Sources of information and perception of rural consumer

1 Associate Professor in Management. RVS, Faculty of Management, Kumaran Kottam Campus, Kannampalayam. Coimbatore641 402. 2 Assistant Professor in Management, Sakthi Institute of Information and Management Studies NGM Campus Pollachi642 001. Abstract Marketing plays a pivotal role in the growth and development of a country. It significantly contributes to income generation and employment. Efficient marketing strategy enables the marketer to provide right product, to right person and at the right time. Indian rural market is much larger than that of the urban market in terms of population, number of households and by way of geographic dispersal. Increased income level among rural households, improved infrastructure and favorable government policies offer a huge potential for rural marketing. As a result, manufacturers from India as well as abroad have diversified their attention towards rural segment to tap the hitherto untapped potential. Four billion people worldwide live in rural areas while in India 74 per cent of the population reside in rural areas, spreading over 3.2 million sq. km. in about 6,38,365 villages. Rural India is characterized by half a dozen religions, 33 languages, 1,650 dialects, and diversity in castes, sub-castes, tribes, culture, and subculture. The strength of rural marketing lies in the „Four A s‟ approach namely Awareness, Availability, Affordability, and Acceptability of the consumers Marketers make continuous effort to understand the way rural consumer behaves and then devise a course of action to respond to the same. Most of the rural consumers possess mixer grinder, television and mobile phone. Hence the rural marketers have more scope to penetrate the market for other durables. Family members constitute as an important factor in purchase decisions. Rural consumers may not remain same in the changing market environment. Hence they have to be thoroughly studied to have better knowledge on rural marketing and work out appropriate marketing strategies for the success.