Consumer is the pivot around which the entire business revolves and consumers differ in how they make purchase decisions, owing to variables like type of family, income and occupation, status, etc., and the role the individual plays in the decision process. Therefore, understanding of consumer behavior, which leads to purchase, is very important.Rural marketing can be defined as a "process of delivering better standard of living and quality of life to the rural environment, taking into consideration the prevailing rural milieu. It encompasses social interactions between the rural and urban as well as within rural areas, which may be spontaneous or planned" (Rao, 1985, pp. 315-326).
Brannon and Anderson (1996) conducted a study to find whether the ease, acceptability and frequency of shopping away from hometown stores had increased concern for the survival of small, independent, locally owned businesses in rural towns. A study was conducted to determine the relative position of hometown merchants, as ompared to other shopping alternatives, in the minds of rural consumers. The survey was mailed to randomly selected residents in the six small Alabama towns selected to represent economic and geographic diversity.Subjects were asked to indicate how frequently they shopped at each shopping alternative, such as mass merchandisers, department stores, specialty stores, hometown merchants and non-store options like catalogs and television shopping. A scale ranging from `very frequently' (once a month or more) to `never' was developed to determine the consumer's shopping frequency. Subjects were also asked to rate shopping alternatives from `best' to `worst' on each key attribute, such as value of price, assortment/selection, quality, convenience, and service.
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