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RURAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

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Rural Marketing – Course Plan Details

Issues, Opportunities & Challenges

Rural Marketing Environment

The Rural Economic Scenario

Consumer Behaviour

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Consumer Behaviour

• Demographically homogenous groups behave quite differently

• Influences are caste, religion, undercurrents of power and politics

• Role of opinion leaders, influencers in reference groups much higher

• Factors are there but weightages change market to market.

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CULTURE SYSTEM– LEVELS OF INFLUENCE

MACRO

EXO

MESO

MICRO

CUSTOMS

SOCIAL NORMS

CULTURE

EXPERTS

PEER GROUP

FAMILY

NEIGHBOURS WORK

ATTITUDES,BEHAVIOUR,VALUES,IDEOLOGIES

POINT OF PURCHASE

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RURAL SECs – BEHAVIOUR/LIFESTYLES

SEC BEHAVIOUR, ASPIRATIONS & LIFESTYLE

R 1 Landlord Farmers, educated, exposed to urban environment, children in schools/colleges in nearby towns. Aspiring to match urban lifestyle. Technology adaptors, modern farming methods. Eager for additional income sources. Socially & Politically well connected. Own durables like Tractor, 2 wheeler, Colour TV, Music system, LPG, refrigerator, mixer grinders.

R 2 Rich farmers with about 5 acres land, may not be educated, but will educate children. Consults Friends/relatives in urban for technology. Status conscious, aspiring to be well known in social/political circles. Owns durables like tractor, 2 wheeler, colour TV and LPG.

R 3 Avg land 2-5 acres; manages small savings. Children in village school. Low risk taker – opts for time ested echnology. Owns durables like tractor (self & rental) and any TV.

R 4 Has little or no land, agric. Labour, living below poverty line. A major purchaser from the Public Distribution System

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Changing Behaviour

• Word of Mouth• Social Movements

– Anganwadi – grass roots agents for Child Development

– Self-Help Groups (SHGs) – get microfinance at low interest rates for starting income generaing activities/micro ents.

– Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS)– NGOs – working in agriculture, dairy, non-timber

forest produce, health, education, drinking water, sanitation etc.

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Roles and Status

• CASTE is a major definer of social status• Other individuals enjoying status :-

– Sarpanch– Medical Practitioners– Retired Military personnel– Priests

• Of late, a progressive farmer is respected

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Status Symbols

RURAL URBANSocial/Political status Educational Degree

Tractor(50 HP+)/Jeep/Car

Car

Large Pucca House withCourtyard

House locality

Children city edu./jobs Childrens’ school/college

Land Airconditioning

Telephone Club membership

Pilgrimage Holiday abroad

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Social Interaction

• More time with family/friends• Daily visits to homes• Women inetract with each other during daily

chores• Neighbour is extension of family and often part

of family decision making process. • Every new purchase is discussed with

neighbours/family, deliberated on, evaluated. This determines acceptability,repeat purchase and adoption by oher families

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Characteristics

AGE STAGE URBAN RURAL

< 12 Child Video games, chocolates, health drinks

Toys, Ice Candy, daliya

13 - 19 Teenager Cell Phones, motorcycles, internet

Bicycle, TV, Cinema

20 - 40 Young Car, PC, branded clothing, alcohol, stores/malls

Motorcycle, telephone, LPG, tailored and unbranded clothes, country liquor, haat

41 - 60 Middle Aged Luxury Car, Credit Cards, house, health insurance, holiday trips

Tractor, Kissan Credit Card, Postal savings, Mela

> 60 Old Clubs, theatres, parks Chaupal, playing cards, pilgrimage

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Lifestyles

Dimensions

Urban Rural

Demographics Convent educated, salary, small nuclear family, large dense population, apartments

Govt. School, self-employed, large family, scattered popn., ordinary spacious house

Activities Office jobs, internet surfing, health club, shopping, clubs, parties

Agriculture, physical sports, gossip, playing cards, cinema, religious meetings

Interests Chinese, continental foods, designer clothes, beauty saloons, holiday trips

“Desi” food, milk, bright coloured clothes, jewellery, visiting towns, markets/mela

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Rural Consumer Classification

Classn.

Description ’95-’96

’05-’07

The Affluent

Households owning personal car/jeep with other products

1.6 5.6

The Well-Off

HHs owning any/all of these : A/C, scooter/motorcycle, washing machine, fridge, colour TV etc. but no car/jeep

2.7 5.8

The Climbers

HHs owning any of these: moped/VCR/ mixer grinder, sewing machine, audio equipment, B/W TV, geyser etc but not those in 2 cats. above

8.3 22.4

The Aspirants

HHs owning any of these : bicycle, electric fan, electric iron etc but not those mentioned in 3 cats. above

26.0 44.6

The Destitutes

HHs other than those classified in Cats 1-4 above, but own any of : wrist watch, pressure cooker, transistor radio etc.

61.4 20.2

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DECISION PROCESS - DEWEY

PROBLEMIDENTIFICATION

SEARCH

ALTERNATIVEEVALUATION

CHOICE

POST PURCHASEEXPERIENCE

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Consumer Buying Process - Car and tractor

STAGE URBAN (CAR) RURAL (TRACTOR)

PROBLEM RECOGNITION

High Involvement; comfort, status, drive experience.

High involvement; productivity

INFORMATION SEARCH

TV, Internet, Newspaper Ads. Consult fellow owner; dealer

Fellow owner, dealer at nearby town.

ALTERNATIVE EVALUATION

Aware of tech specs; mostly test drives for own experience

Lot of to & fro involving progressive farmer. Live field demonstration crucial.

PURCHASE DECISION

Buyer decides. Family influences colour, looks. Drives home with family

Collective decision by buyer, adult son, mechanic, PVF. Drives home – no women involved

POST-PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR

Higher risk taking ability, and therefore higher post purchase satisfaction/dissonance

Lower risk taking, therefore lower expectations, therefore lower dissonance

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Role of Rural Women

• TILL FEW DECADES AGO :– – Ghunghat or purdah.– Rarely left home (except fairs/festivals) &

accompanied by males.– Few girls sent to school– No involvement in family decisions

• NOW :-– More educated, aware & hence more empowered– Growing presence of media improves influence– Step out of home alone for education, health

services, social services, functions, festivals.– Involvement in family buying decisions on the

increase

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Buying Roles

• INITIATOR – One who suggests the idea of buying

• INFLUENCER – One whose views influence the decision

• DECIDER – One who decides to buy or not

• BUYER – One who makes the actual purchase

• USER – One who ultimately uses/consumes the product

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Buying Roles

BUYING ROLE

URBAN ENTITY RURAL ENTITY

INITIATOR YOUNG MAN – Feels need of commuting to college/office and initiates process

SON (Mostly) FATHER (sometimes) Son studying in nearby town; father needing mobility.

INFLUENCER FRIENDS/COLLEAGUES – Evaluates models on TV, asks friends/colleagues who influence

FRIENDS, URBAN RELATIVES – Asks friends and esp urban relatives who have sizable influence

DECIDER YOUNG MAN – Sometimes he pays, sometimes father does. But he arranges financing

FATHER – because he pays

BUYER YOUNG MAN – who goes to dealer (sometimes with friends) and makes the purchase

SON, RELATIVES, FRIENDS – who accompany him and make it into an occasion

USER YOUNG MAN SON AND FATHER – but mostly son where bought for him. In Joint families others too

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Opinion Leadership

• Opinion leader is one whose word, acts and/or behaviour informally influence the action and/or attitude of others

• Opinion leadership comes from social status, power or success in public life

• Key opinion leaders are :-– Gram Pradhan/Sarpanch– Schoolteachers– Retired Forces personnel– Young villager returning after city education

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Place of Purchase - Durables

PRODUCT TYPE URBAN RURALCrockery, gas stoves, pressure cookers

Crockery shops Haats, Melas, nearby town shop

Electronics eg. Transistor, 2-in-1, walkman, CD/DVD player

Consumer Electronics shops in commercial areas

Consumer Electronics shops in nearby towns

Electrical HH items eg. Fans, light fittings

Electrical shops Electrical/Electronic shops in nearby towns

Bicycles Company specific shops or combined dealer shops

Bicycle/spare parts shops in nearby town.

Mopeds Company authorised dealer

Company authorised dealer in nearby towns.

Motorcycles/Car/MUV Company authorised dealer

Company authorised dealer in nearby towns.

Tractors Not used Company authorised dealer in nearby town

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Place of Purchase – Non-Durables

PRODUCT TYPE URBAN RURALToiletries. Personal care, beverages & snacks

General Merchant, Grocer, Kirana Shop

All in one stores at village

Liquor Liquor shops, Bootleggers

Desi/IMFL shops in nearby town/country liquor bars/village bhatti

Clothings Apparel shops – company stores or mixed stock shops

Ordinary wear – haats Special wear – nearby town shops

Footwear Footwear shops – company stores or mixed shops

Chappals – haatsShoes – nearby town shops

Cereal, pulses & edibles

Grocery shops All in one stores

Vegetables Shops, subzimandis or thelas. Also weekly mkts.

Haats/village shops

Meat/Chicken/Fish Meat/fish shops Haats

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Place of Purchase – Non-Durables

PRODUCT TYPE URBAN RURALLPG Home Delivery,

informal purchasesCollection from nearby towns

Stationery items Stationery shops All in one stores

Gift Items Gift shops Melas, nearby towns

Medicines (OTC) Pharmacies, selected general stores (medicines not needing drug licence)

All in one stores

Medicines (Prescribed) Pharmacies Nearby town pharmacy

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Place of Purchase – Services

PRODUCT TYPE URBAN RURALMedical services Hospitals, Clinics,

Nursing HomesVillage RMP, PHC sub centre, CHCs

Banking Services Scheduled Banks Rural , Scheduled or Coop banks

Schools, tuitions Schools , coaching centres

Village schools, private tutors in village

Watching movies Homes, stand alone theatres, mutiplexes

Theatres in nearby town, video parlours

Transport Services Transport Depots Bus through village, Hitching, Depot in nearby town

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The Adoption ProfilesCONSUMER TYPE URBAN RURALiNNOVATOR Young, affluent, public

school educated, in business, credit card holder, party goer and fun loving

Young, progressive farmer, urban exposure, kissan credit card, additional income

EARLY ADOPTER Young, educated, affluent, employed in MNC/leading Indian Co, exposed to media and credit card holder

Rich farmer, high disposable income, urban exposure, conscious evaluator, kissan credit card.

EARLY MAJORITY Young, educated, married, disposable income, self employed/in service

Mediocre farmer, member of coop., ready for KCC and willing to look at technology

LATE MAJORITY Middle aged, self employed/in service. Looks for consumer schemes

Member of coop society, hesitates to take agri loan, adopts time tested technology/product after approval of opinion leader

LAGGARD Middle Aged/older. In service and shops mainly in neighbourhood stores.

Marginal farmer using traditional forms of cultivation. Low wage earner and lazy.

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Brand Loyalty vs Brand Stickiness

• In Rural India the propensity to change brands is very low

• Often marketeers think this is Brand Loyalty

• But the reason is not “undying love” for the brand but a fear that the replacement may be worse.

• The reasons for stickiness is the lower risk taking attitude so “a known devil is better than an unknown devil”.

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Examples of Rural Consumer Behaviour• When Asian Paints launched Tractor Enamel Paint, they first decorated the horns

of the cattle – Why ?• Henko detergent failed in Maharashtra because of the name “Henko” . Why ?• Dabur’s Herbal toothpowder containing Tulsi (which is good as a herb) failed.

Why ? • Mahindra with it’s MaXX model offered metallic colours, aluminium footstep and

an elegant spare wheel cover for rural market. Why ?• In Rural West U.P., we have seen strong sales of MP3 players among the

farmers, esp cheaper Chinese models. Why ?• At the Allahabad Kumbh mela, shops located after the “dupki” and “darshan”

areas had to pay 30% higher rentals than those located before the areas. Why ?• Dabur traditionally paints walls on the way to the village temple and/or mosque.

Why ?• In part of U.P. there is a popular brand of gripe water called “daee ji ki 112 saal

purani ghutti”. What’s special ?• A young rural person near Karnal saw an ad for Liberty shoes on T.V. When he

was at a Haat, there was a retailer selling the brand. But he did not buy it, preferring to go to the company outlet near Chakravarty lake. Why ?

• To cater to the large population of lower caste consumers, a “Harijan” brand beedi was launched in Bihar. No one wanted to touch it. Why ?

• In some parts of rural India there is a belief that after washing hair, they should not be left loose because:

– It gives an opportunity for evil spirits to enter– Loose hair reflects loose character

• If you were a shampoo marketeer, how would you handle the communication ?

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Examples of Rural Consumer Behaviour

•In a small village retail outlet the retailer displayed only local brands. Only when a cash paying consumer came and asked for an HLL brand by name, the retailer pulled it out of a drawer and gave it. What does this behaviour show ?

• Cadbury’s has launched ChocoBix, a chocolate flavoured biscuit in rural markets. What do they believe rural mother’s are thinking •A North Indian tractor manufacturer went to South. He featured a Sikh sitting on a tractor as a symbol of “agricultural success”. But the communication was seen as irrelevant. Why ?

• A guest visited a Marwari household. As he was having his lunch with them (rice, daal and aalu ki sabzi) he asked for a Papad. The host was scandalised. Why ?

• Rajdoot motorcycles used Dharmendra in a commercial (Cinema/TV/video parlours) saying “Jaandaar logon ki shandaar sawari ? Did it work ? Why ?

• Although black is not a “lively” colour, the black colour of Chik shampoo was loved. Why ?