PROFILE OF A RURAL MARKET

DEFINITION
According to National Commission on Agriculture rural marketing is a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and it involves all aspects of market structure or system , both functional and institutional based on technical and economic consideration, and includes pre and post harvest operations,assembling,grading storage transportation and distribution.

FEATURES OF RURAL MARKETING IN INDIA

Large and scattered market. Major income from agriculture. Low standard of living. Traditional outlook. Diverse socio economic background. Change in demand pattern. Infrastructure facility. Saving habits.

PROFILE OF RURAL CONSUMER

Size of the rural consumer. Location pattern of rural consumer. Low literacy level. Rural income and savings. Inter-personal communication. Reference groups. Occupation. Brand loyalist. Conscious consumer.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Stimuli. Perception. Beliefs and attitudes. Changing behavior. Need and motive. Occupation. Economic situation. Influence groups.

MYTHS IN RURAL MARKETING

Rural consumer buy loose and unbranded products. Consumers are loyal to specific brands and it is difficult to make them use new brand. There is one brand for the whole households Only if products are made available at convenient places will the rural consumers buy. The look alike and fakes are made by upstarts with poor marketing and distribution skills. Remoteness of the rural markets is a major hurdle in marketing.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE GROWTH OF RURAL MARKETS

New employment opportunity. Green revolution. Expectations revolution among rural masses. Favorable government policies. Literacy growth. Rising disposable income Attraction of higher standard of living Marketing efforts . Spread of cable television.

RURAL MARKETING STRATEGIES

PRODUCT STRATEGIES

Small unit packaging. New product design Sturdy products. Utility oriented products. Brand name.

PRICING STRATEGIES

Low cost and cheap products. Refill packs/ reusable packaging Application of value engineering. Discounts. Promotional schemes

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES

Coverage of villages with 2000 and above population. Use of cooperatives societies. Utilization of public distributory system. Utilization of multi purpose distribution centers by petroleum/oil companies.

Distribution up to markets/mundi towns.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES

Mass media. Personal selling and opinion leaders. Special campaign.

PROBLEMS OF RURAL MARKETING

Underdeveloped people and market. Transportation problem. Many languages and dialects. Communication problems. Warehousing problems Market organization and staff. Product positioning. Low per-capita income. Non-availability of dealers.

RURAL MARKETING INITIATIVES OF HLL

Project Streamline. Project Bharat. Project Millennium. Project Shakti.

CONCLUSION

HLL took a wider and socio oriented approach to reach rural customers besides focusing on promotion of its own product. HLL took proper care of channel members by providing credit facility and in time availability. HLL took various measures to increase the awareness and the penetration level of tits products in the Indian rural market