An Emerging Indian Rural Market: Challenges and Opportunities
An Emerging Indian Rural Market: Challenges and Opportunities
Abstract
In our study, we are going to explain the issues and Opportunities coming in the area of Rural Marketing. We are going to explain
the different types of strategies to be adopted for grapping growing market in rural areas by the firms for being successful in their
business. How they should make the products for low income group and attract them towards their product. What should they
communicate or advertise their product in rural market is also discussed. Rural Marketing is growing at very fast rate and this is
very important area to focus by the firms to do business in villages. In India 60 % of population lives in villages and their demand
is also increased post 1990’s compared to urban areas
The main aim of this study is to observe the potentiality of Indian Rural Markets and finding out various problems are being faced
by rural markets. This paper attempts to look into the challenges and opportunities of Indian rural marketing. Rural markets offer a
great scope for a concentrated marketing effort because of the recent increase in the rural incomes and the likelihood that such
incomes will increase faster because of better production and higher prices for agricultural commodities. Rural Marketing is a
developing concept, and as a part of any economy has untapped potential; marketers have realized the opportunity recently.
Improvement in infrastructure and reach promise a bright future for those intending to go rural. Any macro-level strategy for these
markets should focus on availability, accessibility and affordability. Focused attention needs to be paid to market research that
goes on to reduce the uncertainly in dealing with these markets. More specifically, in relation to rural areas, demand is seen to a
very highly price elastic. There is no doubt that divides do exist between urban India and rural India. This paper discuss the rural
marketing and its strategies and also focus on issues and challenges for selling products & services.
Keywords: Rural Market, Marketing, Strategy, Services, Indian rural market, marketing challenges
implementing and scheming formulated strategies to make               Indian economy generates almost more than half of the
possible the replace of goods and services among                      country's income. Rural marketing in Indian economy can be
organizations and clients. It helps an association in identifying     confidential under two broad categories.
wants and needs of the customers and delivering goods that            These are (a) the markets for consumer goods that comprise of
convince those wants and desires.                                     both strong and weak goods, and (b) the markets for farming
                                                                      inputs that contain fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, and so on. The
2. Significance of the Study                                          model of rural marketing in India is frequently was establish
Rural market is receiving significance as the diffusion of the        to shape uncertainty in the minds of people who think rural
urban market. As due to the opposition in the urban market,           marketing is all about agricultural marketing. However, rural
the market is more than as saturated as most of the capacity of       marketing determine the carrying out of company actions
the purchasers has been targeted by the marketers. So the             bringing in the flood of freight from urban sectors to the rural
marketers are looking intended for extending their                    regions of the country as well as the marketing of assorted
manufactured goods categories to an unfamiliar market i.e. the        goods affected by the non-agricultural workers from rural to
Rural Market. In recent years, Rural Markets have acquired            urban areas.
important, as the on the whole expansion of the wealth has
resulted into significant boost in the purchasing power of the        5. Issues & Challenges in Rural Marketing
rural consumers. The study aims at bringing a holistic                India is imaginative with a good degree of tribal, intellectual
accepting of the Rural Markets. Significance of the study also        and provincial variety. About 3/4th of the total population
includes investigative the present market situation of Indian         resides in the rural areas and greater part of them are reliant
Rural Market, and as long as in- examination of the challenges        ahead cultivation for their survival. Farming contributes about
faced by the marketers though in service in the rural                 24.7% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. It
environment, and identify rural marketing opportunities.              also contributes about 13.1% to the total Indian exports. This
                                                                      sector provides employment to 58.4% of the country's
3. Objective of the study                                             personnel and employment to more than 650 million people.
Rural markets, as fraction of any economy, have unused                Although this fact, the condition of these people has not
possible. There are more than a few difficulties confronting          shown any important enhancement. The progress of the nation
the attempt to completely discover rural markets. The                 mainly depends upon the progress of the rural population.
perception of rural markets in India, as also in a number of          Rural market witnesses a high stipulate & it’s the rural
other countries, like China, is at rest in developing profile, and    fragment of market that contributes more profit than its urban
the sector poses a diversity of challenges, together with             counterpart. Rural marketing broadly involves reaching
perceptive the dynamics of the rural markets and strategies to        customers, sympathetic their needs, provider of goods and
provide and convince the rural customers. The objectives of           services, and finally pleasing consumers, principal to more
this study comprise observing the dynamics of Indian Rural            sales. The common feeling is that only agricultural inputs like
Markets over a phase of time, reviewing the text of rural             seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, cattle feed and agricultural
markets and rural marketing, precision the potentiality of rural      machinery has a prospective for enlargement in the rural
markets with individual to dissimilar segments like FMCG,             market. However, there is a mounting market for consumer
Automobiles, and Retail etc. Rural Markets are distinct as            goods now. It has been predictable the rural market is rising at
those segments of in general market of any financial system,          the rate of five times its urban counterpart.
which are separate from the other types of markets like stock         Although the truth that rural market is an enormous
market, commodity markets or Labor economics. The so                  magnetism to marketers, it is not simple to go into the market
called urban markets are packed and flooded and the split of          and take a sizeable split of the market, in the small time due to
farming in GDP is leaving down but India at rest lives in her         the following reasons.
villages. Such a probable market was creature unnoticed by
company sector and small and medium industries. Therefore it          i) Short Literacy
is future to study the potentiality and problems of rural market      There are not sufficient opportunities for education in rural
with a particular position to Indian Rural Market. The study          areas. The literacy intensity is as low when compared to all-
also concentrates on the troubles faced by rural markets and          India.
lastly contribution suggestions to overcome the troubles and
beating the potentiality of the rural markets at highest level.       ii) Cyclic Demand
                                                                      Demand for goods in rural markets depends upon agricultural
4. Rural Marketing in India                                           situation, as agriculture is the main source of income.
The theory of rural marketing in Indian economy has forever           Agriculture to a large extent depends upon monsoon and,
played a powerful role in the life of people. In India, leave-        therefore, the demand or buying capacity is not stable or
taking out a few municipal cities, all the districts and              regular.
manufacturing townships are linked with rural markets. The
rural market in India is not a divide body in itself and it is        iii) Shipping
extremely prejudiced by the sociological and behavioral               Various rural areas are not linked by rail transport. Many
factors in service in the country. The rural population in India      roads become unserviceable during the monsoon and inside
accounts for around 627 million, which is exactly 74.3percent         villages get cut off.
of the total population. The rural markets in India bring in
bigger revenues in the country, as the rural regions include of       iv) Allotment
the utmost customers in this country. The rural market in             An efficient     allotment    method     requires   village-level
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shopkeeper, Mandal/ Taluka- level wholesaler or preferred             rural markets their sales will boost. If rural markets are
dealer distributor or stockiest at district level and company-        brought into the attention of development, they marked
owned depot or load supply at state level. The existence of too       towards the wealth. Wealth of India deceit in the wealth of
many tiers in the allotment method increases the cost of              every Indian; hence no rural segment should be left unused.
allotment.                                                            Rural market has a marvelous potential that is however to be
                                                                      tapped. A small increase in rural income, results in a promoter
v) Communication Problems                                             raise in buying power.
Conveniences such as telephone, fax and telegram are rather
poor in rural areas.                                                  6. Challenges of Rural Market in India
                                                                      The rural market offers a huge unused latent; it ought to be
vi) Customary Life                                                    familiar that it is not simple to manage in the market, because
Life in rural areas is still governed by customs and civilization     of numerous assistant challenges. Rural market remains
and people do not simply adapt new practices. For example,            untapped because of mainly three challenges:-distance,
even rich and educated class of farmers does not go for job           diversity, and dispersion. As much as Rural India presents a
they do farming.                                                      great chance, there are still lots of challenges that have to be
                                                                      conquered. Dispersed population and trade, huge figure of
vii) Buying Decisions                                                 mediators in the worth shackles most important to the senior
Rural consumers are alert in buying and decisions are slow            costs, inadequate bank and credit facilities for rural customers
and belated. They like to give an experiment and only after           and retailers, highly praise ambitious market and low
being personally content, do they buy the product.                    speculation ability of retailers are the other roadblocks. Thus,
                                                                      there are a number of roadblocks that create it hard to growth
viii) Media for Promotions                                            in the rural market. Marketers come across a numeral of
Television has made a great collision and huge spectators             troubles like trade with corporeal circulation, logistics, proper
exposed to this average. Radio reaches big population in rural        and effectual operation of sales strength and effectual
areas at a comparatively low cost. However, reach of proper           marketing communication when they enter into the rural
media is low in rural households; consequently, the market has        segments.
to take on exact sales endorsement activities in rural areas like     1) The huge population found and digit of households
participating in meals or fairs.                                           indicates an extensively extend out market and it is a
                                                                           challenge for the marketer to service this discrete market.
ix) Job in Rural Market                                                    The figure of the villages is more than five lakhs and is
While rural marketing offers a difficult job, a rural sales                not consistent in size. Almost partly of the population
person should require certain qualifications and specialized               lives in center sized villages which have a population
talent.                                                                    ranging from1000 to 5000 persons. These types of sharing
                                                                           of population warrant suitable circulation and advertising
x) Cultural Factors                                                        strategies to make a choice the coverage of treatment of
Culture is a method of public ethics, attitude and perceptions             rural market.
that manipulate the performance of consumers. There are               2) The rural for each capita earnings is low as compared to
dissimilar groups based on faith, caste, profession, income,               urban area. Low for each capita earnings lead to stumpy
age, education and policy and each group exerts pressure on                purchasing power. This separately, the delivery of income
the performance of people in villages. There is a conviction               is highly indistinct, since the landholding model, which is
among rural people that knowledge is more vital than proper                basic asset, is itself tilted. Thus, rural market presents an
education and they esteem salespersons who can present                     extremely assorted view. Therefore a small number of
sensible solutions to their problems. Therefore, it is attractive          challenges begin in this value, like; off-taking of any
that sales persons, particularly persons who have been brought             creation by rural consumer, maintaining of range levels,
up in cities are given a detailed training consisting of equally           distribution system options, and incidence of sharing.
hypothesis and realistic aspects of village life. The preparation          This feature is supposed to be cautiously measured by the
will help these sales persons to align themselves with the                 marketers.
market realities and settle down smoothly in their jobs.              3) There are lacks of accurate substantial message amenities
But there are additional issues also on other sides of                     in rural areas. Almost half of the villages in the country
challenges which are like the rural population is spread over a            do not have all-weather roads. Therefore attainment these
large area where reach is expensive and the mass is                        villages are very actually taxing. Hence, circulation
heterogeneous. The spending power of rural populace                        efforts put up by the marketers prove to be expensive and
fluctuates with the agri-yield. Hence, demand is not reliable.             ineffective.
As well this, low level of produce contact, poor standard of          4) The rural market, by and large, are characterized by
living, specious products with high limits for retailers and lack          underdeveloped people and consequently Underdeveloped
of infrastructure lead to low diffusion.                                   market. A huge popular of rural people is not monetarily
                                                                           steady and is tradition-bound, philosophical, caught up in
xi) Future Trends                                                          age-old customs, civilization, behavior, taboos, and
Markets which are not competent to look the solid rivalry                  practices. Unluckily, the impact of agricultural technology
posed by MNCs can reinstate their profits in the rural sector.             has not been felt consistently all through the country. The
The market share of urban promote when compared to the                     large segments of rural population have remained
rural market is short; therefore if Indian industries focus on             unaffected by scientific breakthroughs.
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5) There are huge variations in the levels of literacy along          1) For developing product strategies, the marketers be
     with rural people. Approximately two-fifth of the rural               supposed to assume in conditions of low unit price and
     population is uneducated and only one-fifth holds an                  low volume packing’s which express an insight of
     education or higher degree. Also, literacy levels differ              strength and convenience in the minds of rural consumers.
     enormously along with different states. These variations              Whenever essential, redesigning of the product can also
     pretense a confront to simple and clear understanding of              be consideration of depending on the customs,
     the communication by all sets of rural spectators. The                civilization, taboos and behavior, of rural customers. In
     restricted arrive at of heap media in rural areas and its             addition, a variety name or logo or sign, which conveys
     district and state variations cause boundaries on a                   the reason, usefulness and excellence of the product, is
     worldwide approach to communication for rural                         necessary for the rural customer to recognize the product
     consumers. Also different perceptions, traditions, and                with. Marketers should understand the psyche and needs
     values across states moreover in a few cases within a                 of the rural customers and then produce accordingly.
     state; are other obstacles in message progress.                  2) Pricing strategies are closely connected to the
6) The division of goods continues to pretense an enormous                 manufactured goods strategies. The produce covering and
     confront to marketers because reaching of 7.8million                  appearance also offer range for custody the price low to
     retail outlets extend across 6, 40,000 villages and feeding           outfit the rural purchasing power. The marketers aim to
     a retail network of villages shops is a sharing terrifying.           decrease the value of the product to a reasonably priced
     The challenges for the suppliers is the tiny size of each             level, so that a better segment of the population can
     villages with short during per channel, attached with the             purchase it, thus increasing the market. This is the most
     high charge of delivery since these villages are some                 ordinary strategies broadly adopted by the marketers to
     space absent from distributors. These factors make                    enter into the rural market.
     excellence distribution unviable. The circulation of any         3) For formulation of circulation strategies in rural areas, it
     product in the rural areas; agricultural inputs,                      is essential to stay in mind; the uniqueness of the product,
     consumables or durables, should unavoidably pursue a                  unpreserved and non-consumable, and life cycle and other
     appropriate model. They require sample in the rural areas             factors connecting to distribution. Marketers should
     is appropriate. The distributions in the rural areas are              inspect cautiously the market possible of different villages
     recurrent and not consistent all over the year.                       and target the villages that can be served in a monetarily
The rural market in India is undergoing an enormous                        feasible way from side to side a prepared sharing effort.
modification. These changes have resulted in shifting the                  The marketers may distribute the products through Co-
profitable battlefields from urban to rural. Most of the                   operatives societies and by utilizing the services of Public
companies treat rural market as a discarding position for the              distribution system, utilizing of flexible distribution
inferior end harvest intended for urban spectators. But, this              centers by Petroleum /Oil companies, distribution up to
situation is gradually shifting and significance is known to the           the feeder markets/mandi towns, haats/melas, and
require of the country client. Bearing in mind the up-and-                 agriculture input dealers.
coming issues and challenges, government sustain is essential         4) The promotional settle on or strategies chosen have to to
for the growth of marketing. The government may regulate                   be price effective, while fragile products may warrant the
appropriate budget allocations to rural infrastructure plans,              use of mass media since the aim consumers are extensive,
and proper management for effectual plan implementations.                  tough products will require entity selling hard work
Marketers should appreciate these challenges and then making               because of lesser size of goal. The less rural population
strategies in the light of these challenges to face them and to            has doorway to a language newspaper and size of rural
tap the rural Indian market and importance is given to the need            population is uneducated and put up the restriction on
of the rural customer.                                                     print media. The aural visuals must be designed by the
                                                                           marketers for promotional purposes. The traditional forms
7. Development of Strategies                                               of promotional calculate be supposed to use in
The firms in service in rural markets have to distinguish and              promotional strategies.
consider the opportunities as well pressure that exists in this       Rural marketing is a two method marketing process. The
highly assorted and volatile market. The large number of              substance now encompasses not only marketing of products
geologically separate villages presents a chief tackle to the         which pour to rural areas, but also products which flow to
marketer in achievement to rural consumer and this requires           urban areas from rural areas. So a broad meaning of rural
exploring inventive behavior to arrive at products and                marketing is worried with the flow of goods and services from
services. Profession and the income stream have foremost              urban to rural barren vice-versa. In addition, it also includes
implications for segmentation and targeting rural marketing           the marketing in the rural areas. As the rural marketing is a
attempt. In accumulation to present suitable price and package        cooperative procedure, this article attempts to bring to light
size, the channels to deliver the price and products are              Issues and challenges connected with the rural marketing
prejudiced by both profession and revenue. The popular of             strategies. It covers the marketing strategies aspects of rural
consumers with inadequate income suggest a large market for           produce with particular indication to products and services
necessary product and a value for money propositions. The             within the rural areas.
marketers require to inspect the prospective of rural market for
a divide market assistance and increasing the strategies for          8. Rural Marketing Strategies
marketing mix in rural markets on the basis of three important        The rural market has distorted radically in the ancient times
mix:- Product, Pricing, distribution, and promotional                 one decade. A decade ago, the rural market was extra
strategies:                                                           shapeless and was not a prioritized goal location for business.
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The minority companies, mostly the agro-based ones, were              9. Challenges faced in rural marketing
focused in these markets. There are no pioneering strategies          Although the actuality those rural markets are huge magnetism
and promotional campaigns. A distribution system did survive,         to marketers, it is not easy to enter the market and take an
but was weak. Illiteracy and lack of skill were the other factors     ample market share due to the following factors.
principal to the poor reach of products and lower level of             Appropriate interactions are essential for moving and
consciousness between villagers. Steadily, corporate realized              progress. Many villages are not attached by rail transport.
that there was diffusion, rigid rivalry and confusion in the               The poor road connectivity and the subserviced roads are
urban market, and a demand was building up in rural areas.                 up till now one more drawbacks. Large number of
Best Promotion and Quality Perception Companies with new                   intermediaries guide to elevated cost, so an effectual
knowledge are correctly capable to communicating its goods                 distribution scheme has to be put in place, like a state
and services to their customer. There is a transaction flanked             level distribution dealer to a stockiest at district level and
by brilliance a customer perceives and a company wants to                  to the village shopkeepers. The attendance of a lot of
communicate. Thus, this positioning of information is very                 levels in the circulation canal increases the price of
imperative. The imminent of the Indian about the preferred                 circulation.
product is altering. Now they know the disparity between the           Insufficient banking and credit facilities.
products and the utilities derivative out of it. As a rural Indian     Little literacy rates in rural areas are the biggest reason of
customer always required worth for money with the changed                  worry.
awareness, one can perceive difference in current market               Agriculture creature the large basis of profits in the rural
situation particularly in case of services given by the                    area, insist for good depends upon agricultural state
companies.                                                                 because farming to a big level depends upon monsoon
                                                                           hence, The insist or trade ability is not steady or normal.
i) Easy-Way Communication especially for Rural Market                  People living in the rural areas are ambitious by
The companies have realized the significance of correct                    civilization and ethnicity and they adjust to new trends.
communication in confined talking for promoting their goods                For example, even rich and educated classes of farmers do
particularly in rural market. They have ongoing selling the                not recognized and fashionable clothes and garnishes.
idea of excellence with correct message and simply explicable          Rural consumers take care in buying new products and
way of connections. Their main focal point is to modify the                are slow decision makers. They would purchase the
Indian customer viewpoint about superiority.                               manufactured goods only after they have tried the
                                                                           manufactured goods additional being personally content.
ii) Changing Pattern of Rural patrons                                  The rural customers include dissimilar groups based on
Newsday villagers are continually looking forward for new                  caste, religion, age, education, occupation type, income,
branded products and good services. Indian customer in rural               and politics and each group work out the influence on the
market was never price responsive, but they want importance                behavior of people.
of money. They are all set to pay best for the product present         Rural market has a remarkable potential that is yet in the
some additional value for the quality. Regards for civilizing              direction of be tapped. A large increase in rural profits
and community ethics Companies have renowned that societal                 will consequence in an add to in the purchasing power.
and civilizing ethics have a very physically powerful hold on         Markets which are not capable to countenance the rigid rivalry
the people in rural markets. Intellectual ethics take part in         posed by MNC’s can restore their profits in the rural markets.
main position in deciding what to buy. Moreover rural people          If Indian industries think on rural markets their sales will
are affecting and perceptive. Thus, to endorse goods and              increase. If rural markets are brought into the attention of
services we should consider their societal and intellectual           growth, they will cover way to financial reformation.
ethics.                                                               Achievement of India lies in the success of every Indian;
                                                                      hence no rural section should be left unused. The aforesaid
iii) Focus on Customer Requirement                                    challenges faced can be tackled and experiential by various
Each customers wish for worth for their currency. They do not         strategies as followed.
see any worth additional connected with the goods. They                Initiate low priced variants of products with a unique
aspire for the essential functionality. Though, if the sellers             selling intention particularly meant at the rural consumers.
offer additions without charge they are happy with that. They          Plan products particularly for the rural consumer and
are pleased with such a elevated expertise that can complete               manage the demand of the products.
their requirement Promoting Products and Services with                 Collective decision making is very prominent in rural
correct personality in Case of superstar approval Companies                areas; hence rural retailers must be educated on the
are preference up Indian models, actors for advertisements as              products.
this helps them to show themselves as an Indian company.               A routine feedback from the rural consumers is essential
                                                                           to understand the product placement in the rural market.
iv) Developing Specific Products for Specific Segment                  Proper message through situate and customer exact
Many companies are on the rise rural-specific goods.                       encouragement, which requires time, wealth and a
Observance into deliberation the necessities, a firm develops              consistent long tern dream.
these products. Electrolux is effectual on a suitable for India        Wide after sales services and business ethics.
fridge planned to serve essential purposes: cool drinking
water, keep cooked food fresh, and to withstand long power            10. Why Purchasing power of Rural India is Boosting?
cuts. In Service Sector like Insurance they are focusing on           Different companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda,
Micro insurance products for rural segments.                          Hindustan Unilever, ITC, LG, Samsung, Nokia, Idea, Airtel
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development
etc. everyone one affecting towards rural India to overcome               strategy is used by companies to add to product diffusion,
the hold up in urban market. Rural India which was                        as trials would boost due to a inferior put -down price.
unobserved for the ancient times more than a few years is now             Lesser packets are more reasonably priced, so they offer
at the centre of notice for the companies. There was optimistic           customers a chance to try out products before graduating
growth in rural GDP, which improved the expenditure                       to a better pack. HUL initiated “Operation Bharat” to tap
authority of rural people. Government initiatives like the farm           rural markets by bringing out low priced example packets
loan waivers, Bharat Nirman yojna for building rural                      of its toothpaste, fairness creams, shampoo and other
communications also boosted rural economy.                                products.
The following factors give enhance to purchasing power of                Awareness: companies generate make consciousness with
rural people:                                                             the help of appropriate media to increase suitability about
 Government’s speculation in rural areas gave a pointed                  its goods in rural markets. The FMCG companies are
     rise to the enlargement of rural areas. Government is                venturing into rural markets with their innovative
     emphasizing on growth of infrastructure like roads,                  strategies to create brand consciousness about their
     housing, telecommunication, electrification and irrigation           products.
     under the national projects called Bharat Nirman Yojana.            Availability: In rural areas spaces are far flung and not
     Therefore, the in general growth of rural India assisted in          well linked to correct roads, delivering the product to
     raising the purchasing power of rural people, as well                rural markets is a great challenge for companies.
     raising the excellence of rural life. There is also a                Companies have realized this and are trying to be original
     noticeable increase in the rural income due to agrarian              in this state of affairs. For creation their products
     wealth. All this has left rural people richer and more               obtainable to customers, companies adopt a diversity of
     strong-minded, enabling the companies to rush in with                income such as direct selling, using company release
     special schemes and modify made products for the highly              vans, rural mandis and setting up of provisional stalls in
     price responsive rural markets.                                      meals etc.
 Boost in Literacy and Education climb in literacy and                  Acceptability: To obtain accessibility for the product,
     educational level among rural people also has a demeanor             there is a huge require to present goods and services
     in boosting the purchasing power. Therefore, there exists            according to the wants of rural consumers.
     marvelous possible in rural India and the companies are
     coming onward to strap up it for the forecast of                 12. Conclusions
     advertising their products and services.                         Indian Rural Market play a crucial role as it provides great
 National Rural Employee Guarantee Act The essential                 opportunities to the corporations to make bigger their arrive at
     difficulty in rustic areas is low income of rural people,        to almost seventy percent of population. Rural marketplace
     which is also cyclic in nature. To solve this issue, the         also reimbursement the rural economy by as long as
     government started National Rural Employee Guarantee             infrastructure amenities, inspiring the standard, and excellence
     Act (NREGA), which guarantees 100 days of                        of life of the people resides in rural area. Although the rural
     employment to every adult in rural areas every year. The         market has become preferred purpose for every marketers but
     implementation of this act is a significant reason for surge     it’s significant to understand that it has lot of challenges and
     in rural income and it decreased the trust on farm income        danger, consequently corporations should charge the
     to a large scope.                                                obstructions as watchfully as possible. A methodical
                                                                      sympathetic of rural markets and systematic move towards are
11. Rural Marketing Mix                                               essential to go through rural market. In order to develop
The Indian rural market is seen as the majority profitable            advertising strategies and deed plans, the corporations need to
section because companies’ crossways dissimilar sectors are           taken into account the multipart factors that pressure the rural
wooing them to hold up their thrust of business enlargement.          patrons buying behavior. The rural market is developed by
Rural markets present opportunities, which are huge and               increasing purchasing power, changing consumption pattern,
comparatively unused. They present marvelous forecast for             increased access to information and communication
companies to put on the market their products and services.           technology, improving infrastructure and augmented,
Companies’ alternative to a number of strategies like                 Government initiatives to improve the rural economy. The
repositioning of brands, repackaging products and reprising           marketers tune to their strategies in accordance to the rural
them, all with an eye on rural wallets. The overall marketing         consumer in the coming years. In spite of all complexities
mix structure for rural markets focuses approximately                 involved inside the rural marketing, the rural scene of rural
delivering the right product, delivering worth for currency           environment is altering progressively in India. The biggest
pricing, using effectual means of endorsement, selecting the          challenge today is to expand a scalable representation of
most suitable technique of sharing and building long term             influencing the rural customer brain over a great era of time
relationship with the customers in order to sell their products.      and keep it going. Conventional urban marketing strategies
 In case of rural marketing mix, there are 4A’s of marketing          will contain to be limited to a small area as apiece the
which are as follows:                                                 demands of the rural markets. It has to reach out to rural
 Affordability: Affordability is dangerous to achievement            consumers and relate to them at an appropriate level, so that it
     in rural markets as the consumers in rural areas are value-      is able to bring concerning the preferred behavioral change.
     conscious and a lot savvier. They are willing to pay for         Government hold up is necessary for the development of rural
     product if it is worth it. To access the rural markets,          market in India to face the emerging issues and challenges in
     companies follow the strategy of low priced products and         the core areas like; transportation, communication, roads, and
     small stock keeping units (SKU). The smaller SKU                 credit institutions, harvest cover for improved utilization of
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development
land and water management. The prospect no uncertainty lies           5.    Raj Kumar Singh. Agricultural Price Policy in India
in the rural market. In conclusion, the rural markets are                   Published by Print well Publishers Jaipur, 1990.
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wealth has unused potential; marketers have realized the                    Perspective (1st ed.). New Age International Pvt LTD.
opportunity recently. Development in infrastructure and arrive              Hagargi AKS. Rural Market in India: Some Opportunities
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scanning and sieving of ideas and plans is essential at all era.            2008.
Focused attention needs to be paid to market research that            9.    Kavitha TC. A Comparative Study of Growth, Challenges
goes on to reduce the uncertainly in dealing with these                     and Opportunities in FMCG of Rural Market. Inter
markets. More specifically, in relation to rural areas, demand              science Management Review, 2012, 2(3).
is seen to a very highly price elastic. To break the price barrier    10.   Kotlar P. Marketing for Non-Profit organization. Prentice
is essential. Simply this can keep the grey area local brands in            Hall of India, New Delhi Management, 2010.
ensure. There is no doubt that divides do survive between             11.   Krishnama charyulu CSG, Ramakrishna L. Rural
urban India and rural India. However, with a quiet revolt that              Marketing Text and Cases. Pearson Education
has already begun, a faultless addition of rural and urban                  (Singapore) pvt. Ltd. Kumar CR. (2006). Rural
markets is underway. The on the whole marketing mix                         Marketing. Adhyayan Publishing, 2002.
structure for rural markets must therefore center around              12.   Murthy VSR. Rural marketing: Issues opportunities, and
plugging the segments with the right product, using worth for               challenges. Rural Asia Conference, BIMTECH, Delhi,
money pricing, selecting the most suitable channel of                       2005.
distribution structure long term relationships with the               13.   Neelamegham. Marketing in India, cases and Reading.
customers and finally, using the power of emotional brands.                 Vikas Publication House pvt. Ltd, 2004.
The rural market is not harmonized. The person sections of            14.   Prahalad CK. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.
this market are not too big, though the overall size is large.              Wharton School Publishing, 2004.
There are geographical, demographical, statistical and                15.   Ramakishen Y. Rural and Agriculture Marketing.
logistical differences. Positioning and realities regarding the             Mumbai: Jaico Publication, 2004.
possible of each of these marketplace segments be different           16.   Singh S. Rural Marketing Management. Vikas Publishing
and lie at the very core of forming the strategy for the rural              House pvt. Ltd, 2000.
markets. Numerous companies trying to arrive at out to rural          17.   Swamy TP. Gopal, Rural Marketing. Wheeler Publishing,
consumers are exploring substitute cost effectual channels.                 1998.
Every marketer/companies must realize that the rural                  18.   Velayudhan SK. Rural M Marketing: Targeting the non-
consumer is not a miser. He is not simply looking for the                   urban consumers. Sage publishing, 2000.
cheapest product in every category. Rural customer                    19.   Dr. Rajagopal-Development of Agricultural Marketing in
understands and demands value for money in every purchase                   India Published by Print well-Jaipur.
that he makes. Pricing therefore is a direct function of factors      20.   He ZH. Adjusting marketing strategy to open the rural
including cost-benefit advantage and opportunity cost. Price                consume market Journal of the Price and Market, 1996, 6.
sensitivity is extremely high and comparison with competitive         21.   http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dr._Gomathi_Viswanat
prices is common. It must be remembered that the rural                      han
consumer does not have a financial plan problem. He has a             22.   http://Indg.gov.in/rural-india/number-of-villages
cash flow problem. This is because the village folk receive           23.   http://www.hundubusinessonline.com
funds only twice a year. At these times, he is able of creation       24.   http://www.ibef.org/artdispview.aspx
high quantity purchases. At all period, however, the unit price       25.   http://www.ibef.org/economy/rural market.aspx
is dangerous plus so is the pack size. Because of this, in the        26.   http://www.indiainfoline.com
bend term when there is a cash flow crisis, marketers require         27.   http://www.mbauniverse.com/ruralmarket.php
to offer financial products, schemes or solutions that suit the       28.   http:/www.populationcomission.nic.in
wants of the rural population.
13. References
1. Ambekar Yadav JB. Communication and Rural
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    Delhi, 1992.
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3. Manohar Lal Jalan. Marketing of Agricultural inputs,
    Published by Himalaya Publishing House Delhi, 1988.
4. Philip kotlar. Marketing Management, 8th edition, 1992.
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