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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BRAND AWARENESS AMONG RURAL AND URBAN

CONSUMERS OF LATUR DISTRICT

Article  in  International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research Review · July 2017

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ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ____________ISSN 2231-5780
Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BRAND AWARENESS AMONG RURAL

AND URBAN CONSUMERS OF LATUR DISTRICT
PRAMOD HANMANTRAO PATIL

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
BE( MECHANICAL), MBA ( MARKETING), PGDDM, PHD ( MARKETING)
SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
SWAMI RAMANAD TEERTH MARATHWADA UNIVERSITY , NANDED
LATUR ( MAHARASHTRA)

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, SRTMUN SUB-CENTRE , PETH, AUSA ROAD, LATUR - 413531

ABSTRACT :
Today, the world is flooded with brands in every product category and these brands are fighting
for creating a niche place in consumer‟s mind. Awareness of brand is a prerequisite for this. The
brand with high awareness level has high probability of getting preferred over other competitive
brands. FMCG brands are commonly available in both rural and urban markets. Some FMCG
brands were successful in building high brand awareness among both rural and urban consumers‟
where as others could not. This paper is an attempt to measure brand awareness of rural and
urban consumers for selected FMCG brands.
KEYWORDS: Brand awareness, rural, urban, FMCG.

INTRODUCTION :
Awareness of the name act as an anchor to which everything else about the brand is linked, much
like the name of a person acting as an anchor for tying all associations about himi. Thus „Brand
Awareness‟ is the primary dimension of brand equity and is vital for the purpose of brand
building. Brand equity is initially built by laying a foundation of brand awareness - eventually
forming positive brand images - and is ultimately maximized by high levels of brand loyalty.
Brand awareness remains fundamental to consumer‟s life as the interaction initiation point to the
brands. Customers prefer brands with which they are familiar because they are comfortable with
what is known, and confident of its quality. A familiar brand gives the customer a feeling of
confidence (risk reduction), and hence it is more likely to be both considered and chosen ii. Also
if one has to choose from a number of options, the awareness about a brand will result in that
brand being the first choice. An unknown brand is not likely to have a chance iii. Finally,
choosing a known brand gives the customer a justification for the decision, an explanation for his
or her actions. This justification also serves a social role, indicating that the person has bought
something of value, satisfying self actualization needs. In some cases, brand awareness alone is
sufficient to result in more favorable response, for example, in low involvement decision settings
in which consumers lack motivation or ability and are willing to base their choices merely on
familiar brandsiv. Brand awareness as one of the fundamental dimensions of brand equity is often
considered to be a prerequisite of consumers‟ buying decision, as it represents the main factor for
including a brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness can also influence consumers‟

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
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perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with
the brand and its characteristics. Awareness essentially means that customers know about the
existence of the brand, and also recall what categories the brand is in. How often and how easily
the brand is evoked under various situations or circumstances. To what extent is the brand top -
of - the mind and easily recalled or recognized.
Brand awareness is affected by demographic factors such as age, education, locality (rural &
urban) etc.v Though the changing environment is reducing gap between Indian rural an urban
consumers ,still a noticeable difference exists between socio-economic and cultural environment
of both regions resulting in change in rural and urban consumers‟ behaviorvi. It may result in
difference in rural and urban consumer‟s brand awareness also. Here the researcher has
measured and compared brand awareness of rural &urban consumers for selected FMCG brands.

OBJECTIVES
 To study the concept of brand awareness
 To measure and compare brand awareness of rural and urban consumers of Latur district

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study of brand awareness among rural and urban consumer is with respect to selected Fast
moving consumer goods (FMCG). Sixteen FMCG brands were selected from eight different
categories. A pilot study was conducted for the selection of brands; those brands which are easily
available in both rural and urban retail shops were selected. Both exploratory and descriptive
research design was used. The study was conducted in Latur district. Multi stage sampling
technique was used for selection of sampling units i.e. rural urban consumers of Latur district. In
first-stage, Latur district was divided into 10 clusters i.e. talukas such as Latur, Udgir, Ausa,
Nilanga, Renapur, Chakur, Devani, Shirur anantpal, Jalkot and Ahmadpur. For selecting a
sample from urban part, systematic sampling method was used. The mall intercepts survey
method was used for this. Also, surveys were conducted at the public places. For selection of
villages (Village with population less than 5,000 and at least 4 km away from city), simple
random sampling method was used. Respondents were selected by systematic random sampling
method at the retail outlet and public places. Interviews were conducted at different timings i.e.
morning, afternoon and evening in order to survey different strata of the population. The sample
size was 938 and calculated using statistical formula. Questionnaire was used as Research
Instrument, and it was designed on the basis of literature findings. For getting perfection in data
analysis close-ended questions were asked to respondents. The questionnaire was designed by
considering the profile of respondents, especially rural consumers. Balanced approach was
adopted by using different types of questions and scales like dichotomous questions, multiple
choice questions, Likert scale and semantic differential scale. Nominal, Ordinal and Interval
scales were used in the questionnaire.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
According to Keller, brand awareness is related to the strength of brand node or trace in memory,
which we can measure as the consumer‟s ability to identify brand under different conditions vii.
Rossiter and Percy (1987) defined brand awareness as the consumer‟s ability to identify or

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
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recognize the brandviii. Rajan Saxena described Brand awareness as the ability of potential buyer
to recognize or recall that a brand is part of product categoryix.
According to Ming, Ismail & Rasiah, brand awareness contributed to brand equity creation in
four main ways. Firstly, it created a brand node in the consumer‟s memory. Secondly, it provided
a sense of brand popularity in the consumer‟s mind. Thirdly, it acted as a signal of trust in the
brand. Lastly, it gave enough reasons for the consumer to consider the brand in his consideration
set x .
Aaker (1991) describes brand equity as a set of fundamental dimensions grouped into a complex
System comprising mainly: brand awareness, brand perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand
associations. Brand awareness is not only prerequisite for brand equity but also influences
perception and attitude which act as a driver for brand loyalty. It is the ability of a potential
buyer to recognize or recall that a brand in a member of a certain product category. It is a link
between product class and brand .It involves a continuum ranging from an uncertain feeling that
a brand is recognized, to a belief that it is the only one in the product class. Brand awareness can
be achieved by adding a slogan or jingle, be different and memorable, giving exposure to
symbol, publicity, event sponsorship, brand extension and attractive packaging.
Kotler suggested nine ways for creating brand awareness and brand preference such as creative
advertising, event sponsorship, customer club, factory visits, own retail outlets, social activities,
support public services, be value leader and develop spoke person or symbolxi.
Farquhar (1989) considers that building a strong brand within consumers‟ minds means creating
a positive brand evaluation, an accessible brand attitude, and a consistent brand image. The base
for all these is nothing brand awarenessxii.
Awareness can be assessed at several levels such as recognition, recall, top of mind, brand
dominance (the only brand recalled), or, even more, brand knowledge (what the brand stands for
is very well known by consumers) (Aaker,1996).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

According to YLR Moorthi , Brand knowledge can be expressed as a sum of brand awareness
and brand image. Each of the parameters (i.e. brand recall/strength of brand
associations/attitudes/user image) can be measured on 1 to 10 scalesxiii. In this study brand recall
was given highest point as 10, brand recognition as 6 and unawareness as 2 points for the
calculation of brand awareness. Aided questions were asked on the basis of positioning aspect
(for Lux brand),color of the product (Santoor),color and content (Wheel, Rin, Nirma), Packaging
( Parle, Fair& lovely ) and advertising (Tata tea).Following flowchart shows the method adopted
for calculating brand awareness:

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

Flowchart of Brand awareness calculation

START

Do Consumer
Recall Brand

Give Ten points

Do Consumer
Recognize Brand

Give Six points

Give Two points

END

Top of the mind brands in the respective product category were same for both rural and urban
region. Top of the mind brands (on the basis of modal value) were Santoor in toilet soap
category, Wheel in detergent soap category, Nirma in detergent powder category, Parachute in
hair oil category, Fair& lovely in fairness cream category ,Colgate in tooth paste category ,Parle-
G in biscuit category and Tata in tea category.

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

Table no.1 Brand recognition (Aided recall) among Rural and Urban Consumers
S Brands Question Number of Persons
N Rural Urban
1 Lux Which Toilet soap is used by actresses and it is 246 (60.14%) 233 (77.15%)
beauty soap?
2 Santoor Which Toilet soap is orange colored and having 156 (76.09%) 234 (85.71%)
sandal content?
3 Wheel Which detergent flake is green colored, lemon 126 (83.44%) 200 (87.71%)
flavored and economical?
4 Rin Which detergent flake is blue colored and gives 265 (67.43%) 135 (52.32%)
brightness?
5 Nirma Which detergent powder is yellow colored and 250 (90.25%) 245 (94.23%)
having girl picture on it?
6 Wheel Which detergent powder is green colored, having 233 (65.08%) 272 (80.71%)
powder lemon content and economical?
7 Parachute Which coconut oil is with blue packaging and 83 (81.37%) 88 (66.66%)
coconut tree picture on it ?
8 Navratna Which hair oil is red colored, sainted and cool? 336 (69.85%) 323 (85%)
9 Fair & Which Fairness cream is with pink packaging and 78 (54.54%) 70 (59.82%)
Lovely girl picture on it ?
10 Fair & Which Fairness cream is with white packaging and 232 (48.73%) 267 (64.8%)
Handsome boy picture on it ?
11 Colgate Which tooth paste is white colored and having red 85 (57.43%) 85 (70.24%)
and white packaging?
12 Close up Which tooth paste is colored, fresh and gel based? 219 (47.71%) 266 (68.38%)
13 Parle-G Which biscuit packaging has child picture on it ? 98 (84.48%) 108 (73.46%)
14 Good day Which biscuit has cashew in it? 308 (70.48%) 264 (72.32%)
15 Brooke Which tea powder has red colored packaging and cup 135 (30.61%) 107 (32.22%)
Bond picture on it?
16 Tata Which tea powder has “ Jagore jagore” campaign ? 131 (38.98%) 228 (69.51%)
Total 503 (100%) 435(100%)
(Source: Primary Data)
In the rural area, aided brand recall was high (more than 80% respondents) for Nirma (90.57 %) ,
Parle (89.09 %), Fair & Lovely (88.63 %), Parachute (83.83 %) and wheel Soap (82.89 %);
Whereas it was low ( less than 50% ) for Brooke Bond (31.25 %), Tata (36.77 %) and Close up
(48.55 %). Aided recall in the rural area was maximum for brands where hints were based on
product color ( Nirma& wheel soap) and packaging as Parle, Fair & Lovely and Parachute.
In urban area, aided recall was high (more than 80%) for Nirma (94.59 %), Wheel soap (88.1%),
Santoor (86.02%), Navratna (84.77 %) and Wheel powder (81.19 %); Whereas it was low (less
than 50%) for Brooke Bond (32.06 %). Aided brand recognition was more in urban area than

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

rural area; this may be because of higher literacy level. The aided brand recall for Brooke Bond
was low in both rural and urban areas because of similar type of packaging (red color) used by
different manufacturers.
In the rural area maximum respondents were unable to recognize Brooke Bond (68.75%), Tata
(63.23%) and Close up (51.45%) brands. The brand recognition was low for Brooke Bond
because of similar packaging and me-too products. It was low for Tata tea, as the question was
based on advertisement. In Urban area, maximum consumers were unable to recognize the
Brooke Bond brand (67.94%). Thus; we can conclude that aided brand recognition was more
when questions are based on color of product or packaging particularly in rural areas.
Table no.2 Average Brand awareness brands among Rural and Urban Consumers
SN FMCG brand Average awareness
Rural Urban
1 Lux 5.5069 6.57
2 Santoor 7.996 7.131
3 Wheel 8.56 7.673
4 Rin 5.801 6.404
5 Nirma 7.574 7.471
6 Wheel powder 6.227 6.312
7 Parachute 9.077 8.354
8 Navratna 4.99 5.954
9 Fair & Lovely 8.393 8.501
10 Fair & Handsome 4.282 4.878
11 Colgate 8.178 8.574
12 Close up 4.497 5.291
13 Parle 8.974 8.298
14 Good day 5.499 5.696
15 Brooke Bond 4.02 4.804
16 Tata 5.681 6.1103
Average brand awareness of consumer 6.578 6.751
(Source: Primary Data)
The average Brand awareness in Rural area was high ( ≥ 8) for brands like Parachute, Parle,
Wheel Soap, Fair &Lovely and Colgate. It was medium (more than or equal to 4 but less than 8 )
for rest of the brands like Santoor, Nirma, Wheel powder, Rin, Tata, Lux, Navratna, Good day,
Close up, Fair & Handsome and Brooke Bond. The average brand awareness in urban area was
high for brands like Colgate, Fair & Lovely, Parachute and Parle. It was medium for rest of the
brands. Since the brands used for this study were FMCG brands which are low priced, easily
available, frequently consumed and highly advertised, brand awareness in both regions was
either medium or high. The difference in average brand awareness among Urban and Rural
consumer was more for brands like Lux (1.06), Navratna (0.96), wheel soap (0.88) and Santoor
(0.86) whereas it was less for brands like Wheel powder (0.08), Nirma (0.103) and Fair &
Lovely (0.108).

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ZENITH International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ____________ISSN 2231-5780
Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

TESTING OF HYPOTHESES
(A) Independent Sample t test for Average Brand Awareness

H0 There is no significant difference between Rural and Urban consumer regarding

Brand awareness.

H1 There is significant difference between Rural and Urban consumer Brand awareness.

Table 3 Group statistics of Average Brand awareness

Rural (N= 503) Urban (N= 435) t value Significance Result

Mean Std. Mean Std. value
Dev. Dev. (2- tailed)
Average
Significant
Brand 6.578 0.8148 6.753 0.711 - 3.481 0.001
difference
awareness
Since significance value of 2 tailed test is 0.001which is less than 5% i.e. 0.05, we reject Null
hypothesis. Thus, there is significant difference between Rural and Urban consumer regarding
average brand awareness (With respect to selected FMCG brands.)

(B) Independent Sample t-test for Individual brand awareness

H0 There is no significant difference between Rural and Urban consumer regarding

Brand awareness.

H1 There is significant difference between Rural and Urban consumer regarding Brand
awareness.

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

Table No. 4 Independent Sample t- test for selected FMCG brands

S Brand Rural Urban t Signifi Null Result

N (N= 503) (N= 435) value cance hypothes
Mea Std. Mea Std. value is
n Dev. n Dev. (2- Accepted
tailed) /
Rejected
1 Lux 5.50 2.82 6.57 2.66 -5.897 0 .000 Rejected Significant difference
2 Santoor 7.99 2.65 7.13 2.49 5.117 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
3 Wheel 8.56 2.34 7.67 2.44 5.672 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
4 Rin 5.80 2.79 6.40 3.33 -3.013 0.003 Rejected Significant difference
5 Nirma 7.57 2.36 7.47 2.19 0.688 0.491 Rejected Significant difference
6 Wheel No Significant
6.22 2.93 6.31 2.43 -0.481 0.631 Accepted
powder difference
7 Parachute 9 1.98 8.35 2.69 4.72 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
8 Navratna 4.99 2.07 5.95 2.02 -7.181 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
9 Fair & No Significant
8.39 2.80 8.50 2.68 -0.597 0.551 Accepted
Lovely difference
10
Fair &
4.28 2.39 4.87 2.23 -3.922 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
Handsome
11 Colgate 8.17 2.91 8.57 2.50 -2.213 0.027 Rejected Significant difference
12 Close up 4.49 2.62 5.3 2.39 -4.819 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
13 Parle 8.97 2.03 8.29 2.60 4.45 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
14 Good day 5.5 2.44 5.69 2.50 -1.22 0.223 Rejected Significant difference
15 Brooke
4.02 2.79 4.8 3.26 -3.923 0.000 Rejected Significant difference
Bond
16 Tata 5.68 3.42 6.11 2.76 -2.08 0.037 Rejected Significant difference
df = (n1+n2)-2 = 938-2 = 936

Table no. 4 shows that there is significant difference in brand awareness among rural and urban
consumers for brands such as Lux, Santoor, Wheel Soap, Rin Soap, Nirma powder, Colgate
toothpaste, Close up tooth paste, Parachute hair oil, Navratna hair oil, Fair & Handsome, Parle
biscuit, Good day biscuit, Brooke Bond and Tata tea. Whereas there is no significant difference
in brand awareness among rural and urban consumers for Fair & Lovely and Wheel powder.

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Vol.7 (7), JULY (2017), pp. 16-24
Online available at zenithresearch.org.in

CONCLUSION:
A significant difference between rural and urban consumers‟ average brand awareness was
observed for sixteen FMCG brands .Also, the difference was observed in individual brand
awareness for almost all FMCG brands except Wheel powder and Fair& lovely. There is no
difference in “Top of the Mind brands” among rural and urban consumers. The aided brand
recognition is more when questions were based on color of product or packaging particularly in
rural areas

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