Understanding Rural Consumer

sunandaC

New member
Maharashtra is India's third largest state in area (about the size of Italy) and second largest in population, 9.4% of India. As per the 2001 census, Maharashtra has a population of 96,752,247 and it encompasses an area of 308,000 km² (119,000 mi²).

The Western Ghats better known as Sahyadri, are a hilly range running parallel to the coast and to the west of these hills lie the Konkani coastal plains and to the east of the Ghats lies the flat Deccan Plateau. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's west coast.

Maharashtra contributes 15% of the country's industrial output and 13.2% of its GDP in year 2005-06. However, regions within Maharashtra show wide disparity in development. Mumbai, Pune and western Maharashtra are the most advanced. These areas also dominate the politics and bureaucracy of the state. This has led to resentment among backward regions like Vidharbha, Marathwada, and Konkan.

Consumer Profile of Maharashtra


Definition of Consumer:

One that consumes, especially one that acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing. Consumer is one who purchases or leases goods or services for his or her own personal, family, household, or other nonbusiness use.

The Maharashtra Human Development Report attempts to assess and explain the status of human development in the State. Moving from the state to the district level, issues related to population, poverty, education, health, nutrition and gender have been analyzed.

While highlighting the State’s achievements, the report recommends interventions for sustainable human development. In particular, the report calls for better management of water resources, stabilization of income potential from agriculture operations, empowerment of women, compulsory elementary education for all children and improved healthcare.

1] INCOME:

• Income of the Maharashtrian rural consumer is very low as compared to his urban counterpart.

• The most of the income of the rural consumer is spent in meeting their basic needs, even if the income level has increased.

• Also, the rural customer’s earning is not like his urban counterpart where he earns his salary on a monthly basis the rural counterpart earns his income only after harvesting is complete which may be twice in a year.

• A major part of the income is spent in paying electricity bills.There is a scarcity of water in many regions of Maharashtra, they use motor or water pumps to sprinkle water in their fields &this costs them more.

• Due to all these expenses a very small part of income is left for buying consumer goods.

• Around 26% of GDP is created in rural areas but is shared by 74% of rural population. Hence per capita income is very low.

• The non-agricultural sectors play a major role, neutralizing the adverse implications of the poor performance of the primary sector.

• Incidence of rural poverty in the State, which was always above the national average, fell below it in 1999-2000. The incidence of poverty (rural urban combined) in Maharashtra was also lower than that for the nation, despite the fact that incidence in urban poverty was higher than that of the nation in 1999-2000.

2] LITERACY LEVELS:

• Literacy level is very low in rural Maharashtra.

• A large population of rural Maharashtra is 35 yrs and above. They have
very low literacy level or even ‘0’ literacy levels.

• Because of low literacy level many companies; particularly FMCG companies who are trying to capture rural markets are facing problems of advertising through print media and hoardings.

• Therefore, to educate them about the products FMCG major has come up with the idea of van market, where the vans of the particular company will go in rural areas and market and sell their products. Also in these type of rural areas ‘satellite distribution network’ is very effective. This idea has worked with HUL while launching Lifebuoy active green which came up with Shakti Pracharni, a health, and hygiene and wellness campaign for the rural community.

• Literacy rate more than doubled between 1961-2001 (moving from 35.08 in 1961 to 77.27 in 2001), with female literacy reaching the all time high of 68 per cent in 2001. Inter-regional disparities in literacy rates seem to be declining (the coefficient of variation moved from 32.61 in 1961 to 9.21 in 2001).

• Except in Gadchiroli district, there is no village in the State having a population of 200 without a primary school within a radius of 1.5 km.

• The ratio of teachers to students has remained stable.

• In the case of secondary schools, the increase in schools was well over 100 per cent during the years 1980-1990.

• According to the Maharashtra NSS 55th Round, more than 40 per cent of agricultural labourers even in the age group 15-29 remain non-literate.


3] LOCATION PATTERN OF RURAL CONSUMERS:

• Maharashtra’s urban population stands at 42.4% and rural population as 57.6%.

• Maharashtra is divided into thirty-five districts, Geographically, historically and according to political sentiments Maharashtra has five main regions: Vidarbha or Berar (Nagpur and Amravati divisions), Marathwada (Aurangabad Division), Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra (Nashik Division), Desh or Western Maharashtra (Pune Division), and Konkan (Konkan Division)

• Rural population is scattered over 6,38,365 villages. Out of 6,38,365 villages only 6300 villages have a population of more than 5000 persons each. About 55% of villages have population in the range of 500 or even less than 500.

• Due to this reason it will be profitable for any company to visit villages of population of more than 5000 or more.

• Under project ’Bharat’ HUL vans visited villages and sold small packs consisting of low unit price pack of each of its detergent, toothpaste, face cream, and talcum powder for Rs.15 each.

4] Occupation:

• Whenever we speak of Maharashtra we always say that the occupations of rural Maharashtra is agriculture. Almost 64.14% of the people are employed in agriculture and allied activities. Food crops include mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and pulses. Cash crops include groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, turmeric, and tobacco. The net irrigated area totals 33,500 square kilometres.

• Not only agriculture but also a large amount of people is engaged in handlooms, artisans, pottery, masons, animal husbandry etc.

• Also apart from this, a considerable amount of population is left unemployed. Also, the upcoming occupations of the rural customers are setting small business of making beedis or papads etc. through co-operatives. Larger amount of co-operatives are formed in rural Maharashtra. Also, they are engaged in sericulture, floriculture etc.

• Sugar industry has made substantial progress especially in the co-operative sector. Maharashtra is known for the development of sugar industry on co-operative lines in which the formers acquire a share in the sugar mills, Pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobiles, engineering, food processing, and plastics are some of the major industries of the state.

• Maharashtra is noted for the production of 3 wheels, jeeps, commercial vehicles and cars, synthetic fibers, and cold rolled products and industrial alcohol. Small-scale industries have also come up in a big way in the state.

5] Media Habits :

• Since, the Maharashtrian rural consumer are less educated they are not interested in electronic media, as they don’t even understand. They basically love music and folk.

• In Maharashtra, the popular folk dance called ‘Tamasha’ is a popular form of entertainment. But, in Maharashtra many times aggressive advertising is done when there are ‘jatras’ and ‘yatras’ ( fairs and pilgrimage respectively).‘Jatras’ or fairs are regularly being put up in rural India. ‘Yatras’ or pilgrimage are twice or thrice in a year.

• The most advertising, marketing and awareness of products are carried out during yatras in Maharashtra. The most popular yatra in Maharashtra is “Pandharichi Vaari” , which is in Pandharpur, a very holy place in rural and interior parts of Maharashtra. Advertising during these times can create a positive image about the product in rural customer minds.

• Also, rural customers are influenced by the great deeds of Shivaji
Maharaj and his great Bhosale family. Referring to Shivaji’s father Sambhaji there is a bidi brand referring to his name and has Sambhaji’s photo as his logo. This brand has a good market share.

6] Reference Groups:

• In Rural Maharashtra, customers are very cost conscious. They think many times before buying the product. Their reference groups mostly influence people, before making a decision of buying the products.

• Their reference groups are primarily health workers, doctors, teachers and the Panchayat-Samiti members, the officers and people working in local rural banks etc.

• The local Baniya or Mahajan also influences their buying decisions.

• A person who has returned from a city, as that person comparatively has more awareness about the products, being stayed in the city for a while, also influences the villager.

7] Sex Ratio:

• The sex ratio of the area should also be taken into consideration while marketing the product, as the ratio of males & females also determines the consumer base.

• In almost all parts of Maharashtra, the ratio of males is more than the ratio of females.

• Maharashtra has done fairly well – reducing the infant mortality rate (IMR) and raising life expectancy at birth. From 105 in 1971, the IMR declined to 48 per 1000 births in 1999 with a marginal differential between males and females.

• About 57 per cent of rural and 54 per cent of urban households consume less than the required standard calorie intake of 2,700 per day. Nutritional deficiencies are more evident in women and children below 3 years and among the tribal populations.

8] Attitude Of Consumer:

• In Maharashtra, people have different attitudes towards different products.

• The attitude towards products like soap or a talcum powder is flexible. They are willing to change from one brand to another, as these are less expensive brands & area of less value to them.

• The attitude towards electronic items like T.V., fans, mixer grinder, washing machine, etc will be rigid as these are high investment brands.

• Therefore, it’s important to study the behavioural patterns of a rural consumer, which makes it easier to launch a product.

9] Brand Awareness & Loyalty:

Before launching a new product in the rural segment it is important tocarry out a survey regarding how many brands of the same product are there in the market, what are their strengths and weaknesses and most importantly ‘ Is a rural customer aware of all those brands.’

• Maharashtrian rural customers have a patronizing attitude towards a product and even formidable barriers to protect themselves. It is not easy to introduce new products for them. They are big brand loyalists than their urban counterparts.


10] Social Customs:
• Rural people give a lot of value to their customs, traditions and their social status.

• The companies willing to advertise their products in rural areas will have to influence the customers by behaving in their traditional manner so that the customer can relate to them.

• Therefore the companies advertising their products in rural areas of Maharashtra always have people dressed up like traditional Maharashtrian in their ads to influence the rural folk.

• For example – In advertisements, women are shown wearing traditional Maharashtrian saris like the “Nav Vaari” (Nine Yards sari) and men are shown wearing “Dhoti, Sadra & Patka” (Dhoti, Kurta & Turban), their traditional dress.

11] Purchasing & Spending Habit:

• The Maharashtrian rural customer is very cost-conscious. He doesn’t buy a product very easily.

• Therefore the salesman selling goods to the rural customer will have to be very patient and make him understand everything about the product or service.

• Since, their purchasing power is low the rural customer will only look at the utility value and not the aesthetic value.

• The Salesman will have to patiently explain the utility value, after sales service etc about the product.

12] Language, Caste & Religious Norms:

• Maharashtrians take great pride in their language and history, particularly the Maratha Empire, its founder Shivaji is considered a folk hero across India.

• About 80% of Maharashtrians are Hindu, and there are significant Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.

• Marathi is the official state language. As per the 2001 census the Marathi-speaking population of Maharashtra numbers are 62,481,681. The Marathi language as is spoken in Pune is considered the defacto standard of spoken Marathi. In the northwest portion of Maharashtra, a dialect Ahirani is spoken by a minority. In south Konkan, a dialect of Konkani known as Malvani is spoken by most of the people. In the Desh region of the Deccan, a dialect called Deshi is spoken, while in Vidarbha, a dialect known as Varhadi is spoken by most of the people

• Each region has people of different castes and different religious norms. These factors will have to be taken into consideration whenever you advertise or sell your product, to cater to all.

13] Awareness About Financial Institutions:

• If we are launching a pesticide and fertilizers which is of high quality or agricultural machinery of high definition or tractors then a farmer has to search a financial institution for loan facility. If they are not aware of the financial institutions, then the company should educate the customers about that.

• Many institutions like SIDBI, NABARD, KVIC etc. do the needful. Also there are rural banks available. This will play a major role to stimulate the sales of high definition products.

• Commercial banks, the banking network spans all of Maharashtra and reaches even remote rural areas. As of June 1997, there were 5,982 branches of commercial banks operating in Maharashtra. This does not include branches of private banks and co-operative banking and thrift institutions.
14] Perception Of Rural Consumers:

Perceptions are an approximation of reality. It is an integral part of consumer behaviour, whereby an individual selects data or information and draws conclusion from it. The factors affecting perception are exposure and interpretation.

Example: In Maharashtra, during the process of drying grapes for raisins the grapes are put on large sheets of cloth and dried for days together. Due to the grapes exposure to sun and environments many times the dust particles are settled on it. To clean these raisins, they use washing powders like Surf, Nirma etc. They wash them and again dry. After they dry, it has a very good finish and shine on the raisins, which fetch them a good price.

Also for e.g.: Many farmers having bikes do not fill their bikes totally with petrol. Many of them mix kerosene which is used in stoves for cooking along with petrol, for e.g. if the tank has 2 liters of petrol then they mix 1 litre of kerosene along with it. Since kerosene is available at a cheaper rate on ration card while petrol is very expensive.

15.] Communication Facility/ Infrastructure Facility:

• While the importance of conceptualizing in the local languages (to capture the local spirit in the communication aimed at specified rural audiences) is known, what is very often overlooked is that a rural consumer is not in a hurry and you can take your time to communicate a message. The quickies beamed on television media, which very often go over his head, are not for him. In fact, commercials or short tele-films of two minutes or more do much better.

• Transport facilities are very poor in rural areas.

• Even though, India is the fourth largest railway network in the world, many parts of the rural Maharashtra remain outside the railway network.

• The most common mode of carrier is the animal cart, the cycle rickshaw etc.

• Almost many people have radio, T.V, telephone in their homes. Other communication facilities like posts, telegraphs are also available to them. Communication facility through Internet is yet to be established there.

• Although, in a few regions of Maharashtra, people don’t have post facilities. The postman doesn’t come and deliver the letters, the people have to go and check for their letters in the post office.


16.] Rural Savings:

• Maharashtrian rural customers always stress on saving the money. With the rise in the number of banks in commercial, public sector, private sector and co-operative banks, the saving habits of rural consumers have also increased.

• Today nearly 70% of rural consumers are saving some part of their income. Saving habits have also led to improving the spending habits of mediocre rural consumers.

• Rural customer base of many telecom companies is increasing these days as people are spending their money on high end products like cell phones. Ex. Of the two million BSNL mobile phone connections 50% are in the rural areas in general.

Another example of rural customer’s savings- LIC sold 55% of its policies in rural India.

17] High Degree Of Involvement:

• There is a high degree of involvement of the rural consumer, in the purchase of any product, more so of expensive consumer durables. A typical rural consumer keeps on checking the product’s contents. He takes an extensive care in looking into each and every aspect while buying the product, as it is a big expense or investment for him.

• For example, while buying a consumer durable product of bigger brands like LG, Onida etc, and the rural customer will always check the working of the product again & again. He may also enquire the price of the product in some other shop. He may also keep on inquiring about the nearby service centre in case of a breakdown.


18] Inter Personal Communications:

• Inter personal Communication skills accounts for 80% of the rural communication process in the village.

• It mainly means word of mouth publicity by users & sheer familiarity, influences rural folk in their purchase decisions.

• Self-help groups should also possess good communication skills and should have a value added strategy.

• Also, NGO’s should use local idioms to convey message in a meaningful context.

19] Consumer Class:

• A Marketer should be good at understanding the class of consumers.

• The affluent class is very small numerically. They can afford a conspicuous consumption of highest order but they do not form a demand base large enough for manufacturing, but with the exception of those people who deal with luxury goods. The farmers who own more than 150 acres of land fall in this category of affluent class.

• The middle class constitutes of about 40-45 % of consumers in Maharashtra. This figure is expanding. The farmers who own 50-150 acres of land fall in this segment.

• The lower class is very large. It is estimated that 50-55 % of the rural consumers fall in this category. Their purchasing power is very low. They grow crops like Jowar, Baajra etc. & earn their living.


From this Assignment we can conclude that Rural Marketing in Maharashtra State is now not a difficult aspect. The consumers in Maharashtra are now literate and are getting aware about the products entering in to the market.

As the Consumers are Aware about the brand and can choose or select the best thing for them, so all this points in the favour of the consumers should be kept in mind by the manufacturer.
Mostly the Maharashtrian crowd believes in the bond of belongingness hence, a strong bond should be built in the market through the medium of advertisements. From our survey we found that the maharashtrian consumer prefer cheaper rate and durable products than the higher rates.
 
Maharashtra is India's third largest state in area (about the size of Italy) and second largest in population, 9.4% of India. As per the 2001 census, Maharashtra has a population of 96,752,247 and it encompasses an area of 308,000 km² (119,000 mi²).

The Western Ghats better known as Sahyadri, are a hilly range running parallel to the coast and to the west of these hills lie the Konkani coastal plains and to the east of the Ghats lies the flat Deccan Plateau. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's west coast.

Maharashtra contributes 15% of the country's industrial output and 13.2% of its GDP in year 2005-06. However, regions within Maharashtra show wide disparity in development. Mumbai, Pune and western Maharashtra are the most advanced. These areas also dominate the politics and bureaucracy of the state. This has led to resentment among backward regions like Vidharbha, Marathwada, and Konkan.

Consumer Profile of Maharashtra


Definition of Consumer:

One that consumes, especially one that acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing. Consumer is one who purchases or leases goods or services for his or her own personal, family, household, or other nonbusiness use.

The Maharashtra Human Development Report attempts to assess and explain the status of human development in the State. Moving from the state to the district level, issues related to population, poverty, education, health, nutrition and gender have been analyzed.

While highlighting the State’s achievements, the report recommends interventions for sustainable human development. In particular, the report calls for better management of water resources, stabilization of income potential from agriculture operations, empowerment of women, compulsory elementary education for all children and improved healthcare.

1] INCOME:

• Income of the Maharashtrian rural consumer is very low as compared to his urban counterpart.

• The most of the income of the rural consumer is spent in meeting their basic needs, even if the income level has increased.

• Also, the rural customer’s earning is not like his urban counterpart where he earns his salary on a monthly basis the rural counterpart earns his income only after harvesting is complete which may be twice in a year.

• A major part of the income is spent in paying electricity bills.There is a scarcity of water in many regions of Maharashtra, they use motor or water pumps to sprinkle water in their fields &this costs them more.

• Due to all these expenses a very small part of income is left for buying consumer goods.

• Around 26% of GDP is created in rural areas but is shared by 74% of rural population. Hence per capita income is very low.

• The non-agricultural sectors play a major role, neutralizing the adverse implications of the poor performance of the primary sector.

• Incidence of rural poverty in the State, which was always above the national average, fell below it in 1999-2000. The incidence of poverty (rural urban combined) in Maharashtra was also lower than that for the nation, despite the fact that incidence in urban poverty was higher than that of the nation in 1999-2000.

2] LITERACY LEVELS:

• Literacy level is very low in rural Maharashtra.

• A large population of rural Maharashtra is 35 yrs and above. They have
very low literacy level or even ‘0’ literacy levels.

• Because of low literacy level many companies; particularly FMCG companies who are trying to capture rural markets are facing problems of advertising through print media and hoardings.

• Therefore, to educate them about the products FMCG major has come up with the idea of van market, where the vans of the particular company will go in rural areas and market and sell their products. Also in these type of rural areas ‘satellite distribution network’ is very effective. This idea has worked with HUL while launching Lifebuoy active green which came up with Shakti Pracharni, a health, and hygiene and wellness campaign for the rural community.

• Literacy rate more than doubled between 1961-2001 (moving from 35.08 in 1961 to 77.27 in 2001), with female literacy reaching the all time high of 68 per cent in 2001. Inter-regional disparities in literacy rates seem to be declining (the coefficient of variation moved from 32.61 in 1961 to 9.21 in 2001).

• Except in Gadchiroli district, there is no village in the State having a population of 200 without a primary school within a radius of 1.5 km.

• The ratio of teachers to students has remained stable.

• In the case of secondary schools, the increase in schools was well over 100 per cent during the years 1980-1990.

• According to the Maharashtra NSS 55th Round, more than 40 per cent of agricultural labourers even in the age group 15-29 remain non-literate.


3] LOCATION PATTERN OF RURAL CONSUMERS:

• Maharashtra’s urban population stands at 42.4% and rural population as 57.6%.

• Maharashtra is divided into thirty-five districts, Geographically, historically and according to political sentiments Maharashtra has five main regions: Vidarbha or Berar (Nagpur and Amravati divisions), Marathwada (Aurangabad Division), Khandesh and Northern Maharashtra (Nashik Division), Desh or Western Maharashtra (Pune Division), and Konkan (Konkan Division)

• Rural population is scattered over 6,38,365 villages. Out of 6,38,365 villages only 6300 villages have a population of more than 5000 persons each. About 55% of villages have population in the range of 500 or even less than 500.

• Due to this reason it will be profitable for any company to visit villages of population of more than 5000 or more.

• Under project ’Bharat’ HUL vans visited villages and sold small packs consisting of low unit price pack of each of its detergent, toothpaste, face cream, and talcum powder for Rs.15 each.

4] Occupation:

• Whenever we speak of Maharashtra we always say that the occupations of rural Maharashtra is agriculture. Almost 64.14% of the people are employed in agriculture and allied activities. Food crops include mangoes, grapes, bananas, oranges, wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, and pulses. Cash crops include groundnut, cotton, sugarcane, turmeric, and tobacco. The net irrigated area totals 33,500 square kilometres.

• Not only agriculture but also a large amount of people is engaged in handlooms, artisans, pottery, masons, animal husbandry etc.

• Also apart from this, a considerable amount of population is left unemployed. Also, the upcoming occupations of the rural customers are setting small business of making beedis or papads etc. through co-operatives. Larger amount of co-operatives are formed in rural Maharashtra. Also, they are engaged in sericulture, floriculture etc.

• Sugar industry has made substantial progress especially in the co-operative sector. Maharashtra is known for the development of sugar industry on co-operative lines in which the formers acquire a share in the sugar mills, Pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobiles, engineering, food processing, and plastics are some of the major industries of the state.

• Maharashtra is noted for the production of 3 wheels, jeeps, commercial vehicles and cars, synthetic fibers, and cold rolled products and industrial alcohol. Small-scale industries have also come up in a big way in the state.

5] Media Habits :

• Since, the Maharashtrian rural consumer are less educated they are not interested in electronic media, as they don’t even understand. They basically love music and folk.

• In Maharashtra, the popular folk dance called ‘Tamasha’ is a popular form of entertainment. But, in Maharashtra many times aggressive advertising is done when there are ‘jatras’ and ‘yatras’ ( fairs and pilgrimage respectively).‘Jatras’ or fairs are regularly being put up in rural India. ‘Yatras’ or pilgrimage are twice or thrice in a year.

• The most advertising, marketing and awareness of products are carried out during yatras in Maharashtra. The most popular yatra in Maharashtra is “Pandharichi Vaari” , which is in Pandharpur, a very holy place in rural and interior parts of Maharashtra. Advertising during these times can create a positive image about the product in rural customer minds.

• Also, rural customers are influenced by the great deeds of Shivaji
Maharaj and his great Bhosale family. Referring to Shivaji’s father Sambhaji there is a bidi brand referring to his name and has Sambhaji’s photo as his logo. This brand has a good market share.

6] Reference Groups:

• In Rural Maharashtra, customers are very cost conscious. They think many times before buying the product. Their reference groups mostly influence people, before making a decision of buying the products.

• Their reference groups are primarily health workers, doctors, teachers and the Panchayat-Samiti members, the officers and people working in local rural banks etc.

• The local Baniya or Mahajan also influences their buying decisions.

• A person who has returned from a city, as that person comparatively has more awareness about the products, being stayed in the city for a while, also influences the villager.

7] Sex Ratio:

• The sex ratio of the area should also be taken into consideration while marketing the product, as the ratio of males & females also determines the consumer base.

• In almost all parts of Maharashtra, the ratio of males is more than the ratio of females.

• Maharashtra has done fairly well – reducing the infant mortality rate (IMR) and raising life expectancy at birth. From 105 in 1971, the IMR declined to 48 per 1000 births in 1999 with a marginal differential between males and females.

• About 57 per cent of rural and 54 per cent of urban households consume less than the required standard calorie intake of 2,700 per day. Nutritional deficiencies are more evident in women and children below 3 years and among the tribal populations.

8] Attitude Of Consumer:

• In Maharashtra, people have different attitudes towards different products.

• The attitude towards products like soap or a talcum powder is flexible. They are willing to change from one brand to another, as these are less expensive brands & area of less value to them.

• The attitude towards electronic items like T.V., fans, mixer grinder, washing machine, etc will be rigid as these are high investment brands.

• Therefore, it’s important to study the behavioural patterns of a rural consumer, which makes it easier to launch a product.

9] Brand Awareness & Loyalty:

Before launching a new product in the rural segment it is important tocarry out a survey regarding how many brands of the same product are there in the market, what are their strengths and weaknesses and most importantly ‘ Is a rural customer aware of all those brands.’

• Maharashtrian rural customers have a patronizing attitude towards a product and even formidable barriers to protect themselves. It is not easy to introduce new products for them. They are big brand loyalists than their urban counterparts.


10] Social Customs:
• Rural people give a lot of value to their customs, traditions and their social status.

• The companies willing to advertise their products in rural areas will have to influence the customers by behaving in their traditional manner so that the customer can relate to them.

• Therefore the companies advertising their products in rural areas of Maharashtra always have people dressed up like traditional Maharashtrian in their ads to influence the rural folk.

• For example – In advertisements, women are shown wearing traditional Maharashtrian saris like the “Nav Vaari” (Nine Yards sari) and men are shown wearing “Dhoti, Sadra & Patka” (Dhoti, Kurta & Turban), their traditional dress.

11] Purchasing & Spending Habit:

• The Maharashtrian rural customer is very cost-conscious. He doesn’t buy a product very easily.

• Therefore the salesman selling goods to the rural customer will have to be very patient and make him understand everything about the product or service.

• Since, their purchasing power is low the rural customer will only look at the utility value and not the aesthetic value.

• The Salesman will have to patiently explain the utility value, after sales service etc about the product.

12] Language, Caste & Religious Norms:

• Maharashtrians take great pride in their language and history, particularly the Maratha Empire, its founder Shivaji is considered a folk hero across India.

• About 80% of Maharashtrians are Hindu, and there are significant Muslim, Christian and Buddhist minorities.

• Marathi is the official state language. As per the 2001 census the Marathi-speaking population of Maharashtra numbers are 62,481,681. The Marathi language as is spoken in Pune is considered the defacto standard of spoken Marathi. In the northwest portion of Maharashtra, a dialect Ahirani is spoken by a minority. In south Konkan, a dialect of Konkani known as Malvani is spoken by most of the people. In the Desh region of the Deccan, a dialect called Deshi is spoken, while in Vidarbha, a dialect known as Varhadi is spoken by most of the people

• Each region has people of different castes and different religious norms. These factors will have to be taken into consideration whenever you advertise or sell your product, to cater to all.

13] Awareness About Financial Institutions:

• If we are launching a pesticide and fertilizers which is of high quality or agricultural machinery of high definition or tractors then a farmer has to search a financial institution for loan facility. If they are not aware of the financial institutions, then the company should educate the customers about that.

• Many institutions like SIDBI, NABARD, KVIC etc. do the needful. Also there are rural banks available. This will play a major role to stimulate the sales of high definition products.

• Commercial banks, the banking network spans all of Maharashtra and reaches even remote rural areas. As of June 1997, there were 5,982 branches of commercial banks operating in Maharashtra. This does not include branches of private banks and co-operative banking and thrift institutions.
14] Perception Of Rural Consumers:

Perceptions are an approximation of reality. It is an integral part of consumer behaviour, whereby an individual selects data or information and draws conclusion from it. The factors affecting perception are exposure and interpretation.

Example: In Maharashtra, during the process of drying grapes for raisins the grapes are put on large sheets of cloth and dried for days together. Due to the grapes exposure to sun and environments many times the dust particles are settled on it. To clean these raisins, they use washing powders like Surf, Nirma etc. They wash them and again dry. After they dry, it has a very good finish and shine on the raisins, which fetch them a good price.

Also for e.g.: Many farmers having bikes do not fill their bikes totally with petrol. Many of them mix kerosene which is used in stoves for cooking along with petrol, for e.g. if the tank has 2 liters of petrol then they mix 1 litre of kerosene along with it. Since kerosene is available at a cheaper rate on ration card while petrol is very expensive.

15.] Communication Facility/ Infrastructure Facility:

• While the importance of conceptualizing in the local languages (to capture the local spirit in the communication aimed at specified rural audiences) is known, what is very often overlooked is that a rural consumer is not in a hurry and you can take your time to communicate a message. The quickies beamed on television media, which very often go over his head, are not for him. In fact, commercials or short tele-films of two minutes or more do much better.

• Transport facilities are very poor in rural areas.

• Even though, India is the fourth largest railway network in the world, many parts of the rural Maharashtra remain outside the railway network.

• The most common mode of carrier is the animal cart, the cycle rickshaw etc.

• Almost many people have radio, T.V, telephone in their homes. Other communication facilities like posts, telegraphs are also available to them. Communication facility through Internet is yet to be established there.

• Although, in a few regions of Maharashtra, people don’t have post facilities. The postman doesn’t come and deliver the letters, the people have to go and check for their letters in the post office.


16.] Rural Savings:

• Maharashtrian rural customers always stress on saving the money. With the rise in the number of banks in commercial, public sector, private sector and co-operative banks, the saving habits of rural consumers have also increased.

• Today nearly 70% of rural consumers are saving some part of their income. Saving habits have also led to improving the spending habits of mediocre rural consumers.

• Rural customer base of many telecom companies is increasing these days as people are spending their money on high end products like cell phones. Ex. Of the two million BSNL mobile phone connections 50% are in the rural areas in general.

Another example of rural customer’s savings- LIC sold 55% of its policies in rural India.

17] High Degree Of Involvement:

• There is a high degree of involvement of the rural consumer, in the purchase of any product, more so of expensive consumer durables. A typical rural consumer keeps on checking the product’s contents. He takes an extensive care in looking into each and every aspect while buying the product, as it is a big expense or investment for him.

• For example, while buying a consumer durable product of bigger brands like LG, Onida etc, and the rural customer will always check the working of the product again & again. He may also enquire the price of the product in some other shop. He may also keep on inquiring about the nearby service centre in case of a breakdown.


18] Inter Personal Communications:

• Inter personal Communication skills accounts for 80% of the rural communication process in the village.

• It mainly means word of mouth publicity by users & sheer familiarity, influences rural folk in their purchase decisions.

• Self-help groups should also possess good communication skills and should have a value added strategy.

• Also, NGO’s should use local idioms to convey message in a meaningful context.

19] Consumer Class:

• A Marketer should be good at understanding the class of consumers.

• The affluent class is very small numerically. They can afford a conspicuous consumption of highest order but they do not form a demand base large enough for manufacturing, but with the exception of those people who deal with luxury goods. The farmers who own more than 150 acres of land fall in this category of affluent class.

• The middle class constitutes of about 40-45 % of consumers in Maharashtra. This figure is expanding. The farmers who own 50-150 acres of land fall in this segment.

• The lower class is very large. It is estimated that 50-55 % of the rural consumers fall in this category. Their purchasing power is very low. They grow crops like Jowar, Baajra etc. & earn their living.


From this Assignment we can conclude that Rural Marketing in Maharashtra State is now not a difficult aspect. The consumers in Maharashtra are now literate and are getting aware about the products entering in to the market.

As the Consumers are Aware about the brand and can choose or select the best thing for them, so all this points in the favour of the consumers should be kept in mind by the manufacturer.
Mostly the Maharashtrian crowd believes in the bond of belongingness hence, a strong bond should be built in the market through the medium of advertisements. From our survey we found that the maharashtrian consumer prefer cheaper rate and durable products than the higher rates.

Hey sunanda, thanks for the information and it would really help many people. BTW, i have also got some document on the behaviour of cutomers in rural areas and would like to share it with you, so you should download my presentation and check it.
 

Attachments

  • Understanding Rural Consumer.pdf
    210.3 KB · Views: 0
Top