Rural Marketing
Rural Marketing
RURAL MARKETING
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INDEX
3
INTRODUCTION
8
CHALLENGES OF RURAL
MARKETING
OPPORTUNITIES OF RURAL 10
MARKETING
CASE STUDY 12
CONCLUSION 15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 16
REFERENCES 16
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing may aptly be described as the process of defining, anticipating and knowing
customer needs, and organising all the resources of the company to satisfy them. In fact,
satisfaction of customer‟s needs and wants provides the rationale for the firm‟s existence.
Knowledge of consumer behaviour, therefore, is vital for a firm to achieve its marketing
goals. The consumer‟s behaviour comprises the acts, processes and social relationships
exhibited by individuals, groups and organisations in searching, obtaining, use of, and
consequent experience with products and services. An understanding and knowledge of the
motives underlying consumer behaviour helps a firm in seeking better and more effective
ways to satisfy its customers. It helps to select appropriate sales and advertising strategies,
and to plan marketing programmes in a more efficient manner. The rural market of India
started showing its potential in the 1960s. The 70s and 80s witnessed its steady development.
And, there are clear indications that the 21st century is going to see its full blossoming. In our
country, where research on consumer behaviour has been nominal, not much systematised
information is available about the rural consumers. Only a few enlightened companies,
known for their marketing orientation, viz., Hindustan Lever, Philips India, Asian Paints,
Singer and Larsen and Toubro have made concrete efforts in this direction. But, by and large,
we still have to understand the rural buyer, his habits, attitudes and behaviour, particularly
from the marketing point of view. Many assumptions prevail about rural marketing. For
instance, one assumption is that the rural buyer is not very discriminating. Once he is
persuaded to buy a particular product, he develops a strong affinity for it, and if satisfied,
becomes brand loyal. As a result, Indian manufacturers are generally known to prefer selling
fewer items at higher prices than selling more items at lower prices. A contrary view is that
the rural buyer, being suspicious of the marketer‟s hard sell techniques, is quite
discriminating, and is not easily persuaded. Yet another assumption is that the rural buyer is
not particularly keen about quality and packaging. Some other assumptions can be quoted.
But, all these need deep probing for arriving at valid and reliable conclusions. Consumer
research, thus, is indispensable for entering the rural segment of the market. The concept of
Rural Marketing in India Economy has always played an influential role in the lives of
people. In India, leaving out a few metropolitan cities, all the districts and industrial
townships are connected with rural markets. The rural market in India is not a separate entity
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in itself and it is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioural factors operating in
the country. The rural population in India accounts for around 627 million, which is exactly
74.3 percent of the total population. Rural Markets are defined as those segments of the
overall market of any economy, which are distinct from the other types of markets like stock
market, commodity markets or Labour economics. Rural Markets constitute an important
segment of the overall economy, for example, in the USA, out of about 3000 countries,
around 2000 counties are rural, that is, non-urbanized, with a population of 55 million.
Typically, a rural market will represent a community in a rural area with a population of 2500
to 30000. The concept of rural marketing in India has often been found to form ambiguity in
the minds of people who think rural marketing is all about agricultural marketing. However,
rural marketing determines the carrying out of business activities bringing in the flow of
goods from urban sectors to the rural regions of the country as well as the marketing of
various products manufactured by the nonagricultural workers from rural to urban areas. To
be precise, Rural Marketing in India Economy covers two broad sections, namely - Selling of
agricultural items in the urban areas and Selling of manufactured products in the rural
regions. The Registrars of Companies in different states chiefly manage, the rural market in
India brings in bigger revenues in the country, as the rural regions comprise of the maximum
consumers in this country. The rural market in the Indian economy generates almost more
than half of the country's income. Rural marketing in the Indian economy can be classified
under two broad categories. These are: The market for consumer goods that comprises both
durable and non-durable goods and the market for agricultural inputs that include fertilisers,
pesticides, seeds, and so on.
There goes a saying that the proof of the pudding lies in the eating. So also the proof of all
production lies in consumption/marketing. With the rapid pace of technological improvement
and increase in people's buying capacity, more and better goods and services now are in
continuous demand. The liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy have given an
added advantage to sophisticated production, proliferation and mass distribution of goods and
services. Taking these into consideration, the question may arise whether marketers should
concentrate their activities in urban India consisting of metros, district headquarters and large
industrial townships only, or extend their activities to rural India. Rural India is the real India.
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The bulk of India‟s population lives in villages. In terms of the number of people, the Indian
rural market is almost twice as large as the entire market of the USA or that of the USSR.
Agriculture is the main source of income. The income is seasonal in nature. It is fluctuating
also as it depends on crop production. Though large, the rural market is geographically
scattered. It shows linguistic, religious and cultural diversities and economic disparities. The
market is undeveloped, as the people who constitute it still lack adequate purchasing power.
It is largely agricultural oriented, with poor standard of living, low-per capita income, and
socio-cultural backwardness. It exhibits sharper and varied regional preferences with distinct
predilections, habit patterns and behavioural characteristics. Rural marketing process is both
a catalyst as well as an outcome of the general rural development process. Initiation and
management of social and economic change in the rural sector is the core of the rural
marketing process. It becomes in this process both benefactor and beneficiary. Rural India
has a population of 83.3 core spread across 6,38,000 villages. The rural urban distribution
ratio currently is 68.84 percent and 31.16 percent respectively.
● Large, Diverse and Scattered Market: Rural markets in India are large, and
scattered into a range of regions. There may additionally be a much less wide variety
of stores available to market products. Major Income of Rural consumers is from
Agriculture: Rural Prosperity’s tied with agriculture prosperity. In the match of a crop
failure, the earnings of the rural hundreds are at once affected.
● Traditional Outlook: Villages enhance slowly and have a typical outlook. Change is
a continuous process however most rural people are given change gradually. This is
regularly altering due to literacy especially in the childhood who has begun to change
the outlook in the villages.
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● Rising literacy levels: It is documented that approximately 45% of rural Indians are
literate. Hence awareness has increased and the farmers are well informed about the
world around them. They are also educating themselves on the new technology
around them and aspiring for a higher lifestyle.
According to the third annual edition of Accenture Research, “Masters of Rural Markets:
From Touchpoints to Trustpoints - Winning over India's Aspiring Rural Consumers,” rural
consumers are particularly aspiring or striving to purchase branded, high quality products.
Consequently, businesses in India are optimistic about growth of the country's rural consumer
markets, which is expected to be faster than urban consumer markets. The report highlights
the better networking among rural consumers and their tendency to proactively seek
information via multitude sources to be better informed while making purchase decisions.
Importantly, the wider reach of media and telecommunication services has provided
information to India‟s rural consumers and is influencing their purchase decisions. In line
with the general trend, rural consumers are evolving towards a broader notion of value
provided by products and services which involves aspects of price combined with utility,
aesthetics and features, and not just low prices. The hinterlands in India consist of about
650,000 villages. These villages are inhabited by about 850 million consumers making up for
about 70 percent of population and contributing around half of the country's Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). Consumption patterns in these rural areas are gradually changing to
increasingly resemble the consumption patterns of urban areas. Some of India's largest
consumer companies serve one-third of their consumers from rural India. Owing to a
favourable changing consumption trend as well as the potential size of the market, rural India
provides a large and attractive investment opportunity for private companies.
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Market size
India‟s per capita GDP in rural regions has grown at a Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) of 6.2 per cent since 2000. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector in
rural and semi-urban India is expected to cross US$ 20 billion mark by 2018 and reach US$
100 billion by 2025
Market size of FMCG across rural India from financial year 2009 to 2020, with an estimate
for 2025
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Challenges of Rural Marketing
● Availability of appropriate media: It has been estimated that all organised media in
the country put together can reach only 30 percent of the rural population of India.
The print media covers only 18 percent of the rural population. The radio network, in
theory, covers 90 per cent. But, actual listenership is much less. TV is popular, and is
an ideal medium for communicating with the rural masses. But, it is not available in
all interior parts of the country.
● Village structure in India: In our country, the village structure itself causes many
problems. Most of the villages are small and scattered. It is estimated that 60 per cent
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of the villages are in the population group of below 1,000. The scattered nature of the
villages increases distribution costs, and their small size affects economic viability of
establishing distribution points. Rural society in India is underdeveloped. Modern
technology has tried to enhance the humans and markets in rural areas. But science
has made very little influence in rural areas. Inadequate Media Coverage Media have
loads of trouble in rural areas. Television is a proper supply to speak the message to
rural people. But due to non-availability of energy as well as television sets, the
majority of the rural population cannot get the advantages of various media.
● Rural markets and sales management: Rural marketing involves a greater amount
of personal selling effort compared to urban marketing. The rural salesman must also
be able to guide the rural customers in the choice of the products. It has been observed
that rural salesmen do not properly motivate rural consumers. The rural salesman has
to be a patient listener as his customers are extremely traditional.
● Branding: The brand is the surest means of conveying quality to rural consumers.
Day by day, though national brands are getting popular, local brands are also playing
a significant role in rural areas. This may be due to illiteracy, ignorance and low
purchasing power of rural consumers.
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Opportunities of Rural Marketing
● The Government of India has planned various initiatives to provide and improve the
infrastructure in rural areas which can have a multiplier effect in increasing
movements of goods, services and thereby improve earnings potential of rural areas
subsequently improving consumption.
● E-commerce players like Flipkart, Snapdeal, Infibeam and mobile wallet major Paytm
have signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the government to reach rural
areas by connecting with the government‟s common service centres (CSCs) being
setup in villages as part of the „Digital India‟ initiative
● With the increasing demand for skilled labour, the Indian government plans to train
500 million people by 2022, and is looking out for corporate players and
entrepreneurs to help in this venture. Corporate, government, and educational
organisations are joining in the effort to train, educate and produce skilled workers.
● The Union Cabinet has cleared the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchaee Yojana
(PMKSY), with a proposed outlay of Rs 50,000 crore (US$ 7.5 billion) spread over a
period of five years starting from 2015-16.
● The scheme aims to provide irrigation to every village in India by converging various
ongoing irrigation schemes into a single focused irrigation programme. The
Government of India aims to spend Rs 75,600 crore (US$ 11.34 billion) to supply
electricity through separate feeders for agricultural and domestic consumption in rural
areas. This initiative is aimed at improving the efficiency of electricity distribution
and thereby providing uninterrupted power supply to rural regions of India.
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● The Government of India seeks to promote innovation and technology development in
the remote rural and tribal areas. The government plans to form a committee to study
various innovations and submit their reports to the concerned Department or Ministry.
The programme called the „Nav Kalpana Kosh‟ aims to improve rural areas at
various levels, such as governance, agriculture and hygiene.
● Banks are working to set up rural ATMs, which will dispense smaller denomination
currency notes. "We have encouraged banks to find a solution for bringing in rural
ATMs.
● The rural market has been growing gradually over the past few years and is now even
bigger than the urban market. The saving to income percentage in rural areas is 30%
higher than urban areas. At present 53% of all FMCGs and 59% of consumer durables
are being sold in rural areas. Major opportunities available in rural market are as
follow
● Literacy charge is growing in rural areas. According to census 2011 it too There are
extra graduates in rural areas than in city. This brings social and cultural changes in
buying behaviour of the rural customers and more awareness about countrywide and
international brands. Due to the expansion in literacy rate they get jobs in nearby
towns. They earn city salaries however continue to stay in self owned houses in the
villages, they have high buying power and choose to purchase branded products.
● Projects from personal companies and the rural employment initiatives with the aid of
the Government like NREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act) schemes have given the rural population a probability to meet their
daily needs. Government determined to extend the agriculture loan at a lower fee of
hobby and distribute millions of Kisan Credit Cards, has given an increase to the
income level to the rural sector. According to advanced estimates of national income
released by way of centre statistic company “The Per Capita income at current prices
for the duration of 2011-12 was estimated to be Rs. 60,972 in contrast to Rs. 53,332 in
the course of 2010-11 showing a upward jostle of 14.3%. Companies have the
opportunity to enter this new market and take advantage of accelerated disposable
income.
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● The rural market in India is full-size and scattered and offers a plethora of
opportunities in comparison to the urban sector. It covers the most populace and
regions and thereby, the most variety of consumers. More than eighty percent of rural
markets in India still do not have the right of entry to any type of organised marketing
and distribution.
● Today’s rural teenagers and adolescents will develop in an environment where they
have „information access‟ to education opportunities, job opportunities, government
schemes, and global information and mandi prices. Rural areas offer a high-quality
doable for increase in internet utilisation with the quantity of claimed internet users in
these spaces reached at 45million in Dec. 2012, according to the recent IMRB survey,
conducted collectively with net and Mobile Association of India (IMAI).
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India’s largest FMCG player with consolidated
revenue of around Rs. 39,000 crore in India during the year 2018-19. HUL has its products
ranging from food, beverage, personal care products, cleaning agents and consumer goods.
With mounting competition and slowdown blues FMCG industry faces profitability
challenges & the industry has now increased its focus in rural India and smaller towns in
order to boost sales, establish a local connect and increase visibility. Also demand for
segments as personal care products is growing at faster pace in rural areas compared to urban;
hence rural villages are an important avenue in the growth chart of HUL.
HUL introduced Project Shakti in the year 2001, with an aim to spruce up demand for its
products in small villages across India & bring visibility for its products in these regions. It
also creates livelihood opportunities for rural women who work under this scheme as Shakti
Amma’s (SA). Project Shakti that has enrolled about 45,000 women entrepreneurs from about
18 different states is HUL’s rural direct-to-consumer retail distribution initiative where the
Shakti Amma’s act as ambassadors for the product promotion.
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HUL appoints Shakti Amma’s by identifying underprivileged women through help of village
panchayats. They train them to become saleswomen & after training she invests small money
to buy products for selling from HUL. Hence a Shakti Amma is HUL’s last mile connectivity
in small villages, where appointment of distributors isn’t economically viable. Shakti Amma
sells the product through setting up a petty shop at home or doing a door-to-door sale.
Products are also sold to the retail shops in that village through Shakti Amma.
Shakti Amma’s are trained by HUL sales trainers who coach them on product pitching and
convincing customers to buy. As Shakti Amma regularly visits the homes on a day to day
basis with her products she becomes a familiar face in the village and starts to build trust with
villagers over time. This makes selling an easy business for her. She also has the advantage of
convincing people in the local language they understand. As it’s difficult for women to
commute longer distances and distribute products in nearby villages, HUL launched the
initiative ‘Shaktimaan’. ‘Shaktimaan’ are men from Shakti Amma family, who are supported
with bicycles by HUL for delivery of products. Project Shakti has currently one lakh
micro-entrepreneurs across 18 states who help HUL reach over 3 million households in
around lakh villages.
In order to make the programme more effective, HUL organises Shakti Days in villages
which is a market place (haats) filled with music and gifts. Products are put on display and on
sale to consumers. Haats are a bonanza for Shakti Amma’s as it helps them clear their stock
quickly. Product literacy is at minimal level in many small villages & people are still ignorant
of the harm germs could cause. This brings in a need for brands to create basic awareness to
people on hygiene and other factors. HUL organises hygiene campaigns in schools, health
and other camps in villages that help them spread messages on hygiene and nutrition. Such
initiatives help HUL take their products more effectively to consumers.
Depending on her capability to sell, a Shakti Amma can make an earning between Rs. 700 to
Rs. 2,500 a month that supplements her family income and makes her less dependent on her
family members. HUL is replicating its Project Shakti success in Pakistan and Sri Lanka to
penetrate smaller markets.
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The rural consumers are mostly daily wage earners with lesser disposable incomes and are
more price sensitive. Hence FMCG brands have tinkered around on pack size. HUL reaches
its rural consumers with Rs. 5 & Rs. 10 packs for its products ranging from soaps to biscuits.
Sometimes its product prices are as low as Rs. 2. Smaller packs help HUL match the income
streams of rural consumers and also seen as one way for HUL to reach first time users. HUL
also fights local brands in the villages through its small pack – low price strategy.
Due to lack of deep insights in rural consumer’s psychology, only a handful FMCG majors
have penetrated smaller rural villages in India. HUL’s rural retail initiative ‘Project Shakti’ is
well devised to understand consumers' buying behaviour, penetrate the market and pitch right
products meant for rural India. This helps HUL’s balance its volume erosion in the hyper
competitive urban markets.
The following are the important findings and suggestions of the present study. Increase in
purchasing power and disposable income. Improvement in the road systems linking the
villages has led to a systematic product distribution system. Earlier, there was a “trickle down
“of the stocks observed to the buyers in the interior villages. These days, companies use
delivery cum promotion vans that travel 8-10 hats/markets daily as a part of direct contact
with villagers. The urban markets have got extremely saturated with the presence of all big
players. This is very much evident in the automobile market. Motorcycles and scooters often
find more acceptances in the rural market as compared to urban markets, since there is more
proliferation of brands in the latter markets. It has been observed that the companies which
cater to both urban and rural markets tackle the recession in a better way. The demand for
goods in the urban market often follows a cyclic whereas in the rural market it is steady. The
companies are bound to tailor the strategies depending on various factors to appeal to the
rural market. Availability deals with making the product reach the consumers. For this
purpose a highly integrated extensive distribution network is necessary and in rural context,
the company incurs higher cost towards the logistics as compared to urban areas.
Affordability involves pricing the product in such a manner that the people are attracted and
at the same time it covers all the cost incurred. Acceptability encompasses issues of how the
product or service could be made more acceptable to the rural consumers by incorporating
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attractive features. Awareness is linked to the issues of promotion of products in rural areas.
The promotion needs to be adapted to the village environment, the local language and means
of communication used. The best places to promote could be the frequently visited local hats
and meals, the local festivals. Agricultural cycles require a major consideration too. As rural
households form 72 percent of total households and increasing levels of income coupled with
more and more penetration to the rural markets is expected to take rural FMCG from the
current Rs. 87,900crore to a market size of Rs. 1,06,300 crore in 2012, which is a CAGR of
10percent. There is a huge growth potential for all the FMCG companies as the per capita
consumption of almost all products in the country is amongst the lowest in the world.
CONCLUSION
The Indian rural market with its vast size and heterogeneous demand base offers great
lucrative opportunities to marketers. After all, two thirds of the country's consumers live in
rural areas and almost half of the national income is generated in the rural hinterland. India is
classified into around 450 districts, and approximately 6,30,000 villages, which can be
segmented in different parameters such as literacy levels, accessibility, distribution networks,
income levels, market penetration, distances from nearest towns, etc. Rural consumers are
fundamentally different from their urban counterparts. The lower literacy levels and limited
exposure to product and services are well-known, but there are differences in occupation
options, with a direct impact on income levels and income flows, and a high level of
interdependence affecting the dynamics of rural community behaviour. All contribute to
making rural consumer behaviour starkly distinct from the urban.
The learn about concluded that rural India offers huge opportunities which organisations can
tap for their growth and development. However, Companies face many challenges in tackling
the rural markets in India. 833 million humans live in India as compared to 377 million in
city India so giant untapped opportunities are reachable in rural India, however marketers are
unable to tap these possibilities because of infrastructure facilities. Literacy fees are low in
rural places so people are unable to perceive brand differences. Now the style has gone to
change the literacy price in rural regions is increasing. Number of centre and greater profits
households in rural India is predicted to grow from 80 million to 111 million. There is speedy
development in infrastructure. All these opportunities attract corporations to target the rural
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market. With some applied sciences step forward in distribution and advertising of
merchandise in rural India, companies in rural markets can earn more profits, market share,
etc. The Rural market is a larger future prospect for the marketers and there are many
opportunities on hand for them in rural markets.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With immense pleasure, I Jainam Ashwin Malde presented the “ Growth and
REFERENCES
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