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The consumer market in this case is Rural India. About 70% of India's
population lives in rural areas. There are more than 600,000 villages in
the country as against about 300 cities and 4600 towns. Consumers in
this huge segment have displayed vast differences in their purchase
decisions and the product use. Villagers react differently to different
products, colours, sizes, etc. in different parts of India. Thus utmost
care in terms of understanding consumer psyche needs to be taken
while marketing products to rural India.
The various factors that effect buying behaviour of in rural India are:
For example, the Tata Sumo, which was launched in rural India in
a white colour, was not well accepted. But however, when the
same Sumo was re-launched as Spacio (a different name) and in
a bright yellow colour, with a larger seating capacity and ability
to transport good, the acceptance was higher.
Rural Urban
Conservative Innovative
• Values, aspirations, needs - • Follow trends
traditional and based on (including International)
culture, social customs, beliefs
Eldest Male Member KDM Varies
Collective Sanction Unheard of
The problem of fakes is more rampant in rural areas due to low literacy
levels and consumers reliance on product identification through
pneumonics. Companies are trying to educate customers to look for
certain packaging identification marks before purchase.
A brief summary of a study conducted by ORG-MARG is given
below.
Aug 2000 – Jul 2001
No. of No. of
BRANDS look alike Volume Dealers Major States
Brands (Lacs)
Colgate Dental
9 2190 T 20 W.B., Bihar, M.P.
Cream
Colgate Tooth
6 1009 28 Assam, Bihar, Maha
Powder
Panteen Pro-V
7 733 K.L 4 U.P., Bihar, Guj, M.P.
New
Ariel Power
4 200 9 Assam
Compact
HLL 50 %
COLGATE 50 %
GODREJ 30 %
MARICO 25 %
CADBURY 25 %
GSK 25 %
HEINZ 20 %
CIPLA 18 %
HERO HONDA 40 %
KINETIC 30 %
Rural Consumers majorly look into the value that the product offers.
They associate value with the Benefits that the product offers, its
Availability, and its Cost. When talking of Benefits, they look at the
features of the product as well as the Packaging and attractiveness,
Availability, whether or not the products are available at Retail Shops
and Haats, Cost, whether or not the product is reasonably priced.
Value
Rural Branding
It is the process of creating and disseminating the brand name so that
it is instantly understood by the customer. It is different from branding
in rural areas as there people don’t understand English names of
brands. They rather associate the product with the picture on the
package. E.g. “Laal sabun or red soap for lifebuoy.”
Creating an Identity – under this process an identity is created in the
minds of the customer. E.g. ‘TATA Namak – Desh Ka Namak’ here what
TATA has done is they have given the salt a national image. They have
associated it with the country and as a result rural consumers tend to
connect with it and trust it more & they also remember it well.
Marketing Tips
Don’t write down too much as it again creates doubts in the minds of
the consumer.
- Tea stall
o Middle age people generally sit around such places and
chat
o At such places there are many conversations and one can
indulge into one or create one.
- Play ground
o Youth (morning/evening) – one finds young people playing
at the ground or exercising.
o Watchers
- Chaupals
o Evenings: middle aged and old people meet together at a
certain spot in the village and discuss things about the
village. This is a rather informal meeting of the villagers.
o One can easily find influencers and opinion leaders from
amongst people who are talking.