Page 98 - DMGT509_RURAL MARKETING

Unit 5: Rural Consumer

Notes
Table 5.1: Occupation and Consumption Patterns

Occupation % wt. in Rural % Contribution % Contribution % Contribution
Category (Wage Households to TV to Rural 2 to Rural
Earner Occupation) Ownership Wheeler Refrigeration
Ownership
Owner farmer 34 33 33 31
Shop keeper/trader 8 14 16 20
Service (total) 13 31 39 40
Inside village 5 11 15 15
Outside village 8 20 24 25
Agricultural worker 20 6 3 2
Unskilled non- 17 9 4 5
agricultural labour
Artisan 6 6 4 2
Rest (leased farmers, 2 2 1 1
livestock, poultry,
fishery, milkman)

Source: Bijapurkar and Murthy, 1999.
5.5 Place of Purchase Variations

Not all rural consumers buy from the same location. It is also true that the same consumer could
buy from different locations depending on the product and the need. A study on haats indicates
that, despite the same product being available in the village shop, 58 per cent of the rural
consumers visiting the haats preferred to buy these from a haat because of better prices, quality
and variety (Kashyap, 1998).
Rural consumers do not rely on the local outlets and haats alone, as some of the purchases are
made in the urban areas This is because:

1. There are a few product categories where rural distribution is still comparatively low and
therefore the consumer buys from towns. It was observed that for certain categories of
FMCG, the rural consumers made as high as 50 per cent of their purchases from the urban
markets. In the case of products where the rural dealer penetration is low, the purchase
from the urban centers is high. Shaving cream has a low dealer penetration and 37 per cent
of the purchase is from urban centres. Tea has a high dealer penetration of 65 per cent in
rural markets and in this case 25 per cent of the purchases made by rural consumers are
from the urban markets (ORG-MARG, 2000).

2. In certain cases, the consumer seeks variety. In the case of toilet soaps and washing powder,
the range in villages may be perceived as limited by the consumers.

5.6 Social and Behavioural Influences

The rural consumer is influenced by the environment and also by his or her wants and
perceptions. Understanding the social and attitudinal influences on rural consumer behaviour
is important to the marketer, as these serve as a guide to decisions on product offering,
pricing, distribution, media and message; in effect forming the ‘rural marketing strategy’ The
social-cultural influences on behaviour need understanding for developing an effective
marketing strategy.

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