Title: An inquiry into direct selling practices in Mexico: analysis of internal and external fit

Authors: Lucía Fernández Reyes; Rajagopal

Addresses: Department of Studies in Management Sciences, EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Calle del Puente 222, Colonia Ejidos de Huipulco, Tlalpan 14380, Mexico City ' EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Calle del Puente 222, Colonia Ejidos de Huipulco, Tlalpan 14380, Mexico City

Abstract: This is a qualitative research paper based on in-depth interviews which were conducted to explore qualitative dimensions of direct marketing: sellers' networking and indirectly consumers' preferences on direct sales. The paper describes direct selling for the marketing of beauty products supported by social networking among sellers. The objective and originality of this work is to approach qualitatively the difficulties Mexican direct sellers face in order to address potential bottlenecks in their current business operations.

Keywords: qualitative research; direct selling; Mexico; beauty products; internal fit; external fit; seller networks; consumer preferences; direct sales; social networking; bottlenecks; business operations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBCG.2013.051667

International Journal of Business Competition and Growth, 2013 Vol.3 No.1, pp.89 - 102

Received: 06 Sep 2012
Accepted: 30 Oct 2012
Published online: 12 Jul 2014 *

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