The IUP Journal of Marketing Management

Understanding the Rural Markets and Exploring the Scope for Consumer Market Segmentation in Rural India

-- Omkumar Krishnan and Barada Panigrahi

A dominant theme emerging over the last few years in Indian marketing is rural marketing. The major aim of this paper is to understand the emerging rural markets in India and to comprehend the market segmentation. Rural marketing is based on the flow of products from the urban to the rural areas. The tangible distinction and interrelation between the urban and rural societies in India, and their economic and sociological dimensions make the understanding of rural markets exceedingly complex. Competition and customer bargaining power are increasing progressively due to the variations in consumer tastes, preferences and increase in their purchasing power. For satisfying the rural consumers, the marketer should first understand the consumers and their needs. It is the responsibility of the marketer to divide the entire heterogeneous market into some homogeneous segments for better customer service. This inevitably leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty. This article explores the various kinds of market segments in rural India in order to deliver the expected value in rural India, so as to have a competitive advantage.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Rural Communication: An Integrated Approach

-- Parthasarathy Ganguly and Sampada Kapse

Rural customers are aware that branded goods are of better quality. However, marketers must guard themselves against various fake and deceptive brands imitating the original brands. This can cause heavy damage to the brand image over and above the lost sales. Marketers must first consider rural marketing as an investment. Instead of expecting high returns in a short term, building brands through integrated communication should be focused on. Any communication to the rural market should use familiar and local idioms, lingo and dialect. It must be simple, direct and clear. A creative mix of the often-used communication tools and some novel ones, may be more effective than using only the regular ones. However, this creative mix has to be company-specific. For recruitment of salespersons, the locally educated youthfamiliar with the rural geography, culture, taboos, and local dialectsshould be considered.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Rural Consumer: An Opportunity beyond Saturated Markets

-- Anand Thakur and B S Hundal

Government policies and programs are favoring rural development with five-year plans contributing significantly to this area. Consequently, rural income is increasing, leading to welfare and prosperity of the rural masses. The average per capita household expenditure in India has now risen to Rs. 382, with Punjab leading at Rs. 614. Lifestyle changes, with an upgradation in the form of products used, are witnessed in the rural regions. Globalization of economy and decentralization of production of goods and services by MNCs have totally altered the prospects of the rural youth and their perception of `life-world'. Many FMCG and durables have reached the saturation point in the urban markets but have not yet been introduced in the rural markets. Rural markets in India are expanding at such a rapid pace that they have overtaken the growth rates in the urban markets. Urban markets are becoming increasingly complex, competitive and saturated. This has compelled the durable companies to project their future in the rural markets. This article highlights the viability of Indian rural marketsdurables and FMCGin the context of this changing marketing scenario.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Developing Relationship Marketing Strategies by Implementing CRM Technology in Industrial Markets

-- T V Raju and R K Gopal

This article describes the dimensions of relationship marketing and the manner in which it helps in implementing CRM in the organization. Individual account relationships are important in marketing, especially in industrial marketing, where successful relationship marketing can be extremely profitable. Many marketers will benefit from a thorough and explicit consideration of individual account relationships. Individual industrial marketing relationships can, but need not, last for extended periods. Understanding individual account relationships includes considering the lifetime value of the customerthe focus with which a customer makes commitment to a vendor; the interactions with the individual account; and the actual pattern of the relationship that follows over time.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Music Retailing in India: Exploring Customer Preferences

-- P Prasada Rao and Nakul Kanchan

With India opening up its economy to the world, there is a dramatic increase in the availability of products. Augmented with the growing ability of the Indian consumers to spend their disposable income, retailing in India is all set to converge with that of the rest of the world. The Indian consumer is now more conscious of international fashion. This will make the Indian retail sector the fastest growing sector in the future. Along with the growth of this sector, there is also an increase in consumers' preferences and choices. This study explores the key factors responsible for customer preferences for music retailing in India. The preferences identified in this study will help the retailers in designing their services and product mix, in accordance with those preferred by customers. The technique of factor analysis identifies five major factors: Product factor, service factor, promotional factor, convenience factor and luxury factor. Product, which is high on quality, variety and availability, is found to be the most preferred one by the customers. Hence, prudent merchandise and value-added features will make music retailing more attractive for investors.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Consumer Choice of Motorbike Attributes: An Application of Conjoint Analysis

-- Subhadip Roy

The Indian motorbike industry is in a very healthy state today. With foreign players like Honda operating independently, the market is becoming extremely competitive. This is an exploratory study which identifies the consumer choice patterns regarding the four attributes of a motorbike: Fuel efficiency, color, type of brakes and pick-up. The objective is to find out the consumer preference ordering of the four attributes mentioned. Conjoint Analysis was used to find out the different aspects of consumer choice regarding motorbikes. This study is based on a field survey conducted on 88 respondents in and around Hyderabad.

© 2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.

Integrated Marketing Communication: Need, Approaches, and Issues-A Research Perspective

-- Anand Agrawal and Preeti Agrawal

This article aims at presenting a bird's eye view on the needs, approaches and issues related to Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) with a research perspective. This can help the researchers to carry out the literature survey. This account traces the history of IMC and the different needs and models evolved, leading to the use of IMC as a prevalent marketing communication form. Some problems of integration are also discussed in the article.

©2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.