CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN RURAL MARKETING-A NEW PARADIGM

Consumer behavior in the rural market is even more perplexing because of a singular lack of consistency in groups which are homogeneous in parameters of demographics- Age, occupation, education and income. Most marketers realize that India is on the cusp of momentous change. The economy is vibrant, incomes are rising & the habits, preferences & attitude are changing rapidly. But no where is it more evident than in rural India. There is, thus an emerging need to build expertise in rural marketing. There are three challenges that rural marketers must overcome. The first of this is the challenges of reach-markets in the rural India that are small & scattered making them inaccessible & unreliable or both. But this problem is not new & many companies let it hamper them unduly even as others overcome it with innovation. The next challenge is to ensure that the consumers are aware of your brand and want it. The third challenge in RM is influence. It is an old saying that customer is the king because he is the person whose decision have affect on the demand of any product or service. The attitude of consumer or buyer decides how demand will emerge for a new product & service & how existing goods and services would survive in future and in which manner. The study of consumer behavior implies how & why a particular consumer reacts to the decisions of producers. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individual make decision to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items. It includes the study of why they buy it, when they buy it, where they buy it, how often they buy it & how often they use it.