India is an emerging consumer market. And consumer sales promotions, also called deals, are the key promotional strategies employed by marketers for immediate product purchase. The first paper, “An Evaluation of Consumers’ Deal-Specific Response to Sales Promotions Based on Their Product Involvement”, by Surajit Ghosh Dastidar, examines whether deal-prone buyers in a given product category are also deal- prone buyers for other product categories. The study is carried out across two product categories which assures cross-product validation, i.e., consumer’s deal redemption intention, tested in the case of eight types of deals, using a sample of 410 respondents, and has been compared across a low involvement FMCG product, shampoo, and a high involvement durable product, apparel, to check whether consumers are consistent, or vary in their deal proneness across the two product categories. The findings of the study will help marketers to strategize the use of various deals effectively, specifically as per their product category.

The hospitality sector is an important component of the tourism industry. Hospitality industry includes hotels and restaurants. To succeed, hotels and restaurants must have a proper marketing strategy focusing on various customer segments. The second paper, “Profiling Customers in the Hospitality Sector: An Approach Towards Market Segmentation in Hotels and Restaurants in Assam”, by Sinmoy Goswami, Panchanan Barman and Suman Sarmah, reveals 29 parameters that have a significant impact on the guests’ overall service experience in hotels and 18 parameters in case of restaurants. Three customer segments were discovered in the hotel sector—convenience seekers, accessibility seekers and quality seekers. Three customer segments were discovered in restaurant category—sensible eaters, aesthetic seeking eaters and quality eatable seekers. The study helps in developing appropriate marketing strategies for each segment, thus guaranteeing uninterrupted profitability and survivability of hotels and restaurants.

Researchers in India as well as abroad have shown that a considerable price spread exists between the price paid by the consumer and the price received by the farmers for an equivalent quantity of farm produce. Agricultural products still reach the consumers by means of traditional marketing channels in most parts of India. The third and last paper, “Evaluation of Traditional Marketing Channels of Agricultural Produce: Paddy and Rice”, by Rinalini Pathak Kakati and Moitrayee Banerjee Chakraborty, focuses on evaluating the efficiencies of traditional marketing channels used by farmers for paddy/rice in Assam. The traditional marketing channels under study are—Channel 1: producer, local agent, wholesaler, and retailer; Channel 2: producer, small miller, wholesaler, and retailer; and Channel 3: producer, local agent, large mills, and wholesaler. The study shows that farmer’s share in the consumer rupee is the highest percentage (in this study 68%) of consumer’s price in Channel 2 because of the farmers’ taking more marketing initiative on their own. Modified Marketing Index and Shephard’s Index also show Channel 2 as the most profitable for the farmer.

Ambi Parameswaran, in the book, Nawabs, Nudes, Noodles: India Through 50 Years of Advertising, through personal experiences and storytelling, shares anecdotes of iconic and legendry names of the advertising world and memorable ads that created history. Rachna Sharma critically reviewing the book which is divided into four sections, namely, People, Products, Services and Ad Narratives claims that the book is a treasure trove for advertising professionals and simply anyone who is enamored with the advertising sector.

-- B Shafiulla
Consulting Editor