Winning Over Grassroots Consumers: An Empowerment Perspective of Yu’E Bao

Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2015). https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2015/115

The University of Auckland Business School Research Paper Series

Posted: 18 Oct 2021

See all articles by Tianhui Tan

Tianhui Tan

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Ying Zhang

University of Auckland Business School

Cheng-Suang Heng

National University of Singapore (NUS)

Chunmian Ge

South China University of Technology

Date Written: 2016

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed the great potential of technological innovations in helping developing economies tackle financial exclusion, a key obstacle in reducing poverty and accelerating economic growth. Yet, the way that technology innovations should be designed and utilized to deliver inclusive finance has remained obscure. In this study, we undertook an in-depth qualitative case study of Yu’E Bao, an online market fund, which has revolutionized the online finance sector in China. The incredible feat of Yu’E Bao has made financial institutions in China start focusing on potential cumulative wealth of the large population of financially underserved “grassroots consumers”. Drawing insights from empowerment theory, we explicate the mechanisms through which an IT-enabled innovation can successfully engage and leverage the financially underprivileged population to progress towards financial inclusion. Our findings underline important theoretical, economic and societal contributions, viz. exploitation of empowerment mechanisms, acknowledgment of grassroots’ economic potential, and IT-enabled financial inclusion.

Suggested Citation

Tan, Tianhui and Zhang, Ying and Heng, Cheng-Suang and Ge, Chunmian, Winning Over Grassroots Consumers: An Empowerment Perspective of Yu’E Bao (2016). Proceedings of the 19th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS 2015). https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2015/115 , The University of Auckland Business School Research Paper Series, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3942173

Tianhui Tan (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS) ( email )

15 Computing Drive
Singapore, Singapore 117418
Singapore

Ying Zhang

University of Auckland Business School ( email )

12 Grafton Rd
Private Bag 92019
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand

HOME PAGE: https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/people/profile/zhang-ying

Cheng-Suang Heng

National University of Singapore (NUS) ( email )

15 Computing Drive
Singapore, Singapore 117418
Singapore

Chunmian Ge

South China University of Technology ( email )

China

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