This volume provides a more detailed and profound understanding of an important and, until recently ignored, global phenomenon — marketplaces where individuals living in poverty buy/sell products and services. It is estimated that as many as 4 billion people with buying power exceeding $14 trillion fall into this market segment. Historically, the research in this area was conducted among consumers from industrialized economies. This research is rooted in fundamental assumptions about literacy and numeracy skills, life stability, cognitive predilections, and consumer access to basic resources such as education, water, and sanitation that often do not hold for poverty-stricken marketplaces.