The concept of rural marketing in the Indian economy has played an influential role in the lives of people. The rural market in India is not a separate entity and is highly influenced by the sociological and behavioral factors operating in the country. Rural marketing determines the carrying out of commercial activities that bring the flow of goods from urban sectors to rural regions of the country, as well as marketing of various products manufactured by non-agricultural workers from rural to urban areas. The rural market in India is large, dispersed and offers many opportunities compared to the urban sector. It covers the maximum population and regions and, therefore, the maximum number of consumers. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The rural market has grown steadily in recent years and is now even larger than the urban market. About 70% of India's population lives in villages. More than 800 million people live in India's villages. "Go rural" is the new marketing slogan. Indian traders, as well as multinationals, such as Colgate-Palmolive, Godrej and Hindustan Lever, have focused on rural markets. Therefore, looking at the opportunities that rural markets offer to marketers, it can be said that the future is very promising for those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets and make the most of them. The research is based on primary and secondary methods data. to gather information from websites, other social media and reports from rural areas.. discover how rural marketing can help improve sales. “Rural marketing today is a two-way marketing process. There is an inflow of products into rural markets for production or consumption and there is also an outflow of products to urban areas.” Reference Group Characteristics of Rural Consumers Typically, in a rural area the reference groups are the primary health workers, doctors, teachers and panchayat members, the village trader or grocer, commonly called "Baniya" or “Mahajan”, have an important role in the decision making process of rural customers. A marketer must be aware of these influences that can influence changes in the consumption patterns of rural customers. Employment Consumption patterns differ depending on income levels. Typically, in a rural area the main occupation is agriculture, trade, crafts, plumbing, electrical, basic health workers and teachers. Agriculture and related activities continue to be the main occupation for most of the rural population. Land is the main source of income for approximately 77% of the population. Media Habits Rural people love music and folklore. In rural areas a popular form of entertainment is "Tamasha" and "Nautanki". And then there are television, radio and video films. Rural electrification The main objective is to provide electricity to agricultural activities and small industries in rural areas. Around 5 lakh villages (77%) have electricity supply and this has increased the demand for electricity supply and demand for electric motors, pumps and agricultural machinery. Other Variables Culture, language, religion, caste and social customs are other important variables to profile a rural customer. Rural consumers have many inhibitions and tend to be rigid in their behavior. A company must be very careful in targeting them. Currently, three out of four consumers in the country are in the rural market and half of the national income is generated there. Numerous business units have tried to take over the rural market invarious ways. There is no doubt that the rural market reveals opportunities and great attraction for marketers. But it's not as easy as it seems on the surface. It is not so easy to enter and succeed in this market easily. This market poses a number of challenges and hence, the marketer has to work hard to address these challenges tactfully. A company intending to enter and/or expand the rural market must seriously consider these issues. Strategies to Capture the Rural Market The past practices of treating rural markets as appendages of the urban market are incorrect, as rural markets have their own independent existence and if nurtured, could turn into a profit generator for marketers. But rural markets can be exploited by building them, rather than treating them as convenient extensions of the urban market. Marketing Strategy Marketers need to understand the psychology of rural consumers and then act accordingly. Rural marketing involves more comprehensive personal selling efforts than urban marketing. Companies should refrain from designing goods for urban markets and then pushing them into rural areas. To effectively tap the rural market, a brand must associate it with the same things that rural people do. This can be done by using various rural popular media to reach them in their own language and in large numbers so that the brand can be associated with the myriad of rituals, celebrations, festivals, 'melas' and other activities where they gather. Distribution strategy one of the ways could be using a company delivery van which can serve two purposes: it can bring the products to customers in every corner of the market and also allows the company to establish direct contact with them, thus facilitating sales promotion. The organized annual 'melas' are quite popular and provide a great platform for distribution as people visit them to make various purchases. According to the Indian Market Research Bureau, around 8,000 such melas are held in rural India every year. Rural markets have the practice of fixing specific days of the week as market days called 'Haats' on which exchange of goods and services is carried out. This is another potential low-cost distribution channel available to merchants. Furthermore, each region consisting of several villages is generally served by a satellite town called "Mandis" where people prefer to go to buy their durable goods. If marketers use these feeder cities, they will easily be able to cover a large portion of the rural population. Promotional Strategy Marketers must. be very careful while choosing the means to use for communication. Only 16% of the rural population has access to a vernacular newspaper, so audiovisuals must be designed to convey the right message to the rural population, puppet shows, etc., with which rural consumers are familiar and comfortable comfortable, they can be used for high-impact product campaigns. Radio is also a very popular source of information and entertainment, radio advertisements can also be a useful tool for marketers Strategies to Follow in Indian Rural Market o Decentralize rural markets by detaching them from urban bases. A two-way give-and-take approach should replace the current one-way exploitation. o Vendor in rural markets should be selected from unemployed and educated villagers, properly trained and appointed as vendor. Street vendors from cities to villages must bereplaced by permanent vendors in the villages. o Companies should also focus properly on educating villagers to save them from fake goods and services. Rural markets are lagging in acquiring new products. This will help companies gradually improve their marketing efforts. This will also help in selling stocks of obsolete products in urban markets. o In rural India, consumers are not brand loyal, but their purchasing patterns can be termed as “brand persistence”. Therefore, increased brand awareness and presence in markets will influence buyers. o It is important for any brand to test the campaign before and after its execution to understand and measure the consumption patterns of the audience. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get Custom Essay Rural market has untapped potential like rain, but it is different from urban market, so it requires different marketing strategies and marketers have to face challenges to succeed in rural market. A rural consumer seeks a good quality product at a reasonable price with some additional benefit in terms of quantity of price reduction.1. Large and dispersed market: A large and dispersed market is difficult to reach in both aspects: promotion and distribution. Rural India is spread across the entire county in around 6 lakh villages of different sizes while the urban population is concentrated in around 3200 cities. Most villages are extremely small with populations of less than 500 people. Only 1% (6,300) of villages have a population greater than 5,000. Choosing target markets and serving them effectively is a challenging task. Product design problem: Products sold successfully in urban markets may not necessarily be successful in rural markets due to the difference in the utility value of the products. The mentality of rural segments seems quite surprising and different. The existence of considerable heterogeneity among rural populations presents marketers with the challenge of incorporating their uneven expectations into products.3. Transportation Bottleneck: Transportation is the nerve center for any type of business. Most of the villages are not adequately connected to main roads. Every year during monsoon thousands of villages get disconnected for a longer period. Lack of adequate transportation hinders marketing activities. Agricultural products cannot be sent to marketing centers and industrial products cannot be supplied safely and on time to the rural population. In some areas, even road or railway construction is difficult to build and maintain.4. Seasonal and irregular demand: Rural demand is characterized as seasonal and irregular. Therefore, companies cannot focus on rural segments as it is difficult to plan. Similarly, demand depends on the income of rural customers, and the income is quite uncertain because they depend on agriculture, and agriculture depends on monsoon.5. Uncertain and unpredictable market: Market response is difficult to scale. They do not have stable, expected behavior. In such a situation, effective marketing strategies are meaningless. Rapid changes are difficult to incorporate and, therefore, there are more chances of suffering from it. The overwhelming response of the rural population to some products suffers a sudden decline. Market planning always remains challenging in rural segments.6. Low standards of living: Rural clients have low income, low purchasing power, low literacy rate and, therefore,.