MARKETING ASSIGNMENT

ARTICLE SUMMARY
ON
THE RURAL SUPER CONSUMER

Economic times Brand equity (August 27, 2014)

By Bhavani Singh Rathore

Section B,
Roll No- 141206

Study by Nielsen that surveyed 2000 rural opinion leaders across unified Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Punjab, present a fascinating picture of a confident, in some ways surprisingly
urbane (if not exactly urban) consumer

THE RURAL SUPER CONSUMER

Rural India generates around 50 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and is home
to nearly 70 per cent of the country's population. This market is a mix of growing incomes and
aspirations of around 850 million consumers who inhabit 650,000 villages in the country. Some
of India's most notable biggest companies generate a third of their consumers or business from
rural India.
In the long storied history of rural marketing in India different marketing
techniques and strategies have been applied by many companies from various sectors to attract
the rural consumers example characters like P&Gs Sangeeta bhabhi to HULSs khushiyon ki
doli, but perhaps one trick has been missed trying to harness the power of the rural influencer,
what Nielsen calls the rural super consumer in this article. Rural super consumers are the
people who influences the way their friends, acquaintances and fellow citizen buy, consume and
live. The influencers have also changed from the age old large farmer, the village elders to
include the non-agri workers like doctors, teachers and retailers. . They are the go to sources on
what phone is better, which bikes are the most fuel efficient and best practices when it comes to
health, food or medicine because of their knowledge and easy accessibility.
As per the survey* by
Nielsen in this article(chart 3) we can see that 99% of
super consumer possess colour TV and it as a channel
which aid in recent purchase contributes to 90%(chart
4).While marketers believe rural consumers need
education only about categories they are unfamiliar with
Ritesh Sahu, director, Nielsen India observes, many of
them said they needed more information even about
the core area of farming." As TV has a high penetration
and also influence or aid the buying behavior of super
consumers, the marketer should build their
communication strategies to provide more information
rather than celebrity endorsements or narratives to
attract them.
The other way to harness the support of people who
can influence others is do something good for the
village like helping the village in some social activity rather than painting walls with their ads, this
is because being seen commercial motivated here can erode your credibility. The other
important thing in this article is that the buying behavior of this people is influenced by Durability,
Ease of use, implicit benefits.
The rural market has changed over the years and also the influencer i.e. the super consumers
who influence others. This people now are relevant part of the FMCG market, they poses TV,
electricity, two wheelers, washing machines, LPG connections among other things, mobiles are
now not only used to call but to access internet and for information, and the young man out of
Study by Nielsen that surveyed 2000 rural opinion leaders across unified Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Punjab, present a fascinating picture of a confident, in some ways surprisingly
urbane (if not exactly urban) consumer

college probably has more influence on purchase decision than the village elders. But the
marketers have not changed enough, so they have understand the changes and then design
the strategies to influence the super consumers and the rural market.

Study by Nielsen that surveyed 2000 rural opinion leaders across unified Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Punjab, present a fascinating picture of a confident, in some ways surprisingly
urbane (if not exactly urban) consumer