FEATURES OF RURAL MARKETS (HIMACHAL PRADESH & PUNJAB):

In this cut throat competition, companies are always searching new ways to win this battle of attraction, for the new customers. They are now looking towards the rural market and there are number of reasons for that. The main reason is that the big part of rural market is still untapped. The rural market is not the old days market; but it is continuously changing itself very fast. Now the rural customers are more educated, having more buying power and on the basis of recent research they are more brand loyal. Whenever a company wants to expand its base, they always think about the rural customers. For example, when Nokia entered the market, the mobile phones were not for all so it focused rich customers. Of late, the mobile has become a necessity, so the company has entered urban as well as rural market. The success of Nokia 1100 phone is a classic example. This model was developed keeping in mind the rural customers who may require features like easy to operate, Hindi keypad, local languages profile, torch, etc. Indian rural market is larger than many European countries put together. Urban market offers high growth rate but rural market may offers vast and untapped market for the marketers. Now with help of various employment programmers of government MNREGA, which offer 100 days employment for rural persons, purchasing power of the rural consumers has increased. On analyzing the buying behaviour of rural population we found that the types of product used by same purchasing power are strikingly different. The reason behind this is that rural customers are still conservative and they value their culture and believes. As a result, these factors always create obstacle in the mind of the customer while buying the products. But of late, rural customers as well as rural market both are continuously changing their conservative outlook. Now rural customers are also asking the branded products. Recent studies have shown that rural customers have left behind the empathy for cheaper products and have become brand loyal and brand conscious. The only problem is they are not having the adequate knowledge. Now the time has come for the marketers to think about certain factors while developing the strategies for the rural market. The current paper deals with various factors which can help the marketers to tap more market segments and also can apply the integrated approach. The following lines discuss this: I. Literacy level: Now with the help of the many government schemes and programmes like Sarv Siksha Abhiyan, Education for All, Prodh Sikha abhiyan the literacy level of the rural area

has increased from 58 % in 2001 to 68% in 2011. So the marketer will find it easy to communicate their messages to the target consumers. Slogans and punch lines of the advertisements posted by the marketers for their products and services are now well received by the rural consumers. But the advertisement techniques have to be different for punjabi customers because they have a different life style. II. Communication & Infrastructure: Internet and mobile association of India (IAMI) have reported that there will be 45 million internet users in the rural India by December 2012. The 50% increase leading to expected 4.5 crores by December 2012 is primarily driven by mobile internet access, community centres and cyber cafes. This has resulted into a proper communication in rural India. Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana has set up proper road infrastructure in village and that has increased the connectivity of rural India with urban India. All these have made the rural market a better target segment for marketers. But the facilities like electricity, warehouses are still big concern for the marketers. III. Per capita Income: India's rank in per capita GDP has shown an improvement from 117 in 1990 to 101 in 2000 and further to 94 in 2009. According to a new report by market research and ratings agency Crisil, based on preliminary National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) data per capita monthly consumption in rural India has increased by 19 per cent during the period 2009-10 to 2011-12. This has happened because of increase in the wages of rural people. Five years ago only 26% of rural households owned a television but now the percentage has increased to 42. 14 per cent had a two-wheeler, now it is twice the level seen in 2004-05. Also loan provided by various banks for agriculture purpose to the farmers has increased the purchasing power of rural consumers.

IV. Language and dialects: The number of languages and dialects vary from state to state and even district to district also. So the marketers have to use different languages at different places for creating awareness among rural people about their products and services. V. Traditional outlook: The rural customer likes to follow the old tradition and customs. The buying decision largely depends on the social customs, tradition and beliefs. The rural people are socially gathered in melas, cultural fests and other activities, mainly buy expensive product on occasion festival like Diwali, Eid, Holi. . The marketers need to follow these factors so that they can tap the untapped Punjab market.

VI. Price sensitive: No doubt there is an increase in the per capita income but still the Punjabi persons are price sensitive and risk adverse. They always prefer a low unit priced product. So if marketer can drive towards the sachets, they can convert no buyers into the buyers. Now these days many companies are converting the high priced products into low price products by sachets. And they are making profit by converting the big quantity into small quantity. These factors have to be taken into consideration while going to the rural market. That can help the marketers to understand the rural consumer buying behaviour and their attitude.