MARKETING AND MARKETING RESEARCH IN NOOKS AND

CORNERS OF INDIA
ARJUN KAUSHIK, SVKMS NMIMS MPSTME
KUSHAL RAJA, SVKMS NMIMS MPSTME
ABSTRACT
Rural Market Research must overcome the challenge of respondents with lower literacy and exposure levels, where
conventional market research tools may not be easily comprehended by villagers. A severe lack of information and
data on rural markets has long been a barrier to entry.
The Rural market has become important to many companies in the last decade, despite the fact there was little
information and no standard textbook on the subject. Rural population accounts for 70% of the total Indian
population and it is increasing at a higher rate as compared to urban India. The buyers of rural and urban areas differ
in their characteristics while buying any product. The reasons behind this differentiation are many, like:
Economic situation
Personality and self concept
Age and life cycle stage
Lifestyle
Occupation

Psychological factors like perception, cognition and motivation.

Objectives:
To draw an understanding regarding varied concepts and practices in market research in rural India.
To fight challenges and gain opportunities in rural marketing.

INTRODUCTION
The rural consumer is discerning and the rural market is vibrant. At the current rate of growth, it will soon outstrip
the urban market. The rural market is not sleeping any longer, We are. So said MrAdi Godrej of Godrej Industries

Marketing:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging
offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

Marketing Research:
Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information
which is used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problemsThe sole aim of marketing is to identify
customer needs and to satisfy them. It helps to select appropriate sales and advertising strategies, and to plan
marketing programs in a more efficient manner. Although there is great potential in rural market India still lacks
regarding awareness about rural consumers as compared to urban consumers. There are many misconceptions about
rural marketing such as that the rural buyer is not very discriminative and once he develops a loyalty towards a brand
he might not shift towards another brand, where as it is vice versa. Another assumption is that the rural buyer does
not give much importance to quality buying. Hence consumer research is indispensable for entering the rural
segment for the market.
There are two kinds of Research conducted in Rural areas, namely:
Opportunity Research: which deals with deciding on what type of Products, at what Price, in what type of
Packaging, where, when, and in what Quantities, will be required by Rural Consumers.
Effort Research: which deals with decision related to what type of efforts and marketing expenditures will be
required through Advertising, Sales Promotion, and distribution to realize the existing opportunity.

A marketer must know his target market very well. He must understand the expectations of rural consumers, their
socioeconomic background, tastes and preferences, etc while marketing goods or providing services to each area.
As there is hardly any secondary information available, the marketing research approach has to be through primary
research by conducting:
Panel of upper 10 percent population
Household Audit
Semi-Wholesalers and retailers in nearby towns

BASICS OF MARKETING IN RURAL INDIA

Communication in regional language
In order to change the customer outlook about quality it was necessary for companies to focus on the importance of
communication in local language for promoting their products due to which the rural customer started asking for
value for money. Eg: the polio ad by AmitabhBachchan

By Promoting products with Indian sports personalities and actors

Brand ambassadors are highly influential & hence companies choose actors & sportsperson for the promotion of
their products. It may not be necessary that the personality should be from the specific field itself. Eg:
SachinTendulkar coming in narcotics drugs advertisement.

Associating themselves with India

Companies are trying to show that they are associated with India by exhibiting that they are Indian.
Eg: M-TV during Independence Day and Republic Day make their logo with Indian tri-colour.

Developing specific rural products

Products are specifically designed keeping into consideration the requirements and shortcomings in the rural areas.
Eg: Soft Chew(calcium tablets) by Novartis pharmaceuticals)

Providing what customer wants

One needs to focus on the basic requirements of a product taking into consideration the want of the customer.
Customers do not see any value in frills associate with the product. However if the seller provides frills free of cost
they are happy with it. As Karbonn has launched several models of cellular phones of high technology but none
took off on the other hand Nokia has launched a simple product which has captured the market.

Cultural and social values

Companies need to promote their products by exploiting social and cultural values as they have a very strong hold on
the people and play a major role in deciding what to buy. Moreover rural people are emotional and sensitive. Eg:
Cadbury has launched Cadbury celebrations for festivals Raksha bandhan and Diwali.

By Communicating And Changing Quality Perception

Companies should come up with new technologies and ideas and they are properly communicating it to the customer.
The perception of the Indian about the desired product is changing. There is a trade-off between Quality a customer
perceives and a company wants to communicate. Thus, this positioning of technology or an idea is very crucial Now
they know the difference between the products and the utilities derived
out of it. As a rural Indian customer always wanted value for money with the changed perception, one can notice
difference in current market scenario.

By Proper Communication In Indian Language

The companies have realized the importance of proper communication in local language for promoting their
products. They have started selling the concept of quality with proper communication. Their main focus is to change
the Indian customer outlook about quality. With their promotion, rural customer started asking for value for money.

This is carried out in a variety of ways ranging from providing free education to dedicated classes held for specific
topics.

By Talking About A Normal Indian

Companies are now talking about normal India. It is a normal tendency of an Indian to try to associate
himself/herself with the product. If he/she can visualize himself/herself with the product, he /she becomes loyal to it.

By Adopting Localized Way Of Distributing

Proper distribution channels are recognized by companies. The distribution channel could be a Big scale Super
markets, they thought that a similar system can be grown in India. However, they were wrong, soon they realized
that to succeed in India they have to reach the nook and the corner of the country. They have to reach the local
Paanwala, Local Baniya only they can succeed. MNC shoe giants, Adidas, Reebok, Nike started with exclusive
stores but soon they realized that they do not enjoy much Brand Equity in India, and to capture the market share in
India they have to go the local market shoe sellers. They have to reach to local cities with not only low priced
products but also sell in them in what is known as non-traditional outlets.

Melas
Melas are places where villagers gather once in a while for shopping. Companies take advantage of such events to
market their products. Dabur uses these events to sell products like JANAM GHUTI(Gripe water). NCAER
estimates that around half of items sold in these melas are FMCG products and consumer durables. Escorts also
displays its products like tractors and motorcycles in such melas .

CASE STUDY 1: AROGYA PARIVAR

Background:
This case study is about Arogya parivar, a social initiative by Novartis pharmaceuticals. In July 2007, Novartis India
launched Arogya Parivar, ahealthcare business model which has proved to be bothsustainable and a warm, humane
initiative.Arogya Parivar conducts Community Level Meetings (CLM) to create awareness amongst the rural
population about health, hygiene and disease. The rural market survey conducted by Arogya parivar is an approach to
gather adequate information to determine the health care needs and requirements of the rural community. Also it
would help us to know the impact of CLM held. Moreover, it also captures the behavioral changes in the rural
population before and after participating in the CLM. All of this would be met by the means of questionnaires which
are divided in two sets Segment A (tries to identify the need of the rural community), Segment B (to capture the
effectiveness of the CLM). Thus, this initiative is undertaken with an overview to devise a solution to enhance the
outreach (3).

Objective:

To identify the present scenario on healthcare awareness among the rural population, what are their needs
and requirements.
To find whether the existing CLM activity conducted by Arogya Parivar is helpful enough in addressing all
the needs of the population.

Scope:
The proposed market survey was conducted to assess the awareness of rural population in the cells on healthcare,
what additional information do they desire in their area, are they satisfied with the CLM and find the CLM activity
useful? The survey will identify the following:
I) Actual Gap In Health Awareness:
The current level of awareness and healthcare behaviour in rural cells.

How well does rural population recognize the need for health, hygiene and disease awareness (Cause,
precaution, symptoms & treatment)
To identify the level of basic knowledge on health care present in rural cells.

 To comprehend the limiting factors that have lead to low levels of awareness.
Awareness about Arogya Parivar and CLMs
II) To Analyze The Existing Program:
To assess the level of understanding of people after attending the CLM.

To gauge the interest level of the rural population in participating in current/future CLM(s) held.

This questionnaire would be open to all whether they have attended a CLM or not.

How useful do they find the CLMs

Retention and dissemination of information obtained at CLM.

Change in behaviour after being educated at CLM.

Two categories of villages had been surveyed. 1 st comprising of 10 villages from in which the CLM has been
conducted and 2nd comprising of 10 villages again in which the CLM has never been conducted.
The survey is conducted by directly interviewing the targeted population with the use of close ended questionnaires,
which is divided in two sets as follows:
Questionnaire A
To identify the need and to analyze the healthcare scenario in the rural India.
Simple random sampling method will be employed to select families from the villages.
The most educated/influential/decision maker of the family was targeted for the survey.

Questionnaire B
To know how effective the CLM has been and whether the need has been addressed in the CLM, so this
would be restricted only to the people attending the CLM.
The cluster sampling method would be employed.

The population would be segregated in clusters on the basis of gender and age with the target respondents
ranging from 25 55 yrs.

CONCLUSION
Market research in rural India is very different from urban India owing to the low levels of literacy. Surveys have to
be carried out with great precaution as meanings may differ from village to village and many terms would be relative
in meaning. Its a great advantage if the questioner has decent command over the local language as the rural
population then opens up to a greater extent.
While marketing to the rural consumer, it is important to connect with the rural consumers social status appreciation,
it should give them psychological satisfaction and should motivate them to continue with the same brand.
Hence reaching through formal media like magazines, newspapers, and periodicals is not a viable alternative.The
improvement in the sale and growth of the television industry in rural markets, there is a tremendous scope for the
advertisements through TV. The advertisement campaigns through TV have a high level of demonstration effect for
the consumers. Companies also use hoardings, kiosks, etc in rural areas to carry brand messages.Radio is a popular
medium in Rural India, so it can be used for the purpose of rural advertisement.Rural India has many fairs and
festivals, and marketers use these alternative platforms for brand promotions.
Rural marketing should not be considered as an expense, but as an investment.The initial costs for distribution and
communication are high and returns come after a long period, yet it is an investment worth making. For success, the
following points must be kept in view:
An efficient countrywide distribution network must be created, so that companys products are available to
the farmers at their doorstep.
Communication and servicing must be in tune with rural needs and in ways different from what is effective
in larger towns and cities.
There should be a strong R&D team to produce products specifically for rural areas.
Pricing of products should be in line with the economic competence of villagers.
Packaging should be simpler and more functional than ornamental institutional promotion is more important
than brand promotion.

REFERENCE
1. http://www.nos.org/srsec319new/319EL19.pdf
2. http://www.martrural.com/Market%20Research%20in%20Rural
%20India.pdf
3.

Arogya Parivar Rural Health Survey by Arjun kaushik, Novartis

pharmaceuticals(2011)