continuing to analyze the literature review findings, common aspects are also highlighted. The first similarity is represented by the tendency to use qualitative investigation techniques and case study research approach to study street vending. Furthermore, similar trajectories emerge if we look at the urban governance model adopted to regulate informal trade. Recent studies conducted in both developing and North American countries reveal the tendency to embrace neoliberal and exclusionary policies to regulate informal street vending. It can be explained by the fact that global economic trends affect the state and local authorities' approach to manage and conceive marginality and the urban informality in the global cities' public spaces. Many countries tend to adopt exclusionary policies to eliminate the presence of street vendors, as their marginal activity does not meet the standards imposed by economic globalization ( Graaff and Ha, 2015 ; Lindell, 2019 ; Roever, 2014 ). Furthermore, the theoretical debate on the informal economy highlights how concerning most informal sectors the use of survival criterion in defining the reasons to work informally is valid for the southern countries and not for industrialized countries ( Gerxhani, 2004 ). On the contrary, the analysis on street vending sector showed how, although in some cases in global South it represents a voluntary or rational choice, in both two types of countries it constitutes, first and foremost, an economic survival activity. This aspect can be explained using the conceptual framework proposed by the structuralist theory to study the informal economy. This approach considers the informal work functional and subordinated to the formal economy. Indeed, the market liberalization and the economic globalization increase dynamics of socio-economic polarization, with the result that unskilled workers and marginal people are forced to work informally, as they cannot find a job in the formal economy ( Portes et al. , 1989 ; Sassen, 2007 ).

Conclusions

The article aimed to contribute in overcoming the tendency to employ different analytical lenses to study street vending between the global South and global North and to highlight the usefulness of analyzing the phenomenon in a comparative perspective. To do this, a comparative literature review on the topic has been conducted. It represents an innovative review attempt, as it explicitly compares this manifestation of informality between the two institutionally different types of countries. Moreover, it constitutes also the first contribution to review street vending in the global North.

The findings discussed in the last section suggest both similarities and differences regarding the street vending characteristics and concerning the aspects deal with by the literature to study it between global South and global North. Therefore, the analysis highlights some gaps present in the literature to study this informal economy sector, which can represent the basis for future comparative research on the topic. On the one hand, comparative research can stimulate the development of a theory that promotes a univocal interpretation and explanation of the informal street vending sector, considering simultaneously a set of factors that affect the informal economy of a given country (institutional, economic and cultural factors). Comparative case study research can also encourage the building of a theory aims at explain this manifestation of informality considering the specificities of both developing and developed countries. Moreover, despite informal street selling occurs both in developing and developed countries, in the literature comparative case studies aimed at investigating this informal sector between so different contexts from both an institutional and economic point of view are missing. Therefore, on the other hand, future comparative research can improve also empirical knowledge of the phenomenon. Comparative research will allow us to better understand to what extent individual motives, institutional and economic contextual factors and economic globalization affect the street trade sector in a given context. Furthermore, to address the transformations, but also the opportunities generated by economic globalization, a change in economic and social policies regarding urban informality is also necessary. In a climate of global growing income inequality, informal practices like street vending play an important economic and social role. Indeed, informal street vending guarantees daily income for an increasing poor and marginal side of the world population. Furthermore, while in developing countries street vendors provide goods and services that satisfy the demand of a growing low-income population, in industrialized countries, as this activity often represents the first immigrants' livelihood occupation, street vending also prevents entry into illicit or criminal circuits. Therefore, the state and local institutions should recognize the positive implications that would be generated if the street vendors' working conditions and rights were improved. Hence institutions should investigate the extend of the informal street vendors population and increase the number of licenses, promoting the transition into formal entrepreneurship. Increasing specific regulations to support street vending livelihoods would represent the basis for a more supportive urban economy, which aims to guarantee rights and protections to actors excluded from the formal economy circuit.

Studies on developing countries

Studies on developed countries

Differences and similarities between developing and developed countries

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Acknowledgements

I thank, first of all, the anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. I also thank Giovanna Fullin and Diego Coletto for supervising my research activities. The following article did not provide specific research funding. This paper is part of a broader Ph.D. research project, within the Analysis of Social and Economic Process doctoral course, funded by the Department of Sociology and Social Research, of the University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.

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Market Research Vendors and Clients Should Be Partners

Summary: market research vendors and clients should be partners in the effort to provide quality insights. research vendors can provide specific expertise and an objective perspective. research buyers bring knowledge about their business and content in which the insights are needed..

4 minutes to read. By author Michaela Mora on October 30, 2019 Topics: Business Strategy , Market Research

Market research vendors and clients should be real partners. The call for actionable insights continues to be a constant in the market research industry. Clients (end-users or corporate researchers) complain that vendors don’t give them what they need to make decisions. Vendors complain that clients often don’t know what they need or want.

There is a disconnect driven by increasingly tight budgets, short-term goals, technology promising the impossible, and skill mismatch.

Corporate Researchers’ Challenges

This is not a new issue. Back in 2010 when I first wrote this article, my colleague Kathryn Korostoff , from Research Rockstar had published, Market Research Departments: The Hero of the Market Research Story  in MRA’s Alert! Magazine, calling attention to the issues corporate market researchers were dealing with. Many of these are still in place.

The Lure of “Free”

Internal clients who are reading about “free” market research options, when in reality the phrase “market research” is being used very loosely.

Anybody Can Do It

Proliferating pockets of unsanctioned research, often done by well-meaning but untrained colleagues.

The Lure of Shiny Objects

Internal clients becoming aware of numerous “market research” services and solutions, many of which are at best distractions and at worst disruptive.

Lack of Time or Skills To Evaluate New Methods

Insufficient time or skills to truly assess the options and merits of new research methods.

Unclear Research Policies

 Insufficient time, and in some cases authority, to establish and enforce customer research policies (which are of urgent importance because of the unsanctioned research that does take place).

The Dreaded Sales Calls

Increasingly sales-hungry research suppliers, making the risk of answering a phone call almost unbearable.

Lack of Time To Participate

An unmanageable number of market research-related associations, social networking groups, events, and interactive “media”—too many to keep up with, too many to ignore.

Undeniably, the proliferation of tools for data collection, visualization,  and automation continue to have an impact on the market research industry , not only for corporate research departments but also for research vendors.

Research Vendors’ Challenges

Some of the challenges research vendors include:

Left in the Dark

Clients’ unwillingness to share critical internal information that would allow research vendors to provide the support clients need and reduce their “vendor management” time.

Faster. Cheaper. Preferably Free. Better.

The need to deliver faster and better results on very small budgets. Technology has set very high expectations regarding cost and delivery times leading clients to ignore the cost, experience, and time needed to really think and extract actionable insights. Faster, cheaper, and better is an illusion.

Anybody Can Do It.

Clients with little training in the fundamentals of research. This is also a result of expectations related to automation tools for data analytics and visualization, cheap online survey tools, and information on the Internet.

Cost – Quality Trade-Offs

Clients’ complacency with “good” enough research and willingness to bend rules that impact data quality due to small budgets.

Battling Habits

Convincing clients that old established ways (“we have always done it this way”) may not be valid anymore for their current situation. This seems to be in conflict with the lure of shiny objects mentioned above. The fact is that both trends coexist in different groups within organizations.

Keep Up With Trends

Time to keep up with demographic and cultural trends that have an impact on how we design research, collect data, and analyze it.

Support Decisions & Communicate Effectively

The ultimate goal of market research is to help make effective business decisions based on data that matter. Both corporate researchers and vendors face this challenge with every project. Both benefit from keeping that in mind.

Furthermore, market researchers need to become better story-tellers to communicate results and impact decision-making. This applies to both corporate researchers and research vendors. Executives don’t care about how the research was done, just what the business can do to move forward, based on the research.

However, don’t mistake being a good communicator with not needing good research fundamentals. Like we say about the “H” in Spanish, “the H is mute, but you are not blind,” meaning you still need to write it down wherever it goes.

Let’s Be Real Partners

After working on both sides of the aisle, as a corporate researcher and a market research vendor, I can confidently say that the best approach is collaboration. Clients and research vendors complement each other. We each have something unique to offer. We can be partners.

To clients I propose: 

• Share your industry expertise with us , tell us about relevant business issues we need to be aware of in order to serve you better.
• Let vendors provide you with training and bring you expertise , new approaches, and insights when needed.
• Let’s exchange experiences about the use of emerging technologies and knowledge about new consumer, industry, and social trends and their application to market research.
• Collaborate with us in testing new approaches and re-evaluate established methods in the light of current market conditions.
• Allow us to lighten your burden and in turn, help us grow and keep our industry moving forward .

 If you have other ideas of how clients and research vendors could collaborate to keep the market research community thriving, I welcome your comments.  

An earlier version of this article was published on August 26, 2010.   The article was last updated and revised on October 30, 2019. )

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Market Research: A How-To Guide and Template

Discover the different types of market research, how to conduct your own market research, and use a free template to help you along the way.

MARKET RESEARCH KIT

5 Research and Planning Templates + a Free Guide on How to Use Them in Your Market Research

Updated: 02/21/24

Published: 02/21/24

Today's consumers have a lot of power. As a business, you must have a deep understanding of who your buyers are and what influences their purchase decisions.

Enter: Market Research.

Whether you're new to market research or not, I created this guide to help you conduct a thorough study of your market, target audience, competition, and more. Let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

What is market research?

Primary vs. secondary research, types of market research, how to do market research, market research report template, market research examples.

Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market and customers to verify the success of a new product, help your team iterate on an existing product, or understand brand perception to ensure your team is effectively communicating your company's value effectively.

Market research can answer various questions about the state of an industry. But if you ask me, it's hardly a crystal ball that marketers can rely on for insights on their customers.

Market researchers investigate several areas of the market, and it can take weeks or even months to paint an accurate picture of the business landscape.

However, researching just one of those areas can make you more intuitive to who your buyers are and how to deliver value that no other business is offering them right now.

How? Consider these two things:

• Your competitors also have experienced individuals in the industry and a customer base. It‘s very possible that your immediate resources are, in many ways, equal to those of your competition’s immediate resources. Seeking a larger sample size for answers can provide a better edge.
• Your customers don't represent the attitudes of an entire market. They represent the attitudes of the part of the market that is already drawn to your brand.

The market research services market is growing rapidly, which signifies a strong interest in market research as we enter 2024. The market is expected to grow from roughly $75 billion in 2021 to $90.79 billion in 2025 .

Free Market Research Kit

• SWOT Analysis Template
• Survey Template
• Focus Group Template

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Why do market research?

Market research allows you to meet your buyer where they are.

As our world becomes louder and demands more of our attention, this proves invaluable.

By understanding your buyer's problems, pain points, and desired solutions, you can aptly craft your product or service to naturally appeal to them.

Market research also provides insight into the following:

• Where your target audience and current customers conduct their product or service research
• Which of your competitors your target audience looks to for information, options, or purchases
• What's trending in your industry and in the eyes of your buyer
• Who makes up your market and what their challenges are
• What influences purchases and conversions among your target audience
• Consumer attitudes about a particular topic, pain, product, or brand
• Whether there‘s demand for the business initiatives you’re investing in
• Unaddressed or underserved customer needs that can be flipped into selling opportunity
• Attitudes about pricing for a particular product or service

Ultimately, market research allows you to get information from a larger sample size of your target audience, eliminating bias and assumptions so that you can get to the heart of consumer attitudes.

As a result, you can make better business decisions.

To give you an idea of how extensive market research can get , consider that it can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature — depending on the studies you conduct and what you're trying to learn about your industry.

Qualitative research is concerned with public opinion, and explores how the market feels about the products currently available in that market.

Quantitative research is concerned with data, and looks for relevant trends in the information that's gathered from public records.

That said, there are two main types of market research that your business can conduct to collect actionable information on your products: primary research and secondary research.

Primary Research

Primary research is the pursuit of first-hand information about your market and the customers within your market.

It's useful when segmenting your market and establishing your buyer personas.

Primary market research tends to fall into one of two buckets:

• Exploratory Primary Research: This kind of primary market research normally takes place as a first step — before any specific research has been performed — and may involve open-ended interviews or surveys with small numbers of people.
• Specific Primary Research: This type of research often follows exploratory research. In specific research, you take a smaller or more precise segment of your audience and ask questions aimed at solving a suspected problem.

Secondary Research

Secondary research is all the data and public records you have at your disposal to draw conclusions from (e.g. trend reports, market statistics, industry content, and sales data you already have on your business).

Secondary research is particularly useful for analyzing your competitors . The main buckets your secondary market research will fall into include:

• Public Sources: These sources are your first and most-accessible layer of material when conducting secondary market research. They're often free to find and review — like government statistics (e.g., from the U.S. Census Bureau ).
• Commercial Sources: These sources often come in the form of pay-to-access market reports, consisting of industry insight compiled by a research agency like Pew , Gartner , or Forrester .
• Internal Sources: This is the market data your organization already has like average revenue per sale, customer retention rates, and other historical data that can help you draw conclusions on buyer needs.
• Focus Groups
• Product/ Service Use Research
• Observation-Based Research
• Buyer Persona Research
• Market Segmentation Research
• Pricing Research
• Competitive Analysis Research
• Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research
• Brand Awareness Research
• Campaign Research

1. Interviews

Interviews allow for face-to-face discussions so you can allow for a natural flow of conversation. Your interviewees can answer questions about themselves to help you design your buyer personas and shape your entire marketing strategy.

2. Focus Groups

Focus groups provide you with a handful of carefully-selected people that can test out your product and provide feedback. This type of market research can give you ideas for product differentiation.

3. Product/Service Use Research

Product or service use research offers insight into how and why your audience uses your product or service. This type of market research also gives you an idea of the product or service's usability for your target audience.

4. Observation-Based Research

Observation-based research allows you to sit back and watch the ways in which your target audience members go about using your product or service, what works well in terms of UX , and which aspects of it could be improved.

5. Buyer Persona Research

Buyer persona research gives you a realistic look at who makes up your target audience, what their challenges are, why they want your product or service, and what they need from your business or brand.

6. Market Segmentation Research

Market segmentation research allows you to categorize your target audience into different groups (or segments) based on specific and defining characteristics. This way, you can determine effective ways to meet their needs.

7. Pricing Research

Pricing research helps you define your pricing strategy . It gives you an idea of what similar products or services in your market sell for and what your target audience is willing to pay.

8. Competitive Analysis

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9. Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty Research

Customer satisfaction and loyalty research gives you a look into how you can get current customers to return for more business and what will motivate them to do so (e.g., loyalty programs , rewards, remarkable customer service).

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Brand awareness research tells you what your target audience knows about and recognizes from your brand. It tells you about the associations people make when they think about your business.

11. Campaign Research

Campaign research entails looking into your past campaigns and analyzing their success among your target audience and current customers. The goal is to use these learnings to inform future campaigns.

• Define your buyer persona.
• Identify a persona group to engage.
• Prepare research questions for your market research participants.
• List your primary competitors.
• Summarize your findings.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The impact of urban culture on street vending: a path model analysis of the general public's perspective.

• 1 School of Business, Skyline University College, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
• 2 Faculty of Administrative Sciences, University of Al-Mashreq, Baghdad, Iraq
• 3 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• 4 Faculty of Finance, University of Maryland Global Campus, Adelphi, MD, United States
• 5 Faculty of Finance, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA, United States

This study examined the relationship between urban culture and street vending. Prior research on this topic is limited and inconclusive. Therefore, we have proposed an integrated model to test the positive effect of urban culture on street vending using multiple mediations of consumption patterns, resistance, and microfinance. We tested a sample of 425 responses that reflect the public opinion in Baghdad, Iraq. These responses were collected between September and November 2018. A partial least squares–based structural equation modeling is employed to test the validity of measurement models and the significance of the entire structural model, predictive power, and mediation analysis. We found that resistance mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending; low-income consumption and resistance sequentially mediate the effect of urban culture on street vending, while resistance mediates the effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending. The direct impact of culture on street vending is not significant, and a lack of microfinance positively influences the pervasiveness of trading on streets. This study contributes to the extant literature as it proposed and tested a novel and comprehensive model to analyze the relationship between urban culture and street vending, simultaneously examining the effects of culture, consumption, resistance, and microfinance on street vending.

Introduction

Unlicensed street vendors occupy public spaces and traditional markets, creating problems for residents, pedestrians, formal retailers, and public authorities. They sometimes cause conflicts in society, potentially leading to violence ( Tonda and Kepe, 2016 ). Moreover, they often employ children, working individually or with their parents ( Estrada, 2016 ), and are frequently accused of drug trading and counterfeiting ( Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ). On the other hand, in many countries, the informal economy, which consists mainly of street vending, plays a crucial role in income generation, employment creation, and production ( Recchi, 2020 ).

There are no accurate data for street vending or for the informal economy in general due to the fact that street vending and/or informal sector are informal activities operating without registration and licenses. According to the conceptualization of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the formal economy consists of government entities in addition to registered private units with fixed premises, while the informal sector includes unregistered business units such as street vending, agricultural family production, daily construction work, and home-based enterprises ( OECD/ILO, 2019 ). An indicator of the scale of street vending is that informal employment accounts for 42% of total nonagricultural employment in Thailand (2010), 50% in Argentina (2009), 61% in Ecuador (2009), and 70% in Zambia (2008) as estimated by the ILO ( ILO, 2013 ). If we add the small family farms, the informal sector represents a huge part of the entire economy in most developing countries.

The study chose Baghdad, Iraq as a sample to analyze the relationship between culture and street vending for multiple reasons. First, street vending is a crucial part of the vibrancy of cities like Baghdad, Iraq's capital. Second, Iraqis often buy from and trust peddlers; most of the time, the public authorities ignore them. Third, the pervasiveness of street vending has increased dramatically over the last 15 years in the wake of political changes. Since the occupation of Iraq by the US-led alliance in 2003, the state and its major institutions have collapsed. Political and social stability has been severely damaged, and the state has mainly allocated its financial resources to fighting terrorism and resolving sectarian tensions. Moreover, the new regime has shifted to a free-enterprise market that has replaced the state as the major source of employment that it used to be during Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime. As a result, the unemployment rate has increased, especially among young people, and one-fifth of the population has fallen below the poverty line, even though the country is ranked fifth in the world for oil exports. The number of street vendors has increased sharply, and the public authorities have been unable to formalize their status. Government attempts to evict street vendors or destroy their stalls sometimes trigger protests, such as the major demonstration at the beginning of October 2019 against corruption, unemployment, and poor public services. We have therefore chosen to investigate this widespread and problematic issue.

This study examines the relationship between urban culture and street vending, since the literature on this topic is quite sparse ( Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Scholarly research has focused on street vendors who choose their profession willingly for cultural reasons, and who have a spiritual motivation that gives them satisfaction, enabling them to provide high-quality services in the perception of their clients ( Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Understanding of this relationship between culture and street vending needs to be enriched, since research has yielded contradictory statistical results ( Voiculescu, 2014 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Few studies have taken account of the fact that low-income customers prefer to shop in neighboring streets at low prices and to spend only a short time doing so ( Yatmo, 2009 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Therefore, when scholars consider low-income consumption as a dimension of urban culture, their statistical results are inconsistent ( Steel, 2012a ; Trupp, 2015 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ).

Some researchers have suggested a direct effect of resistance on the pervasiveness of street vending, noting that street vendors, in order to survive, adopt a strategy of resistance, despite restrictive policies ( Hanser, 2016 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ). Here, we argue that resistance as a mediator is able to explain the relationship between culture (or low-income consumption) and street vending, given that urban culture (or low-income consumption) may not affect street vending directly. For this reason, we propose a mediation model that can be examined theoretically and empirically. The model posits that urban culture positively impacts street vending through low-income consumption and resistance and the mediating effect of resistance on the relationship between a lack of microfinance and street vending.

This study relies on the cultural approach, which argues that street vendors choose their endeavor for cultural reasons rather than on the basis of rational decisions. They establish relationships with their friends and the community on the basis of solidarity and reciprocity, and they successfully build relationships with customers on the basis of trust. They also enjoy freedom and flexibility that allow them to have control over their lives. For their part, customers support street vendors who offer the goods and the services they need at affordable prices ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Williams and Youssef, 2014 ). In this context, the present study examines whether culture impacts street vending directly or indirectly through consumption and resistance.

The model is tested empirically, using a survey of the general public's attitudes toward street vending and corresponding factors in the context of Baghdad. Researchers have reviewed public policies on street vending on the basis of national data ( Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ; Lyons, 2013 ) and have interviewed street vendors to identify their characteristics ( Reid et al., 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). However, there remains a need to understand public opinions on street vending before reviewing public policies on this activity ( Chai et al., 2011 ). The current study formulates a public perspective on this widespread problem in cities, which is a necessary step in developing appropriate legislation.

The study makes significant contributions to the literature on street vending. First, it tests the cultural approach by investigating the direct and indirect effects of culture on street vending. Second, it introduces a distinctive model using sequential mediation analysis. Third, the model is expanded by the addition of the mediating effect of resistance on the relationship between microfinance and street vending. Finally, the results can be used to rank the factors that drive the pervasiveness of street vending in order of importance, with managerial implications for dealing fairly with this problematic issue in the cities of developing countries.

Section Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development introduces the conceptual framework and develops the hypotheses on the basis of a thorough review of the literature. Section Methodology sets out the sampling and data collection procedure, derives measurement items for the constructs of the model, and provides a rationale for using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to analyze the data. Section Results tests the model and hypotheses and reports the results. Section Discussion and Conclusion discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings, and then considers the limitations of the study and future research directions.

Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development

Scholars often consider the informal economy as an indicator of economic underdevelopment or as an obstacle to economic development. However, in developing and low-income countries, the informal sector increasingly contributes to the elimination of unemployment and poverty ( Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ; Lyons, 2013 ). Street vendors (hawkers or peddlers), as a main element in the informal economy, have existed for decades ( Nani, 2016 ). They are continually at risk of eviction from sidewalks and crowded markets ( Recio and Gomez, 2013 ) because public officials tend not to appreciate the role of hawkers, although their businesses play a major role in the informal economy, contribute to the vibrancy of cities, and form an obvious part of the general economy ( Khan and Quaddus, 2020 ).

Street vendors earn a low level of income and must compete with formal sellers ( Agadjanian, 2002 ). It is worth noting that there are often too many vegetable sellers competing with each other in overcrowded areas. In this connection, we should differentiate between licensed and unlicensed street vendors. While licensed sellers enjoy a formal relationship with municipal authorities and public officials, unlicensed vendors work under precarious conditions, struggling to avoid eviction from the public streets ( Cuvi, 2016 ). Our study analyzes the impact of urban culture on the pervasiveness of unlicensed street vending via consumption patterns and resistance, in addition to the impact of a lack of microfinance on street vending via resistance. The conceptual research model ( Figure 1 ) and its hypotheses are rooted in the literature, as the following subsections demonstrate.

Figure 1 . Conceptual research model.

Urban Culture

Urban or street culture refers to values and practices shared by the residents of cities. Street vending is a core part of this culture. As we have observed in Baghdad, customers visit nearby traditional markets not only to make purchases but also to spend time communicating with each other, meeting their friends, walking, and looking at the attractive offerings of street vendors. Meanwhile, street vendors are reluctant to move into the formal sector, preferring the hazardous conditions of the informal sector to the relative safety of formal activities ( Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ). It is this preference that enables them to tolerate the difficulties they encounter ( Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Some vendors love the flexible spaces and movement; they are voyagers who carry their emotions and dreams with them as they explore new landscapes ( Voiculescu, 2014 ). They enter the informal economy for cultural reasons, such as continuing a traditional family activity, and for social or lifestyle reasons ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ). The urban culture of a city also determines the traditional recipes and eating habits that match the food offered by street vendors ( Wardrop, 2006 ), and the public streets where readers and sellers of newspapers come together represent shared cultural interests ( Reuveni, 2002 ). Thus, we hypothesize:

H1 . Urban culture positively impacts street vending.

Low-Income Consumption

Street vendors cannot compete with retail shops in terms of quality, brand name, or variety of products; instead, they attract customers who intend to spend only a short period of time shopping and buy at low prices ( Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Traditional markets combine both retail shops and street vendors who intentionally locate their business in crowded areas. For instance, low-income customers who cannot afford to go to restaurants buy cooked food from sellers on the streets. Even though their business is somewhat threatened by the formal food retail industry, those sellers continue to provide food to those consumers. Generally, the vendors themselves try to understand changes in customers' needs and to select appropriate public places to reach certain groups of customers, such as tourists ( Steel, 2012a ). For example, souvenir vendors have become a core part of the tourism economy in countries such as Thailand ( Trupp, 2015 ). Nowadays, vendors increasingly use social media platforms to disseminate information about their business, communicate with nearby customers, and persuade them. Then, customers often respond positively to purchasing from those vendors ( Wang et al., 2021b ).

Customers enjoy purchasing the products offered in the public streets and traditional markets, since this consumption pattern reflects their values and beliefs. For example, food consumption habits and styles are determined by geographical location, climate, and what foodstuffs can be produced locally, with the result that consumption patterns pass from one generation to the next. Specifically, meat consumption is affected by religion, history, and urban culture ( Nam et al., 2010 ). In short, the culture teaches vendors to produce traditional food or drink that appeals to customers. For their part, the customers, again as part of the culture, enjoy buying such food on the public streets and can identify trusted sellers. Therefore, urban culture establishes a pattern of low-income consumption that creates a real demand for the products offered by street vendors. Thus, we hypothesize:

H2 . Low-income consumption mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Depending on their social networks, street vendors occupy certain traditional markets or sidewalks ( Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ); that is, they belong to specific tribes or cities, which gives them a degree of power against residents and authorities. Itinerant vendors, for instance, resist in order to be allowed to remain on the sidewalks and in the markets, taking individual and collective action and sometimes organizing protests ( Steel, 2012b ). Vendors have neither safety nor security, because they face harassment from the local authorities and often have to pay bribes to sustain themselves on the streets ( Saha, 2011 ). When the authorities demolish their stalls, they find ways to return to their sites with a higher level of resistance ( Musoni, 2010 ). Governmental organizations can reduce the level of resistance by introducing justice practices among peddlers by offering sort of support to them such as building infrastructure in order to formalize their business ( Rehman et al., 2021 ).

Informal workers generally do not group themselves into organizations. Thus, they do not have the collective power to negotiate with governmental organizations, such as the police and municipal authorities, or to collaborate to improve their working conditions ( Hummel, 2017 ). Nevertheless, although city authorities have legal powers, street vendors tend to develop a set of strategies for acquiring formal and informal power ( Boonjubun, 2017 ; Forkuor et al., 2017 ; Hummel, 2017 ; Te-Lintelo, 2017 ). Thus, resistance gives vendors the ability to stay on the sidewalks and in the markets despite the objections of city officials and residents ( Zhong and Di, 2017 ).

People who suffer from poverty and unemployment develop their own subculture to resist oppression (T. A. Martinez, 1997 ). Street vendors who are poor or unemployed find ways to resist and continue their businesses on the public streets so that they can survive; they do so regardless of the concerns of the official authorities. Researchers have argued that certain groups in a society develop their own oppositional cultures that empower them to resist public trends ( Ainsworth-Darnell and Downey, 1998 ). These vendors believe that they have the right to survive in their neighborhood, and that the authorities do not have the right to evict them unless officials arrange alternative employment for them. Consequently, the culture generates values and beliefs in favor of peddlers staying on the public streets, with the approval of customers, and resistance supports them in doing this. Hence, we propose the following hypothesis:

H3 . Resistance mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Urban culture creates a consumption pattern, especially for low-income customers. This pattern represents real demand for products offered in public spaces and on sidewalks, and street vendors find their businesses profitable because of the willingness of customers to deal with them. The resulting consumption pattern consolidates the persistence of street vendors working in the informal trading sector. For instance, Khan (2017) found that street vendors are distinguished by cheaper pricing and quicker delivery, and that their customers see street vending as conveniently located, with flexible times and rich customization. Since urban culture generates low-income consumption, the real demand for products offered on public streets establishes resistance among vendors, thereby facilitating the survival of their livelihood and justifying their pervasiveness. Hence, we propose the following hypothesis:

H4 . Low-income consumption and resistance sequentially mediate the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Lack of Microfinance

The pervasiveness of street vending can also be explained by a lack of microfinance. Husain et al. (2015) found that personal savings constitute the most considerable source of financing for peddlers. Lyons (2013) found that when peddlers find it difficult to secure formal credit facilities from commercial banks and financial funds, they sell their assets or borrow from cooperative organizations. To finance their economic activities and social security, street vendors sometimes borrow money at exorbitant rates of interest ( Saha, 2011 ; Martinez and Rivera-Acevedo, 2018 ). Therefore, governments should set up specialized organizations to provide financial support to microbusinesses. Likewise, commercial banks should be encouraged to lend to very small businesses, and the loans should be based on knowledge of the market rather than on technical evaluation of the risks; in this context, an intuitive approach to lending will lead to better results than quantitative methods ( Malôa, 2013 ).

Informal sellers are among the poorest people in society. They cannot afford to rent a retail outlet, expand their business, or shift to the formal sector ( Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Moreover, they do not meet the minimum requirements to apply for a loan, and banks are reluctant to be involved in microfinance. In short, an acute lack of microfinance results in poor and uneducated people trading on the streets, in contrast to a mature and developed financial system, which would create easier channels for financing microbusinesses and give unemployed people the opportunity to set up small formal businesses ( Esubalew and Raghurama, 2020 ). Since most unemployed and poor people have no access to the financial system to obtain loans, they become resistant. Thus, the strong resistance of street vendors can be explained in part by a lack of microfinance, which leads them to stay on the public streets. Therefore, we hypothesize:

H5 . A lack of microfinance positively impacts street vending.

H6 . Resistance mediates the effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending.

Methodology

Sampling and data collection.

The measurement items for the constructs in this study, displayed in Table 1 , were translated into Arabic, a language that the majority of Iraqis speak. To check the suitability of the items for the Iraqi cultural context, the questionnaire was discussed with five colleagues at the Middle Technical University, Baghdad, and an initial sample of 25 responses was analyzed. The results confirmed that most of the street vendors are Iraqis and that public officials mostly ignore them, although the authorities sometimes evict them from public streets and traditional markets. The results also indicated that most of the street vendors are uneducated, but that some have secondary school certificates, a diploma, or even a bachelor's degree, because unemployment has spread among young people and graduates. We modified the questionnaire in light of these findings, and the results are shown in Table 1 in an English version.

Table 1 . Measurement model assessment.

Some researchers have interviewed street vendors in order to understand their characteristics and the factors that affect their livelihoods ( Reid et al., 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). The current study instead adopts the approach recommended by Chai et al. (2011) , with the aim of tracking the attitudes of the general public on the problematic issue of street vending. Their approach is appropriate because the problem affects the social and economic daily life of cities in two opposing ways. On the one hand, it has negative impacts in terms of traffic, competition with the modern retail industry, and violence. On the other hand, it reduces poverty and unemployment. Obtaining a clear understanding of public opinion on the issue is, therefore, a necessary step in reviewing public policies on how to deal fairly with street vendors.

Google Forms were used to administer the electronic survey, which was distributed via a hyperlink sent to participants by e-mail, WhatsApp, or Facebook. We began by inviting students, administrative staff, and faculty members at Middle Technical University, Baghdad to take part. Then, we encouraged our students to ask their friends and relatives outside the university to participate, and we also involved digital friends contacted via social networks. Our aim was to include 600 participants from a range of social classes. In the end, because of limitations of time and resources, we collected 463 responses. We excluded 38 of these on the grounds that the respondents had given the same answer to all the questions. The final sample, therefore, consisted of 425 complete and usable responses collected between September and November 2018. The raw data were deposited at Mendeley and can be viewed at Al-Jundi (2019) .

The study adopted a sampling method introduced by Krejcie and Morgan (1970) in order to determine the minimum size of the sample required for a given population. A total number of 384 participants will be required to gain a 95% confidence interval for a population that exceeds one million persons with a marginal error of ±5%. We managed to collect 425 reliable responses that are acceptable, taking into consideration the limitations of this paper (see section Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research). The study, therefore, uses nonprobabilistic sampling with an unlimited population.

Of the participants, 67% were men and 33% were women. In terms of education, 25% had not completed secondary schooling, 41% (most of whom were university students) had a secondary school certificate, 20% had a diploma or a bachelor's degree, and 14% (mainly faculty members) were postgraduates. With regard to monthly household income, 41% earned less than $400, 37% earned $400–999, 12% earned $1,000–1,499, and 10% earned more than $1,500. Participants under the age of 25 accounted for 35% of the sample, while 44% were aged 25–40, and 21% were 41 or older. Thus, the participants come from different educational backgrounds and social classes, which make our sample fairly representative of the general public in the capital city of Baghdad.

Measurement Variables

In order to test the conceptual research model using PLS-SEM, we constructed measurable (observed) variables that reflect constructs drawn from the literature. All the indicator variables were measured using a seven-point Likert-type scale, shown in Table 1 (1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 somewhat disagree, 4 neither agree nor disagree, 5 somewhat agree, 6 agree, and 7 strongly agree).

The review of the literature served to identify five items that reflect each construct. The measurement items for the pervasiveness of street vending were drawn from work by Agadjanian (2002) , Ilahiane and Sherry (2008) , Recio and Gomez (2013) , and Palacios (2016) , while the observed variables for urban culture were derived from the work of Reuveni (2002) , Wardrop (2006) , Tamilarai and Angayarkanni (2016) , Alvi and Mendoza (2017) , and Wibisono and Catrayasa (2018) . The items for consumption patterns were derived from Reid et al. (2010) , Steel (2012a) , Trupp (2015) , and Tamilarai and Angayarkanni (2016) , and resistance was tracked using indicators proposed by Musoni (2010) , Steel (2012b) , Tengeh and Lapah (2013) , Hanser (2016) , and Boonjubun (2017) . Finally, the lack of microfinance was measured using indicators introduced by Husain et al. (2015) , Lyons (2013) , Saha (2011) , and Tamilarai and Angayarkanni (2016) .

Statistical Procedures

To validate our proposed model, we adopted a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach for a number of reasons. First, SEM is well recognized among researchers, as many of the concepts of social science are latent variables that can only be measured via observed indicators ( Hair et al., 2017 , 2019 ; Latan and Noonan, 2017 ). Second, SEM is more powerful than factor analysis, path analysis, or multiple linear regression and has already been used in similar studies ( Al-Jundi et al., 2019 , 2020 ; Shujahat et al., 2020 ; Ali, 2021 ; Ali et al., 2021a , b ; Wang et al., 2021a ). Third, SEM takes into consideration measurement error in the observed variables involved in a corresponding model ( Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). Fourth, PLS-SEM allows the examination of causal relationships among many latent variables simultaneously, as well as the calculation of direct and indirect effects of a complex model. Finally, SEM gives a complete picture of the entire model, regardless of the complexity of the relationships among the constructs and observed variables.

There are two approaches to estimating such a model: a covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) approach and a partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM) approach. CB-SEM presumes a multivariate normal distribution and seeks to identify the model parameters that minimize the discrepancy between the estimated and sample covariance matrices. PLS-SEM attempts to maximize the explained variance of the endogenous constructs ( Hair et al., 2017 ). The current paper uses the PLS-SEM technique for four reasons. First, PLS-SEM estimates a complex model with many constructs, observed variables, and path model relationships to guarantee convergence regardless of sample size and distribution assumptions ( Gefen and Straub, 2005 ). Second, PLS-SEM focuses on prediction, which allows the derivation of managerial implications. Third, PLS-SEM is suitable for developing a theory ( Hair et al., 2017 , 2019 ). Finally, PLS-SEM is recommended for the estimation of mediation models, including sequential mediation analysis ( Sarstedt et al., 2020 ).

Assessment of the Measurement Model

In the initial step of the factor analysis, item loadings above 0.700 were retained and those below 0.40 were deleted (as recommended by Hair et al., 2017 ). All standardized factor loadings were higher than the cut-off value of 0.707. We found that the item loading for LC1 was below 0.40, and we therefore deleted it. Table 1 shows the outer loadings of all the constructs in the study.

To examine internal consistency reliability, we used Cronbach's alpha (α) and composite reliability (ρ C ) for all the constructs. The rule of thumb indicates that α and ρ C should be above 0.700. As Table 1 shows, these requirements were met for all the constructs.

To assess convergent validity (construct communality), we used average variance extracted (AVE), which is calculated as the mean value of the squared outer loadings associated with each construct ( Gefen and Straub, 2005 ; Hair et al., 2017 ). As Table 1 shows, the AVE for all constructs exceeds the critical cut-off point of 0.500 ( Latan and Noonan, 2017 ), thus ensuring convergent validity.

To establish discriminant validity, the heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT) was used. If the value of HTMT is lower than the threshold value of HTMT 0.85 (the conservative cut-off point) or HTMT 0.90 (the liberal cut-off point), discriminant validity is established ( Henseler et al., 2014 ). Table 2 shows that the HTMT ratios among the constructs are all below the cut-off point of HTMT 0.85 , and discriminant validity is thus established.

Table 2 . Assessment of discriminant validity using HTMT.

Predictive Relevance of the Model

To analyze the model's predictive relevance, we distinguished between in-sample prediction (explanatory power) and out-of-sample prediction (predictive power). Explanatory power can be evaluated using the coefficient of determination ( R 2 ), which indicates the predictive accuracy. As a rule of thumb, R 2 values below 0.25 are considered weak. Table 3 shows that the R 2 values for street vending (0.267), low-income consumption (0.321), and resistance (0.361) can be considered moderate; that is, more than 25% of the amount of variance in all the endogenous constructs is explained by the corresponding exogenous constructs. These results are acceptable in the context of research in the behavioral and social sciences ( Hair et al., 2017 ).

Table 3 . Determination coefficients ( R 2 ) and predictive relevance (Q 2 ) of endogenous (omission distance = 7).

The effect size f 2 assesses how strongly an exogenous variable participates in explaining a target endogenous variable in terms of R 2 . As a rule of thumb, f 2 values of 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 are weak, moderate, and large, respectively ( Hair et al., 2017 ). Table 5 shows that urban culture has a strong effect size in explaining low-income consumption. Lack of microfinance has a moderate effect on resistance, which is similar to the effect of resistance on street vending. Microfinance, consumption, and culture have weak effects on their target constructs, whereas urban culture and consumption pattern have no effect on street vending.

Even though the data collected reflect the general public's perspective from the capital city of Iraq, the quality of predictive power of the proposed model helps to generalize conclusions and drive managerial implications. To test the predictive relevance of the endogenous variables, we used a blindfolding procedure. Table 3 gives the Q2 values for our endogenous latent constructs. Applying the same rule of thumb used for effect size, we find that street vending has weak predictive power and that the power of low-income consumption and resistance is moderate. All the endogenous variables have Q2 values greater than 0, which provides evidence of the model's predictive relevance ( Geisser, 1974 ; Stone, 1974 ; Hair et al., 2019 ). Accordingly, we can safely generalize the conclusions derived from this study, taking into consideration the limitations raised in section 5.4.

Structural Model Assessment

As an initial step, we used the variance inflation factor (VIF) as an indicator of collinearity in the structural model. Table 4 shows that all the VIF values are below the cut-off value of 3.00. Thus, there are no collinearity issues in the structural model.

Table 4 . Variance inflation factors (VIF) as an indicator of collinearity.

To test the significance of the path coefficients, we ran bootstrapping of 5,000 iterations (subsamples) at 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals. The empirical results for all the direct paths in Table 5 , Figure 2B , are significant, with the exception of the direct effect of urban culture on street vending and low-income consumption on street vending. The former finding suggests that H1 is not supported. The empirical results also show that a lack of microfinance has a positive and significant effect on street vending, which provides support for H5.

Table 5 . Construct effects on endogenous variables.

Figure 2 . Structural model results. (A) Model with total effect. (B) Model with double mediations.

Mediation Analysis

This study followed the updated procedure in Nitzl et al. (2016) to test the mediation hypotheses. Again, the bootstrapping of 5,000 iterations at 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals allowed the indirect effects to be tested. As Figure 2A , Table 6 (A) show, urban culture has a significant total effect on street vending (β = 0.235; t = 3.146). However, when low-income consumption and resistance are introduced as mediators, urban culture no longer has a significant direct effect on street vending (β = −0.073, t = 1.115), as shown in Figure 2B , Table 6 (B). This suggests that H1 is not supported.

Table 6 . Summary of mediating analyses.

The indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via low-income consumption is also not significant (β = −0.036, t = 1.183) as shown in Table 6 (C), and this indicates that H2 is not supported.

As Table 6 (C) shows, the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via resistance is significant (β = 0.124, t = 3.686). This indicates that resistance fully mediates the relationship between urban culture and street vending, and H3 is therefore supported.

The empirical results in Table 6 (D) suggest that urban culture is positively associated with low-income consumption, that low-income consumption is positively associated with resistance, and that resistance is related to higher levels of street vending. These results suggest that low-income consumption and resistance are two sequential mediators that fully and jointly mediate the influence of urban culture on street vending. Therefore, H4 is supported.

Table 6 (C) shows that the indirect effect of lack of microfinance on street vending via resistance is significant (β = 0.148, t = 4.816). This result suggests that resistance partially mediates the relationship between lack of microfinance and street vending, and H6 is therefore supported.

Discussion and Conclusion

Discussion of the results.

Surprisingly, the results of this study indicate that urban culture does not have a significant direct effect on street vending (H1). Moreover, the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via low-income consumption (H2) is not significant. Thus, it seems that culture does not impact street vending. These results contradict previous research ( Voiculescu, 2014 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ) and the cultural approach ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Ladan and Williams, 2019 ). Furthermore, the low-income consumption pattern, which can be considered another dimension of culture, does not impact street vending ( Table 5 ), which again contradicts previous research ( Steel, 2012a ; Trupp, 2015 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ).

Nevertheless, we find that urban culture has a significant and positive impact on street vending via resistance (H3). This is a case of full mediation, since there is an indirect effect only. Furthermore, urban culture impacts street vending via serial mediation of low-income consumption and resistance (H4), with no direct effect of urban culture on street vending. In short, urban culture has a significant and positive impact on street vending through sequential mediators and is fully mediated.

We also confirm the direct effect of microfinance on street vending (H5) and the indirect effect through resistance (H6). This is a case of complementary partial mediation, since the direct and indirect effects are both positive and significant. Researchers agree that a lack of microfinance has an impact on the pervasiveness of street vending ( Saha, 2011 ; Lyons, 2013 ; Husain et al., 2015 ). Even though resistance has a direct effect on street vending ( Table 5 ), as previously established ( Musoni, 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Hanser, 2016 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ), the mediating effect of resistance is more important than the direct effect in explaining the pervasiveness of street vending.

Lastly, the results shown in Tables 5 , 6 help to rank the paths in order of importance. First comes the direct effect of resistance on street vending, followed by the total effects of urban culture on street vending, the direct effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending, the indirect effect of microfinance on street vending through resistance, and the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending through resistance, in that order.

Theoretical Implications

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it proposes and tests a new and comprehensive model to analyze the relationship between urban culture and street vending, simultaneously examining the effects of culture, consumption, resistance, and microfinance on street vending. Second, it investigates the general public's perceptions of the issue of street vending as a problem facing cities in developing countries, which is a necessary step in reviewing public policies and determining how to deal fairly with street vendors. Third, it develops measurement variables for the constructs in question, some of which are used for the first time, and confirms that they are reliable and valid. Fourth, the statistical analysis contradicts the findings of previous studies and sheds light on the cultural approach by showing that urban culture and low-income consumption (as another dimension of urban culture) have no significant direct effect on street vending. Finally, the study offers three novel and important findings: (1) Urban culture positively influences street vending via resistance; (2) Urban culture impacts street vending via serial mediation of low-income consumption and resistance; (3) Microfinance positively impacts street vending directly or through resistance. These findings are the main contributions of this study, and they will enrich the cultural approach. In short, urban culture (in the form of consumption patterns) impacts the pervasiveness of street vending if we take into consideration the mediator of resistance.

Managerial Implications

Because the predictive relevance of the model has been established, we can safely derive the following managerial implications. The results described in the previous section are of direct relevance to both public entities and scholarly researchers, as they allow the driving factors of the pervasiveness of street vending to be ranked in order of importance: first, resistance; second, urban culture; and third, lack of microfinance (see Tables 5 , 6 ). Resistance is formed by three important observed indicators in sequence, as the standardized factor loadings in Table 1 indicate. First, street vendors develop strategies to enable them to stay on the streets; second, they depend on their social networks; and third, they return to their sites following the demolition of their stalls. Public policy must therefore recognize that the eviction of street vendors from public spaces is not a solution ( Batréau and Bonnet, 2016 ), and policymakers should seek other ways of formalizing street vending.

There are two main factors that shape urban culture: people enjoy walking and communicating in the traditional markets, and they can find interesting items, such as books, in specialized markets. These cultural factors give sellers two sets of incentives to continue trading informally on sidewalks. First, the societal culture, represented by urban culture and patterns of consumption, creates a real demand for the goods and services offered in public spaces, and this encourages sellers to continue trading on the public streets. Second, because they cannot find jobs in the formal sector, street vendors have only one way to earn income, namely by working hard on the streets ( Onodugo et al., 2016 ). In other words, street vendors fulfill their own and their customers' needs, and the culture cannot be changed in the short term.

In terms of lack of microfinance, the most significant factor is that vendors have no access to formal credit facilities. To address this problem, municipal authorities should build infrastructure that is specifically designed to formalize street vendors; for example, they can construct special areas for vendors ( Te-Lintelo, 2017 ) and legalize trading between the informal and formal sectors. The banking sector should be encouraged to adopt a new approach to risk that would enable them to offer loans to microbusinesses ( Malôa, 2013 ), and the public authorities should provide financial support so that poor and unemployed people can set up formal microbusinesses.

We have learned from this research that street vendors are part of the vibrancy of many cities in developing countries. They play an important role in society by providing a range of products to low-income customers. They also help to eliminate poverty and unemployment, enabling people to depend on their own resources when governments fail to tackle those problems ( Onodugo et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, Street vendors cause many problems to traffic flows and suffer from the harmful environment when doing their business such as noise and air pollution. The phenomenon cannot be avoided even the government would evict them from streets and public spaces. The unemployment and poverty immediately pushed them to return. The problem is pervasiveness because at least it has roots in urban culture, consumption patterns, resistance, and lack of microfinance. The best solution to this problematic issue is that the government should invest to formalize the informality of street vending. Therefore, we can increase their contribution to the economic advances and decrease their negative impact on cities.

Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research

Although the path coefficients of the relationship between constructs and the predictive relevance of the entire model are statistically significant, the results of this study are subject to a number of limitations. First, the study uses non-probabilistic sampling with an unlimited population, and the sample of 425 responses can be considered small in the context of the total population of Baghdad. The results would be more accurate if we could increase the sample so that it is more representative of the population as a whole. Second, because we collected the raw data via the Internet and social media, we cannot guarantee the full engagement of the participants. Third, the study relates specifically to the context of Iraq, a country that has suffered recent political instability. Thus, it is important to apply the model to data drawn from other cities and countries with different political circumstances.

Fourth, the model is limited to examination of the impact of culture on street vending. Future research should examine the multivariate impact of other important antecedents of street vending, such as poverty ( Estrada and Hondagneu-Sotelo, 2011 ; Saha, 2011 ), unemployment ( Truong, 2018 ), education ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Husain et al., 2015 ), and immigration ( Lapah and Tengeh, 2013 ). The inclusion of the moderating effects of gender, income, and educational background would improve the model conceptually and statistically. Scholars should also revisit the cultural approach and other theories that address street vending and the informal economy ( Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Ladan and Williams, 2019 ). Lastly, the current study is limited to one period. Future studies should, therefore, test the model using data collected at different intervals.

Data Availability Statement

Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: https://doi.org/10.17632/dh3cv5p7rv.1 .

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grant No. (DF-689-120-1441). The authors, therefore, gratefully acknowledge DSR technical and financial support.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: street vending, urban culture, consumption, resistance, microfinance, mediation, PLS-SEM

Citation: Al-Jundi SA, Al-Janabi HA, Salam MA, Bajaba S and Ullah S (2022) The Impact of Urban Culture on Street Vending: A Path Model Analysis of the General Public's Perspective. Front. Psychol. 12:831014. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.831014

Received: 07 December 2021; Accepted: 29 December 2021; Published: 14 February 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Al-Jundi, Al-Janabi, Salam, Bajaba and Ullah. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Mohammad Asif Salam, masalam1@kau.edu.sa

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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The Impact of Urban Culture on Street Vending: A Path Model Analysis of the General Public's Perspective

Salem a. al-jundi.

1 School of Business, Skyline University College, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Haitham A. Al-Janabi

2 Faculty of Administrative Sciences, University of Al-Mashreq, Baghdad, Iraq

Mohammad Asif Salam

3 Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Saleh Bajaba

Shakir ullah.

4 Faculty of Finance, University of Maryland Global Campus, Adelphi, MD, United States

5 Faculty of Finance, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA, United States

Associated Data

Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here: https://doi.org/10.17632/dh3cv5p7rv.1 .

This study examined the relationship between urban culture and street vending. Prior research on this topic is limited and inconclusive. Therefore, we have proposed an integrated model to test the positive effect of urban culture on street vending using multiple mediations of consumption patterns, resistance, and microfinance. We tested a sample of 425 responses that reflect the public opinion in Baghdad, Iraq. These responses were collected between September and November 2018. A partial least squares–based structural equation modeling is employed to test the validity of measurement models and the significance of the entire structural model, predictive power, and mediation analysis. We found that resistance mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending; low-income consumption and resistance sequentially mediate the effect of urban culture on street vending, while resistance mediates the effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending. The direct impact of culture on street vending is not significant, and a lack of microfinance positively influences the pervasiveness of trading on streets. This study contributes to the extant literature as it proposed and tested a novel and comprehensive model to analyze the relationship between urban culture and street vending, simultaneously examining the effects of culture, consumption, resistance, and microfinance on street vending.

Introduction

Unlicensed street vendors occupy public spaces and traditional markets, creating problems for residents, pedestrians, formal retailers, and public authorities. They sometimes cause conflicts in society, potentially leading to violence (Tonda and Kepe, 2016 ). Moreover, they often employ children, working individually or with their parents (Estrada, 2016 ), and are frequently accused of drug trading and counterfeiting (Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ). On the other hand, in many countries, the informal economy, which consists mainly of street vending, plays a crucial role in income generation, employment creation, and production (Recchi, 2020 ).

There are no accurate data for street vending or for the informal economy in general due to the fact that street vending and/or informal sector are informal activities operating without registration and licenses. According to the conceptualization of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the formal economy consists of government entities in addition to registered private units with fixed premises, while the informal sector includes unregistered business units such as street vending, agricultural family production, daily construction work, and home-based enterprises (OECD/ILO, 2019 ). An indicator of the scale of street vending is that informal employment accounts for 42% of total nonagricultural employment in Thailand (2010), 50% in Argentina (2009), 61% in Ecuador (2009), and 70% in Zambia (2008) as estimated by the ILO (ILO, 2013 ). If we add the small family farms, the informal sector represents a huge part of the entire economy in most developing countries.

The study chose Baghdad, Iraq as a sample to analyze the relationship between culture and street vending for multiple reasons. First, street vending is a crucial part of the vibrancy of cities like Baghdad, Iraq's capital. Second, Iraqis often buy from and trust peddlers; most of the time, the public authorities ignore them. Third, the pervasiveness of street vending has increased dramatically over the last 15 years in the wake of political changes. Since the occupation of Iraq by the US-led alliance in 2003, the state and its major institutions have collapsed. Political and social stability has been severely damaged, and the state has mainly allocated its financial resources to fighting terrorism and resolving sectarian tensions. Moreover, the new regime has shifted to a free-enterprise market that has replaced the state as the major source of employment that it used to be during Saddam Hussein's dictatorial regime. As a result, the unemployment rate has increased, especially among young people, and one-fifth of the population has fallen below the poverty line, even though the country is ranked fifth in the world for oil exports. The number of street vendors has increased sharply, and the public authorities have been unable to formalize their status. Government attempts to evict street vendors or destroy their stalls sometimes trigger protests, such as the major demonstration at the beginning of October 2019 against corruption, unemployment, and poor public services. We have therefore chosen to investigate this widespread and problematic issue.

This study examines the relationship between urban culture and street vending, since the literature on this topic is quite sparse (Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Scholarly research has focused on street vendors who choose their profession willingly for cultural reasons, and who have a spiritual motivation that gives them satisfaction, enabling them to provide high-quality services in the perception of their clients (Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Understanding of this relationship between culture and street vending needs to be enriched, since research has yielded contradictory statistical results (Voiculescu, 2014 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). Few studies have taken account of the fact that low-income customers prefer to shop in neighboring streets at low prices and to spend only a short time doing so (Yatmo, 2009 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Therefore, when scholars consider low-income consumption as a dimension of urban culture, their statistical results are inconsistent (Steel, 2012a ; Trupp, 2015 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ).

Some researchers have suggested a direct effect of resistance on the pervasiveness of street vending, noting that street vendors, in order to survive, adopt a strategy of resistance, despite restrictive policies (Hanser, 2016 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ). Here, we argue that resistance as a mediator is able to explain the relationship between culture (or low-income consumption) and street vending, given that urban culture (or low-income consumption) may not affect street vending directly. For this reason, we propose a mediation model that can be examined theoretically and empirically. The model posits that urban culture positively impacts street vending through low-income consumption and resistance and the mediating effect of resistance on the relationship between a lack of microfinance and street vending.

This study relies on the cultural approach, which argues that street vendors choose their endeavor for cultural reasons rather than on the basis of rational decisions. They establish relationships with their friends and the community on the basis of solidarity and reciprocity, and they successfully build relationships with customers on the basis of trust. They also enjoy freedom and flexibility that allow them to have control over their lives. For their part, customers support street vendors who offer the goods and the services they need at affordable prices (Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Williams and Youssef, 2014 ). In this context, the present study examines whether culture impacts street vending directly or indirectly through consumption and resistance.

The model is tested empirically, using a survey of the general public's attitudes toward street vending and corresponding factors in the context of Baghdad. Researchers have reviewed public policies on street vending on the basis of national data (Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ; Lyons, 2013 ) and have interviewed street vendors to identify their characteristics (Reid et al., 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). However, there remains a need to understand public opinions on street vending before reviewing public policies on this activity (Chai et al., 2011 ). The current study formulates a public perspective on this widespread problem in cities, which is a necessary step in developing appropriate legislation.

The study makes significant contributions to the literature on street vending. First, it tests the cultural approach by investigating the direct and indirect effects of culture on street vending. Second, it introduces a distinctive model using sequential mediation analysis. Third, the model is expanded by the addition of the mediating effect of resistance on the relationship between microfinance and street vending. Finally, the results can be used to rank the factors that drive the pervasiveness of street vending in order of importance, with managerial implications for dealing fairly with this problematic issue in the cities of developing countries.

Section Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development introduces the conceptual framework and develops the hypotheses on the basis of a thorough review of the literature. Section Methodology sets out the sampling and data collection procedure, derives measurement items for the constructs of the model, and provides a rationale for using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to analyze the data. Section Results tests the model and hypotheses and reports the results. Section Discussion and Conclusion discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings, and then considers the limitations of the study and future research directions.

Conceptual Framework and Hypothesis Development

Scholars often consider the informal economy as an indicator of economic underdevelopment or as an obstacle to economic development. However, in developing and low-income countries, the informal sector increasingly contributes to the elimination of unemployment and poverty (Ilahiane and Sherry, 2008 ; Lyons, 2013 ). Street vendors (hawkers or peddlers), as a main element in the informal economy, have existed for decades (Nani, 2016 ). They are continually at risk of eviction from sidewalks and crowded markets (Recio and Gomez, 2013 ) because public officials tend not to appreciate the role of hawkers, although their businesses play a major role in the informal economy, contribute to the vibrancy of cities, and form an obvious part of the general economy (Khan and Quaddus, 2020 ).

Street vendors earn a low level of income and must compete with formal sellers (Agadjanian, 2002 ). It is worth noting that there are often too many vegetable sellers competing with each other in overcrowded areas. In this connection, we should differentiate between licensed and unlicensed street vendors. While licensed sellers enjoy a formal relationship with municipal authorities and public officials, unlicensed vendors work under precarious conditions, struggling to avoid eviction from the public streets (Cuvi, 2016 ). Our study analyzes the impact of urban culture on the pervasiveness of unlicensed street vending via consumption patterns and resistance, in addition to the impact of a lack of microfinance on street vending via resistance. The conceptual research model ( Figure 1 ) and its hypotheses are rooted in the literature, as the following subsections demonstrate.

Conceptual research model.

Urban Culture

Urban or street culture refers to values and practices shared by the residents of cities. Street vending is a core part of this culture. As we have observed in Baghdad, customers visit nearby traditional markets not only to make purchases but also to spend time communicating with each other, meeting their friends, walking, and looking at the attractive offerings of street vendors. Meanwhile, street vendors are reluctant to move into the formal sector, preferring the hazardous conditions of the informal sector to the relative safety of formal activities (Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ). It is this preference that enables them to tolerate the difficulties they encounter (Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Some vendors love the flexible spaces and movement; they are voyagers who carry their emotions and dreams with them as they explore new landscapes (Voiculescu, 2014 ). They enter the informal economy for cultural reasons, such as continuing a traditional family activity, and for social or lifestyle reasons (Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ). The urban culture of a city also determines the traditional recipes and eating habits that match the food offered by street vendors (Wardrop, 2006 ), and the public streets where readers and sellers of newspapers come together represent shared cultural interests (Reuveni, 2002 ). Thus, we hypothesize:

H1 . Urban culture positively impacts street vending.

Low-Income Consumption

Street vendors cannot compete with retail shops in terms of quality, brand name, or variety of products; instead, they attract customers who intend to spend only a short period of time shopping and buy at low prices (Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Traditional markets combine both retail shops and street vendors who intentionally locate their business in crowded areas. For instance, low-income customers who cannot afford to go to restaurants buy cooked food from sellers on the streets. Even though their business is somewhat threatened by the formal food retail industry, those sellers continue to provide food to those consumers. Generally, the vendors themselves try to understand changes in customers' needs and to select appropriate public places to reach certain groups of customers, such as tourists (Steel, 2012a ). For example, souvenir vendors have become a core part of the tourism economy in countries such as Thailand (Trupp, 2015 ). Nowadays, vendors increasingly use social media platforms to disseminate information about their business, communicate with nearby customers, and persuade them. Then, customers often respond positively to purchasing from those vendors (Wang et al., 2021b ).

Customers enjoy purchasing the products offered in the public streets and traditional markets, since this consumption pattern reflects their values and beliefs. For example, food consumption habits and styles are determined by geographical location, climate, and what foodstuffs can be produced locally, with the result that consumption patterns pass from one generation to the next. Specifically, meat consumption is affected by religion, history, and urban culture (Nam et al., 2010 ). In short, the culture teaches vendors to produce traditional food or drink that appeals to customers. For their part, the customers, again as part of the culture, enjoy buying such food on the public streets and can identify trusted sellers. Therefore, urban culture establishes a pattern of low-income consumption that creates a real demand for the products offered by street vendors. Thus, we hypothesize:

H2 . Low-income consumption mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Depending on their social networks, street vendors occupy certain traditional markets or sidewalks (Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ); that is, they belong to specific tribes or cities, which gives them a degree of power against residents and authorities. Itinerant vendors, for instance, resist in order to be allowed to remain on the sidewalks and in the markets, taking individual and collective action and sometimes organizing protests (Steel, 2012b ). Vendors have neither safety nor security, because they face harassment from the local authorities and often have to pay bribes to sustain themselves on the streets (Saha, 2011 ). When the authorities demolish their stalls, they find ways to return to their sites with a higher level of resistance (Musoni, 2010 ). Governmental organizations can reduce the level of resistance by introducing justice practices among peddlers by offering sort of support to them such as building infrastructure in order to formalize their business (Rehman et al., 2021 ).

Informal workers generally do not group themselves into organizations. Thus, they do not have the collective power to negotiate with governmental organizations, such as the police and municipal authorities, or to collaborate to improve their working conditions (Hummel, 2017 ). Nevertheless, although city authorities have legal powers, street vendors tend to develop a set of strategies for acquiring formal and informal power (Boonjubun, 2017 ; Forkuor et al., 2017 ; Hummel, 2017 ; Te-Lintelo, 2017 ). Thus, resistance gives vendors the ability to stay on the sidewalks and in the markets despite the objections of city officials and residents (Zhong and Di, 2017 ).

People who suffer from poverty and unemployment develop their own subculture to resist oppression (T. A. Martinez, 1997 ). Street vendors who are poor or unemployed find ways to resist and continue their businesses on the public streets so that they can survive; they do so regardless of the concerns of the official authorities. Researchers have argued that certain groups in a society develop their own oppositional cultures that empower them to resist public trends (Ainsworth-Darnell and Downey, 1998 ). These vendors believe that they have the right to survive in their neighborhood, and that the authorities do not have the right to evict them unless officials arrange alternative employment for them. Consequently, the culture generates values and beliefs in favor of peddlers staying on the public streets, with the approval of customers, and resistance supports them in doing this. Hence, we propose the following hypothesis:

H3 . Resistance mediates the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Urban culture creates a consumption pattern, especially for low-income customers. This pattern represents real demand for products offered in public spaces and on sidewalks, and street vendors find their businesses profitable because of the willingness of customers to deal with them. The resulting consumption pattern consolidates the persistence of street vendors working in the informal trading sector. For instance, Khan ( 2017 ) found that street vendors are distinguished by cheaper pricing and quicker delivery, and that their customers see street vending as conveniently located, with flexible times and rich customization. Since urban culture generates low-income consumption, the real demand for products offered on public streets establishes resistance among vendors, thereby facilitating the survival of their livelihood and justifying their pervasiveness. Hence, we propose the following hypothesis:

H4 . Low-income consumption and resistance sequentially mediate the effect of urban culture on street vending.

Lack of Microfinance

The pervasiveness of street vending can also be explained by a lack of microfinance. Husain et al. ( 2015 ) found that personal savings constitute the most considerable source of financing for peddlers. Lyons ( 2013 ) found that when peddlers find it difficult to secure formal credit facilities from commercial banks and financial funds, they sell their assets or borrow from cooperative organizations. To finance their economic activities and social security, street vendors sometimes borrow money at exorbitant rates of interest (Saha, 2011 ; Martinez and Rivera-Acevedo, 2018 ). Therefore, governments should set up specialized organizations to provide financial support to microbusinesses. Likewise, commercial banks should be encouraged to lend to very small businesses, and the loans should be based on knowledge of the market rather than on technical evaluation of the risks; in this context, an intuitive approach to lending will lead to better results than quantitative methods (Malôa, 2013 ).

Informal sellers are among the poorest people in society. They cannot afford to rent a retail outlet, expand their business, or shift to the formal sector (Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ). Moreover, they do not meet the minimum requirements to apply for a loan, and banks are reluctant to be involved in microfinance. In short, an acute lack of microfinance results in poor and uneducated people trading on the streets, in contrast to a mature and developed financial system, which would create easier channels for financing microbusinesses and give unemployed people the opportunity to set up small formal businesses (Esubalew and Raghurama, 2020 ). Since most unemployed and poor people have no access to the financial system to obtain loans, they become resistant. Thus, the strong resistance of street vendors can be explained in part by a lack of microfinance, which leads them to stay on the public streets. Therefore, we hypothesize:

H5 . A lack of microfinance positively impacts street vending.

H6 . Resistance mediates the effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending.

Methodology

Sampling and data collection.

The measurement items for the constructs in this study, displayed in Table 1 , were translated into Arabic, a language that the majority of Iraqis speak. To check the suitability of the items for the Iraqi cultural context, the questionnaire was discussed with five colleagues at the Middle Technical University, Baghdad, and an initial sample of 25 responses was analyzed. The results confirmed that most of the street vendors are Iraqis and that public officials mostly ignore them, although the authorities sometimes evict them from public streets and traditional markets. The results also indicated that most of the street vendors are uneducated, but that some have secondary school certificates, a diploma, or even a bachelor's degree, because unemployment has spread among young people and graduates. We modified the questionnaire in light of these findings, and the results are shown in Table 1 in an English version.

Measurement model assessment.

SFL, Standardized factor loadings; SE, Standard error ;

Some researchers have interviewed street vendors in order to understand their characteristics and the factors that affect their livelihoods (Reid et al., 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ). The current study instead adopts the approach recommended by Chai et al. ( 2011 ), with the aim of tracking the attitudes of the general public on the problematic issue of street vending. Their approach is appropriate because the problem affects the social and economic daily life of cities in two opposing ways. On the one hand, it has negative impacts in terms of traffic, competition with the modern retail industry, and violence. On the other hand, it reduces poverty and unemployment. Obtaining a clear understanding of public opinion on the issue is, therefore, a necessary step in reviewing public policies on how to deal fairly with street vendors.

Google Forms were used to administer the electronic survey, which was distributed via a hyperlink sent to participants by e-mail, WhatsApp, or Facebook. We began by inviting students, administrative staff, and faculty members at Middle Technical University, Baghdad to take part. Then, we encouraged our students to ask their friends and relatives outside the university to participate, and we also involved digital friends contacted via social networks. Our aim was to include 600 participants from a range of social classes. In the end, because of limitations of time and resources, we collected 463 responses. We excluded 38 of these on the grounds that the respondents had given the same answer to all the questions. The final sample, therefore, consisted of 425 complete and usable responses collected between September and November 2018. The raw data were deposited at Mendeley and can be viewed at Al-Jundi ( 2019 ).

The study adopted a sampling method introduced by Krejcie and Morgan ( 1970 ) in order to determine the minimum size of the sample required for a given population. A total number of 384 participants will be required to gain a 95% confidence interval for a population that exceeds one million persons with a marginal error of ±5%. We managed to collect 425 reliable responses that are acceptable, taking into consideration the limitations of this paper (see section Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research). The study, therefore, uses nonprobabilistic sampling with an unlimited population.

Of the participants, 67% were men and 33% were women. In terms of education, 25% had not completed secondary schooling, 41% (most of whom were university students) had a secondary school certificate, 20% had a diploma or a bachelor's degree, and 14% (mainly faculty members) were postgraduates. With regard to monthly household income, 41% earned less than $400, 37% earned $400–999, 12% earned $1,000–1,499, and 10% earned more than $1,500. Participants under the age of 25 accounted for 35% of the sample, while 44% were aged 25–40, and 21% were 41 or older. Thus, the participants come from different educational backgrounds and social classes, which make our sample fairly representative of the general public in the capital city of Baghdad.

Measurement Variables

In order to test the conceptual research model using PLS-SEM, we constructed measurable (observed) variables that reflect constructs drawn from the literature. All the indicator variables were measured using a seven-point Likert-type scale, shown in Table 1 (1 strongly disagree, 2 disagree, 3 somewhat disagree, 4 neither agree nor disagree, 5 somewhat agree, 6 agree, and 7 strongly agree).

The review of the literature served to identify five items that reflect each construct. The measurement items for the pervasiveness of street vending were drawn from work by Agadjanian ( 2002 ), Ilahiane and Sherry ( 2008 ), Recio and Gomez ( 2013 ), and Palacios ( 2016 ), while the observed variables for urban culture were derived from the work of Reuveni ( 2002 ), Wardrop ( 2006 ), Tamilarai and Angayarkanni ( 2016 ), Alvi and Mendoza ( 2017 ), and Wibisono and Catrayasa ( 2018 ). The items for consumption patterns were derived from Reid et al. ( 2010 ), Steel ( 2012a ), Trupp ( 2015 ), and Tamilarai and Angayarkanni ( 2016 ), and resistance was tracked using indicators proposed by Musoni ( 2010 ), Steel ( 2012b ), Tengeh and Lapah ( 2013 ), Hanser ( 2016 ), and Boonjubun ( 2017 ). Finally, the lack of microfinance was measured using indicators introduced by Husain et al. ( 2015 ), Lyons ( 2013 ), Saha ( 2011 ), and Tamilarai and Angayarkanni ( 2016 ).

Statistical Procedures

To validate our proposed model, we adopted a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach for a number of reasons. First, SEM is well recognized among researchers, as many of the concepts of social science are latent variables that can only be measured via observed indicators (Hair et al., 2017 , 2019 ; Latan and Noonan, 2017 ). Second, SEM is more powerful than factor analysis, path analysis, or multiple linear regression and has already been used in similar studies (Al-Jundi et al., 2019 , 2020 ; Shujahat et al., 2020 ; Ali, 2021 ; Ali et al., 2021a , b ; Wang et al., 2021a ). Third, SEM takes into consideration measurement error in the observed variables involved in a corresponding model (Fornell and Larcker, 1981 ). Fourth, PLS-SEM allows the examination of causal relationships among many latent variables simultaneously, as well as the calculation of direct and indirect effects of a complex model. Finally, SEM gives a complete picture of the entire model, regardless of the complexity of the relationships among the constructs and observed variables.

There are two approaches to estimating such a model: a covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) approach and a partial least squares SEM (PLS-SEM) approach. CB-SEM presumes a multivariate normal distribution and seeks to identify the model parameters that minimize the discrepancy between the estimated and sample covariance matrices. PLS-SEM attempts to maximize the explained variance of the endogenous constructs (Hair et al., 2017 ). The current paper uses the PLS-SEM technique for four reasons. First, PLS-SEM estimates a complex model with many constructs, observed variables, and path model relationships to guarantee convergence regardless of sample size and distribution assumptions (Gefen and Straub, 2005 ). Second, PLS-SEM focuses on prediction, which allows the derivation of managerial implications. Third, PLS-SEM is suitable for developing a theory (Hair et al., 2017 , 2019 ). Finally, PLS-SEM is recommended for the estimation of mediation models, including sequential mediation analysis (Sarstedt et al., 2020 ).

Assessment of the Measurement Model

In the initial step of the factor analysis, item loadings above 0.700 were retained and those below 0.40 were deleted (as recommended by Hair et al., 2017 ). All standardized factor loadings were higher than the cut-off value of 0.707. We found that the item loading for LC1 was below 0.40, and we therefore deleted it. Table 1 shows the outer loadings of all the constructs in the study.

To examine internal consistency reliability, we used Cronbach's alpha (α) and composite reliability (ρ C ) for all the constructs. The rule of thumb indicates that α and ρ C should be above 0.700. As Table 1 shows, these requirements were met for all the constructs.

To assess convergent validity (construct communality), we used average variance extracted (AVE), which is calculated as the mean value of the squared outer loadings associated with each construct (Gefen and Straub, 2005 ; Hair et al., 2017 ). As Table 1 shows, the AVE for all constructs exceeds the critical cut-off point of 0.500 (Latan and Noonan, 2017 ), thus ensuring convergent validity.

To establish discriminant validity, the heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT) was used. If the value of HTMT is lower than the threshold value of HTMT 0.85 (the conservative cut-off point) or HTMT 0.90 (the liberal cut-off point), discriminant validity is established (Henseler et al., 2014 ). Table 2 shows that the HTMT ratios among the constructs are all below the cut-off point of HTMT 0.85 , and discriminant validity is thus established.

Assessment of discriminant validity using HTMT.

Brackets show the lower and upper bounds of the 95% BCa confidence intervals; The diagonal lines indicate the cut-off values for HTMT; Above the diagonal elements are the correlations between the construct; Correlation significance levels :

Predictive Relevance of the Model

To analyze the model's predictive relevance, we distinguished between in-sample prediction (explanatory power) and out-of-sample prediction (predictive power). Explanatory power can be evaluated using the coefficient of determination ( R 2 ), which indicates the predictive accuracy. As a rule of thumb, R 2 values below 0.25 are considered weak. Table 3 shows that the R 2 values for street vending (0.267), low-income consumption (0.321), and resistance (0.361) can be considered moderate; that is, more than 25% of the amount of variance in all the endogenous constructs is explained by the corresponding exogenous constructs. These results are acceptable in the context of research in the behavioral and social sciences (Hair et al., 2017 ).

Determination coefficients ( R 2 ) and predictive relevance (Q 2 ) of endogenous (omission distance = 7).

The effect size f 2 assesses how strongly an exogenous variable participates in explaining a target endogenous variable in terms of R 2 . As a rule of thumb, f 2 values of 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35 are weak, moderate, and large, respectively (Hair et al., 2017 ). Table 5 shows that urban culture has a strong effect size in explaining low-income consumption. Lack of microfinance has a moderate effect on resistance, which is similar to the effect of resistance on street vending. Microfinance, consumption, and culture have weak effects on their target constructs, whereas urban culture and consumption pattern have no effect on street vending.

Even though the data collected reflect the general public's perspective from the capital city of Iraq, the quality of predictive power of the proposed model helps to generalize conclusions and drive managerial implications. To test the predictive relevance of the endogenous variables, we used a blindfolding procedure. Table 3 gives the Q2 values for our endogenous latent constructs. Applying the same rule of thumb used for effect size, we find that street vending has weak predictive power and that the power of low-income consumption and resistance is moderate. All the endogenous variables have Q2 values greater than 0, which provides evidence of the model's predictive relevance (Geisser, 1974 ; Stone, 1974 ; Hair et al., 2019 ). Accordingly, we can safely generalize the conclusions derived from this study, taking into consideration the limitations raised in section 5.4.

Structural Model Assessment

As an initial step, we used the variance inflation factor (VIF) as an indicator of collinearity in the structural model. Table 4 shows that all the VIF values are below the cut-off value of 3.00. Thus, there are no collinearity issues in the structural model.

Variance inflation factors (VIF) as an indicator of collinearity.

To test the significance of the path coefficients, we ran bootstrapping of 5,000 iterations (subsamples) at 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals. The empirical results for all the direct paths in Table 5 , Figure 2B , are significant, with the exception of the direct effect of urban culture on street vending and low-income consumption on street vending. The former finding suggests that H1 is not supported. The empirical results also show that a lack of microfinance has a positive and significant effect on street vending, which provides support for H5.

Construct effects on endogenous variables.

ns, Not significant; t (0.05, 4999) = 1.645; t (0.01, 4999) = 2.327; t (0.001, 4999) = 3.092 ;

BCa, Bias-corrected confidence interval. Bootstrapping based on n = 5,000 subsamples .

Structural model results. (A) Model with total effect. (B) Model with double mediations.

Mediation Analysis

This study followed the updated procedure in Nitzl et al. ( 2016 ) to test the mediation hypotheses. Again, the bootstrapping of 5,000 iterations at 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals allowed the indirect effects to be tested. As Figure 2A , Table 6 (A) show, urban culture has a significant total effect on street vending (β = 0.235; t = 3.146). However, when low-income consumption and resistance are introduced as mediators, urban culture no longer has a significant direct effect on street vending (β = −0.073, t = 1.115), as shown in Figure 2B , Table 6 (B). This suggests that H1 is not supported.

Summary of mediating analyses.

BCa, Bias corrected confidence interval. Bootstrapping based on n = 5,000 subsamples .

The indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via low-income consumption is also not significant (β = −0.036, t = 1.183) as shown in Table 6 (C), and this indicates that H2 is not supported.

As Table 6 (C) shows, the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via resistance is significant (β = 0.124, t = 3.686). This indicates that resistance fully mediates the relationship between urban culture and street vending, and H3 is therefore supported.

The empirical results in Table 6 (D) suggest that urban culture is positively associated with low-income consumption, that low-income consumption is positively associated with resistance, and that resistance is related to higher levels of street vending. These results suggest that low-income consumption and resistance are two sequential mediators that fully and jointly mediate the influence of urban culture on street vending. Therefore, H4 is supported.

Table 6 (C) shows that the indirect effect of lack of microfinance on street vending via resistance is significant (β = 0.148, t = 4.816). This result suggests that resistance partially mediates the relationship between lack of microfinance and street vending, and H6 is therefore supported.

Discussion and Conclusion

Discussion of the results.

Surprisingly, the results of this study indicate that urban culture does not have a significant direct effect on street vending (H1). Moreover, the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending via low-income consumption (H2) is not significant. Thus, it seems that culture does not impact street vending. These results contradict previous research (Voiculescu, 2014 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ; Alvi and Mendoza, 2017 ; Wibisono and Catrayasa, 2018 ) and the cultural approach (Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Ladan and Williams, 2019 ). Furthermore, the low-income consumption pattern, which can be considered another dimension of culture, does not impact street vending ( Table 5 ), which again contradicts previous research (Steel, 2012a ; Trupp, 2015 ; Tamilarai and Angayarkanni, 2016 ).

Nevertheless, we find that urban culture has a significant and positive impact on street vending via resistance (H3). This is a case of full mediation, since there is an indirect effect only. Furthermore, urban culture impacts street vending via serial mediation of low-income consumption and resistance (H4), with no direct effect of urban culture on street vending. In short, urban culture has a significant and positive impact on street vending through sequential mediators and is fully mediated.

We also confirm the direct effect of microfinance on street vending (H5) and the indirect effect through resistance (H6). This is a case of complementary partial mediation, since the direct and indirect effects are both positive and significant. Researchers agree that a lack of microfinance has an impact on the pervasiveness of street vending (Saha, 2011 ; Lyons, 2013 ; Husain et al., 2015 ). Even though resistance has a direct effect on street vending ( Table 5 ), as previously established (Musoni, 2010 ; Tengeh and Lapah, 2013 ; Hanser, 2016 ; Boonjubun, 2017 ), the mediating effect of resistance is more important than the direct effect in explaining the pervasiveness of street vending.

Lastly, the results shown in Tables 5 , ​ ,6 6 help to rank the paths in order of importance. First comes the direct effect of resistance on street vending, followed by the total effects of urban culture on street vending, the direct effect of a lack of microfinance on street vending, the indirect effect of microfinance on street vending through resistance, and the indirect effect of urban culture on street vending through resistance, in that order.

Theoretical Implications

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it proposes and tests a new and comprehensive model to analyze the relationship between urban culture and street vending, simultaneously examining the effects of culture, consumption, resistance, and microfinance on street vending. Second, it investigates the general public's perceptions of the issue of street vending as a problem facing cities in developing countries, which is a necessary step in reviewing public policies and determining how to deal fairly with street vendors. Third, it develops measurement variables for the constructs in question, some of which are used for the first time, and confirms that they are reliable and valid. Fourth, the statistical analysis contradicts the findings of previous studies and sheds light on the cultural approach by showing that urban culture and low-income consumption (as another dimension of urban culture) have no significant direct effect on street vending. Finally, the study offers three novel and important findings: (1) Urban culture positively influences street vending via resistance; (2) Urban culture impacts street vending via serial mediation of low-income consumption and resistance; (3) Microfinance positively impacts street vending directly or through resistance. These findings are the main contributions of this study, and they will enrich the cultural approach. In short, urban culture (in the form of consumption patterns) impacts the pervasiveness of street vending if we take into consideration the mediator of resistance.

Managerial Implications

Because the predictive relevance of the model has been established, we can safely derive the following managerial implications. The results described in the previous section are of direct relevance to both public entities and scholarly researchers, as they allow the driving factors of the pervasiveness of street vending to be ranked in order of importance: first, resistance; second, urban culture; and third, lack of microfinance (see Tables 5 , ​ ,6). 6 ). Resistance is formed by three important observed indicators in sequence, as the standardized factor loadings in Table 1 indicate. First, street vendors develop strategies to enable them to stay on the streets; second, they depend on their social networks; and third, they return to their sites following the demolition of their stalls. Public policy must therefore recognize that the eviction of street vendors from public spaces is not a solution (Batréau and Bonnet, 2016 ), and policymakers should seek other ways of formalizing street vending.

There are two main factors that shape urban culture: people enjoy walking and communicating in the traditional markets, and they can find interesting items, such as books, in specialized markets. These cultural factors give sellers two sets of incentives to continue trading informally on sidewalks. First, the societal culture, represented by urban culture and patterns of consumption, creates a real demand for the goods and services offered in public spaces, and this encourages sellers to continue trading on the public streets. Second, because they cannot find jobs in the formal sector, street vendors have only one way to earn income, namely by working hard on the streets (Onodugo et al., 2016 ). In other words, street vendors fulfill their own and their customers' needs, and the culture cannot be changed in the short term.

In terms of lack of microfinance, the most significant factor is that vendors have no access to formal credit facilities. To address this problem, municipal authorities should build infrastructure that is specifically designed to formalize street vendors; for example, they can construct special areas for vendors (Te-Lintelo, 2017 ) and legalize trading between the informal and formal sectors. The banking sector should be encouraged to adopt a new approach to risk that would enable them to offer loans to microbusinesses (Malôa, 2013 ), and the public authorities should provide financial support so that poor and unemployed people can set up formal microbusinesses.

We have learned from this research that street vendors are part of the vibrancy of many cities in developing countries. They play an important role in society by providing a range of products to low-income customers. They also help to eliminate poverty and unemployment, enabling people to depend on their own resources when governments fail to tackle those problems (Onodugo et al., 2016 ). Furthermore, Street vendors cause many problems to traffic flows and suffer from the harmful environment when doing their business such as noise and air pollution. The phenomenon cannot be avoided even the government would evict them from streets and public spaces. The unemployment and poverty immediately pushed them to return. The problem is pervasiveness because at least it has roots in urban culture, consumption patterns, resistance, and lack of microfinance. The best solution to this problematic issue is that the government should invest to formalize the informality of street vending. Therefore, we can increase their contribution to the economic advances and decrease their negative impact on cities.

Limitations and Recommendations for Further Research

Although the path coefficients of the relationship between constructs and the predictive relevance of the entire model are statistically significant, the results of this study are subject to a number of limitations. First, the study uses non-probabilistic sampling with an unlimited population, and the sample of 425 responses can be considered small in the context of the total population of Baghdad. The results would be more accurate if we could increase the sample so that it is more representative of the population as a whole. Second, because we collected the raw data via the Internet and social media, we cannot guarantee the full engagement of the participants. Third, the study relates specifically to the context of Iraq, a country that has suffered recent political instability. Thus, it is important to apply the model to data drawn from other cities and countries with different political circumstances.

Fourth, the model is limited to examination of the impact of culture on street vending. Future research should examine the multivariate impact of other important antecedents of street vending, such as poverty (Estrada and Hondagneu-Sotelo, 2011 ; Saha, 2011 ), unemployment (Truong, 2018 ), education (Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Husain et al., 2015 ), and immigration (Lapah and Tengeh, 2013 ). The inclusion of the moderating effects of gender, income, and educational background would improve the model conceptually and statistically. Scholars should also revisit the cultural approach and other theories that address street vending and the informal economy (Williams and Gurtoo, 2012 ; Ladan and Williams, 2019 ). Lastly, the current study is limited to one period. Future studies should, therefore, test the model using data collected at different intervals.

Data Availability Statement

Author contributions.

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grant No. (DF-689-120-1441). The authors, therefore, gratefully acknowledge DSR technical and financial support.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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TITLE: Marketing Practices of street Food Vendors in Roxas Avenue, Davao City

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Nasibu Rajabu , Nasibu Mramba

The marketing communication is considered to be the lifeblood of business undertakings. However, there is a lack of knowledge about how the micro informal businesses carry out this important marketing function. The aim of this study is to explore the marketing communication strategies (MCS) used by street vendors in Dar es salaam Tanzania. Specifically, it looks at the type MCS applied, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. A qualitative data consisting interview and focus group discussion were collected from 59 street vendors in Dar es Salaam. The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings show that, the MCS used by street vendors are weak and relatively similar, however, its choice is highly influenced by costs and marketing skills among street vendors. This implies that, marketing opportunities of street vendors are underutilized since the public is not well informed about their offerings. This calls for interventions for the street vendors, particularly in marketing skills development.

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CDA PRESENTS RESEARCH STUDY ON THE FINANCIAL NEEDS OF THE MARKET VENDORS AND THE SMALL TIME CREDIT PROVIDERS TO THE COOPERATIVE STAKEHOLDERS

Last January 28, 2021, thru the online platform, more than 300 participants from cooperative sector, national government agencies, local government units, CDA officials and employees, and other cooperative development partners participated in the Presentation of Research Study on the Financial Needs of the Market Vendors and the Small Time Credit Providers.  The holding of the activity was coordinated by the CDA Head Office through its Cooperative Research, Information and Training Division (CRITD).

It was also graced by esteemed guest Congressman Presley C. De Jesus, Chairperson of the Committee on Cooperatives Development, House of Representatives; Office of Committee on Cooperatives; Senate of the Philippines, Mr. Archie Rivera; and DBP, Mr. Joseph Angelo R. Diamante.

Also present are national and local government agencies such as DILG, Mr. Albert De Los Santos; DILG-BLGD, Mr. Zaldy I. Masangkay; DTI-BSMED, Dir. Jerry T. Clavesillas; DTI-Region 7, OIC Regional Dir. Maria Elena Arbon; NEDA-Region 7, Ms. Ruth Cruz; and Sanggunian Panglungsod of Cebu City, Hon. Prisca Niña O. Mabatid.  CDA Regional Office VII’s partners in the development and conduct of the research – Silliman University, Perpetual Help Community Cooperative and Negros Oriental Union of Cooperatives – were also in attendance.

“ This is a momentous activity ”, as conveyed by CDA Executive Director Ray R. Elevazo, during his opening message. He described the activity as one way of looking closely into the lives of market vendors and their financial endeavors. It is also a precursor to the research undertakings of CDA.

Asec. Vidal D. Villanueva, III, CDA Board of Directors and Head of Credit and Financial Services, Banking, and Insurance Cluster, delivered his opening remark with challenging words of finding viable solutions and creating sustainable policies to address the rampant problem on financial usury all over the country.  He added that the research study is one way of educating and understanding concepts, problems and resolutions to address the lifelong predicament of the market vendors on small time credit providers.

Hon. Presley C. De Jesus expressed his support to the cooperative sector through passing of bills or resolutions for the development of cooperative in the country. While Mr. Edmund Chris Acosido, Ph.D, Executive Assistant IV, representing CDA Chairperson Orlando R. Ravanera, articulated in his message that “ Research is one form of activity undertaken by researchers or academician to generate new ideas or to prove a truth .”

Moreover, Dr. Nora P. Patron, CDA Director, Region 7, the lead author, along with her co-authors Dr. Jenny L. Chiu and Dr. Reynaldo Y. Rivera, presented the conceptualization, purpose, findings, conclusions and recommendations of the study. This highlighted the activity along with the reactions from the invited partners and questions from the zoom participants and facebook audience.

The research study seeks to determine the capitalization needs of the vendors in terms of amount borrowed from 5-6 financial providers; and explain financial capital needs of the public market vendors, the small-time credit providers scheme’s and methods of collection, the types of vendors availing of the 5-6 financial services and their behavioral stuff seats that small time credit providers take advantage.  It was conducted by CDA Region 7 in the different provinces and cities within the region.

CDA Deputy Executive Director Giovanni T. Platero shared his closing message encouraging State Universities, both Public and Private, to initiate and pursue research undertakings toward the development of micro and small cooperatives in the country. The said research presentation was live streamed on CDA Philippines official facebook page and a similar activity was also conducted to CDA officials and employees. ( KHAMIMA M. MAMA )

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Amazon Maintains Cloud Lead as Microsoft Edges Closer

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Having established itself as an early leader in the market for cloud infrastructure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the online retailer’s profitable cloud platform, is still ahead of the pack. According to estimates from Synergy Research Group , Amazon’s market share in the worldwide cloud infrastructure market amounted to 31 percent in the first quarter of 2024, down from 32 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, Amazon's main rival Microsoft slowly edges closer, growing the market share of its Azure platform to an all-time high of 25 percent in Q1 2024. Combined with Google at 11 percent market share, the "Big Three" now account for two thirds of the ever-growing cloud market, with the rest of the competition stuck in the low single digits.

In Q1 2024, global cloud infrastructure service spending grew $13.5 billion or 21 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023, bringing total spending to over $76 billion for the three months ended March 31. Looking at the full year, the market is now at a $300-billion revenue run rate, explaining why the it is so fiercely contested. Despite its size, the cloud market is still growing strongly, with year-over-year growth even re-accelerating for the second consecutive quarter.

"In terms of annualized run rate we now have a $300-billion market which is growing at 21 percent per year," John Dinsdale, chief analyst at Synergy Research Group said. "We will not return to the growth rates seen prior to 2022, as the market has become too massive to grow that rapidly, but we will see the market continue to expand substantially. We are forecasting that it will double in size over the next four years."

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This chart shows worldwide market share of leading cloud infrastructure service providers in Q1 2024.

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Distribution Software Market size is set to grow by USD 1.22 billion from 2024-2028, Value-based pricing strategies adopted by market vendors to boost the market growth, Technavio

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Jun 14, 2024, 16:50 ET

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NEW YORK , June 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global distribution software market size is estimated to grow by USD 1 .22 billion from 2024-2028, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.33% during the forecast period. Value-based pricing strategies adopted by market vendors is driving market growth, with a trend towards emergence of omnichannel retailing. However, costs associated with distribution software poses a challenge. Key market players include Acumatica Inc., ADS Solutions Corp., Agnitech, Archon Systems Inc., Blue Link Associates Ltd., Cloud 9 ERP Solutions, Cloud Pencils Pvt. Ltd., Constellation Software Inc., DATABASICS Inc., Distribution Management Co. Inc., ECOUNT Co. Ltd., Epicor Software Corp., Fishbowl, JCurve Solutions Ltd., Koch Industries Inc., Oracle Corp., Panasonic Holdings Corp., Sage Group Plc, SAP SE, SYSPRO Pty. Ltd., and Zoho Corp. Pvt. Ltd..

Get a detailed analysis on regions, market segments, customer landscape, and companies - View the snapshot of this report

Key Market Trends Fueling Growth

Distribution software plays a crucial role in omnichannel retailing by enhancing inventory visibility and accuracy. This leads to efficient inventory management, higher unit sales, increased margins, and optimized stock levels. By bridging the demand and supply gap and providing real-time inventory visibility, retailers can make informed decisions and improve the distribution process.

The implementation of distribution software results in reduced warehouses and distribution channels, leading to cost savings and better product allocation. Overall, the use of distribution software significantly benefits omnichannel retailers and contributes to market growth. 

The distribution software market is experiencing significant growth, with key technologies such as cloud-based and base solutions gaining traction. Companies are focusing on automating their supply chain processes to increase efficiency and reduce costs.

The use of technology like AI and machine learning in distribution software is also on the rise, enabling predictive analytics and real-time inventory management. Tech-enabled distribution solutions are helping businesses streamline their operations and adapt to changing market conditions.

Additionally, the integration of payment gateways and e-commerce platforms is making it easier for businesses to reach a wider customer base. Overall, the distribution software market is an essential tool for businesses looking to optimize their supply chain and stay competitive in today's market. 

Research report provides comprehensive data on impact of trend. For more details-  Download a Sample Report

Market Challenges

• Small businesses face significant costs when implementing and maintaining distribution software. Factors influencing the cost include the number of users, functionality modules, and required integration and accounting features. Subscription-based models range from USD45 - USD50 per month per user, while one-time ownership costs are between USD2,000 and USD2,500 . Installation costs cover planning, configuration, and training, with third-party consultants adding extra expenses.
• Maintenance costs account for approximately two-thirds of the total cost. These factors may hinder small businesses from adopting distribution software, potentially impacting the global market's growth. On-premises software implementation involves licensing, design, implementation, training, and maintenance costs, necessitating a skilled IT team and continuous upgrades.
• The distribution software market faces several challenges in today's business landscape. One significant challenge is the need for customization to meet unique business requirements. Decentralized and global supply chains add complexity to distribution processes. Technology integration and data synchronization across various systems are also major hurdles.
• Additionally, ensuring security and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA is essential. Lastly, keeping up with the latest trends and technologies, like AI and machine learning, is crucial for staying competitive. Overcoming these challenges requires robust and adaptable distribution software solutions.

For more insights on driver and challenges -   Download a Sample Report

Segment Overview 

• Deployment  
• 1.1 Cloud-based
• 1.2 On-premises
• End-user  
• 2.2 Large enterprises
• Geography  
• 3.1 North America
• 3.4 South America
• 3.5 Middle East and Africa

1.1 Cloud-based- The cloud-based distribution software market is projected to expand during the forecast period due to enterprises prioritizing cost reduction and enhancing business agility. Cloud-based solutions, such as Zoho, offer benefits like predictable expenses, no maintenance fees, and easy upgrades, making them increasingly popular. The Internet's extensive use facilitates this trend, enabling scalable and cost-effective distribution management solutions.

For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2024-2028) and historic data (2018 - 2022) - Download a Sample Report

Research Analysis

The Distribution Software Market in the IT sector is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing demand for automation in customer relationships, order processing, inventory management, accounting, purchasing, customer service, and supply chain management. This trend is particularly prominent in the software industry, where cloud-based solutions, SaaS offerings, and enterprise resource planning systems are becoming the norm.

Centralised platforms enable real-time demand forecasting, order fulfilment, inventory tracking, and warehouse management, enhancing overall efficiency. However, the market also faces challenges such as cyber-attacks and the need for robust security measures, including Blockchain technology, to ensure data integrity and protect sensitive information. The IT market continues to evolve, with distribution operations and logistics playing crucial roles in the success of educational institutions and businesses alike.

Market Research Overview

The Distribution Software Market encompasses solutions designed to manage and automate the process of delivering products or services from producers to consumers or businesses. These software solutions facilitate inventory management, order processing, logistics, and customer relationship management. They enable organizations to streamline their supply chain operations, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

Key features of distribution software include real-time visibility into inventory levels, automated order processing, and integrated transportation management. Additionally, cloud-based solutions offer scalability and flexibility, allowing businesses to easily adapt to changing market conditions. Overall, distribution software plays a crucial role in optimizing the flow of goods and services from manufacturers to end customers.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary 2 Market Landscape 3 Market Sizing 4 Historic Market Size 5 Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Segmentation

• Cloud-based
• On-premises
• Large Enterprises
• North America
• South America
• Middle East And Africa

7 Customer Landscape 8 Geographic Landscape 9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends 10 Company Landscape 11 Company Analysis 12 Appendix

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email:  [email protected] Website:  www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio

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Elektrostal

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Elektrostal , city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia . It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning “electric steel,” derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II , parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the production of metallurgical equipment. Pop. (2006 est.) 146,189.

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