Asia Pacific Institute of Management

Project on Rural Marketing

For Relaxo footwear’s Hawaii

Rural India…..Now like never before

Aditya Jain
Relaxo footwear ltd, 3rd
floor Allied house, Inderlok
chowk, New Delhi - 110035
 Table of contents

Topic Page

Acknowledgement 3

Synopsis 4-5

Literature Review 6 – 38

Relaxo’s company profile 39 – 58

Objective and Methodology 59 – 61

Results and Findings 62 – 68

Analysis 69 – 70

Conclusion 71 – 72

Recommendation and Suggestions 73 – 74

Learning experience 75

Bibliography 76 - 77

Appendix 78 – 80

Acknowledgement

2
The Project is an attempt to study Rural Marketing techniques in INDIA with help
of RELAXO FOOTWEAR LTD.

For this I would like to thank my Mentor Mr. Subrata Goswami who has shown
me the way and guided me through this project and without whom this project
would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my Institute “Asia pacific
institute of management” for providing me this opportunity.

And, Last but not the least my company heads Mrs. Kanwajeet Sandhu D’silva
(DGM communication and advertising Relaxo footwear ltd.), Mr. Rajan
makhani and Mr. Vijay Verma (Sr. advertising officer) who have helped me
learn a lot during my Internship period and guided me through this Research.

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 Synopsis

In Recent years, rural markets in INDIA have acquired great significance, as the
overall growth of the Indian economy has led to an increase in the purchasing
power of the Indian rural household. Also on account of green revolution and
improved facilities for rural people, the rural areas are consuming a large part of
the industrial and manufactured products. In this context, a special Marketing
strategy namely, rural marketing has emerged. But often, the term rural
marketing is confused to be agricultural marketing, though it is completely
different from it. Where agricultural marketing refers to marketing of rural
products to sell in urban markets, rural marketing deals with products to be
targeted towards rural producers and consumers for selling.

“The rural consumer is discerning and the

rural market is vibrant. At the current rate of growth it will soon outstrip the urban
market. The rural consumer is not sleeping anymore. We are,” So said Mr. Adi
Godrej of Godrej industries.

This makes it clear that the importance of rural market

at present is to capture more and more market share of the huge rural market.
INDIA is a land of villages where more than 70% of the population still lives in
villages (as per census 2001). This population was continuingly being ignored by
the private sector for decades, however due to stagnation of growth in the already
served urban markets, industrialists got alarmed about the huge potential of these
rural markets, which wanted to be catered in a different way comparatively, which
essentially gave rise to the concept of rural marketing

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‘Go rural’ is the slogan of marketing gurus after analyzing the socio-economic
changes in villages. The Rural population is nearly three times the urban, so that
Rural consumers have become the prime target market for consumer durable and
non-durable products, food, construction, electrical, electronics, automobiles,
banks, insurance companies and other sectors besides hundred per cent of agri-
input products such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery. The Indian
rural market today accounts for only about Rs 8 billion of the total ad pie of Rs 120
billion, thus claiming 6.6 per cent of the total share. So clearly there seems to be a
long way ahead. Although a lot is spoken about the immense potential of the
unexplored rural market, advertisers and companies find it easier to vie for a share
of the already divided urban pie.

The success of a brand in the Indian rural market is as unpredictable as rain. It has
always been difficult to gauge the rural market. Many brands, which should have
been successful, have failed miserably. More often than not, people attribute rural
market success to luck. Therefore, marketers need to understand the social
dynamics and attitude variations within each village though nationally it follows a
consistent pattern looking at the challenges and the opportunities which rural
markets offer to the marketers it can be said that the future is very promising for
those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their
best advantage. A radical change in attitudes of marketers towards the vibrant and
burgeoning rural markets is called for, so they can successfully impress on the 230
million rural consumers spread over approximately six hundred thousand villages
in rural areas.

Literature Review

5
According to “G. Srinivas Rao” in his book “Rural marketing in India”, Rural
Population in India accounts for more than 70% of its overall population. The
Rural markets are coming up in a huge way due to its untapped immense potential.
The consumers in these rural areas are different from their urban counterparts in
their buying behavior; the reasons for this differentiation are many like:

 Age and life cycle stage

 Occupation
 Economic condition
 Lifestyle
 Personality and self beliefs etc.

Buying decision of the rural

consumer is different from that of the urban consumer according to age,
occupation etc. The rural consumer is more bounded towards traditions,
customs, and values etc while making their purchasing decision. These
factors affect the lifestyle, mindset etc of the rural consumer in a big way.
The rural people due to their low income levels generally like to go for
values products and are not much brand conscious about their products.

Also, one of the main reasons behind their

purchases is lack of knowledge about quality products etc which are
available in the market. The consumers in rural area are not much aware
about the new trends and products in the market. This happens mainly due to
lack of communication, as there are less ways of communicating the product
in rural areas as compared to the urban markets, which have a wide variety
of marketing techniques used by the marketers to communicate the product

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 and services to the consumers. The ways of communicating the product and
services to the rural consumer are also different from their urban
counterparts. Some of the medium used to market the product in rural areas
are print ads, wall paints, haats/ melas, folk dances etc. One of the main
problems in India in context of rural marketing is also the change in
languages that can be seen in the Indian rural system frequently as we move
from one geographical territory to another; Lack of a standard language
among all rural regions creates a problem of communication for the
marketers.

The essence of rural marketing lies in the 4 “A” approach of marketing in

rural areas.
 Affordability
 Availability
 Acceptability
 Awareness

The growth of rural media like Television etc are now reaching more households
of rural areas and ,also increases level of literacy has resulted in a revolutionized
rural consumer who now knows more about what he is buying etc. The huge
selling potential for consumer durables and other FMCG products that the rural
markets are holding is now being recognized by many companies, who want the
maximum share of this untapped huge market. Companies like HUL, ITC etc have
already started making efforts to gain the share in rural markets.

Opportunities in Rural market

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. Infrastructure is improving rapidly -

 In 50 years only, 40% villages have been connected by road, in next 10

years another 30% would be connected.
 More than 90% villages are electrified, though only 44% rural homes have
electric connections.
 Rural telephone density has gone up by 300% in the last 10 years; every
1000+ pop is connected by STD.

Social indicators have improved a lot between 1981 and 2001 -

 Number of "pucca" houses doubled from 22% to 41% and "kuccha" houses
halved (41% to 23%).
 Percentage of BPL families declined from 46% to 27%.
 Rural literacy level improved from 36% to 59%.

Low penetration rates in rural areas, so there are many marketing

opportunities -

Durables Urban Rural Total (% of Rural HH)

  CTV 30.4   4.8   12.1  
  Refrigerator 33.5   3.5   12.0  

FMCGs Urban Rural Total (% of Rural HH)

  Shampoo 66.3   35.2   44.2  

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   Toothpaste 82.2   44.9   55.6  

Marketers can make effective use of the large available infrastructure -

   
    Post Offices 1,38,000    
    Haats (periodic markets) 42,000    
    Melas (exhibitions) 25,000    
    Mandis (agri markets) 7,000    
    Public Distribution Shops 3,80,000    
    Bank Branches 32,000    

 
Proliferation of large format Rural Retail Stores, which have been successful
also -

 DSCL Haryali Stores

 M & M Shubh Labh Stores
 TATA / Rallis Kisan Kendras
 Escorts Rural Stores
 Warnabazaar, Maharashtra (Annual Sale Rs. 40 crore)

Some myths associated with rural marketing and their realities:-

Myth 1: Rural Market is a Homogeneous Mass

Reality: It's a heterogeneous population. Various Tiers are present depending on

the incomes like Big Landlords; Traders; Small Farmers; Marginal Farmers:
Labourers; Artisans. State wise variations in rural demographics are present viz.

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literacy (Kerala 90%, Bihar 44%) and population below poverty line (Orissa 48%,
Punjab 6%).

Myth 2: Disposable Income is Low

Reality: Number of middle class HHs (annual income Rs. 45,000 - 2,15,000) for
rural sector is 27.4 million as compared to the figure of 29.5 million for urban
sector. Rural incomes CAGR was 10.95% compared to 10.74% in urban between
1970-71 and 1993-94.

Myth 3: Individuals Decide About Purchases

Reality: Decision making process is collective. Purchase process - influencer,

decider, and buyer, one who pays - can all be different. So marketers must address
brand message at several levels. Rural youth brings brand knowledge to
Households (HH).

Reason for a specialized strategy for Rural Markets:

Rural markets, as part of any economy, have untapped potential. There are several
difficulties confronting the effort to fully explore rural markets. The concept of
rural markets in India is still in evolving shape, and the sector poses a variety of

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challenges. Distribution costs and non-availability of retail outlets are major
problems faced by the marketers. The success of a brand in the Indian rural market
is as unpredictable as rain. Many brands, which should have been successful, have
failed miserably. This is because most firms try to extend marketing plans that they
use in urban areas to the rural markets. The unique consumption patterns, tastes,
and needs of the rural consumers should be analyzed at the product planning stage
so that they match the needs of the rural people.

Therefore, marketers need to understand the social dynamics and attitude

variations within each village though nationally it follows a consistent pattern.

The main problems in rural marketing are: -

 

 Understanding the Rural Consumer

 Poor Infrastructure

 Physical Distribution

 Channel Management

 Promotion and Marketing Communication

 Dynamics of rural markets differ from other market types, and similarly,
rural marketing strategies are also significantly different from the marketing
strategies aimed at an urban or industrial consumer.

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 Strategies to be followed.

 Marketing Strategy

Marketers need to understand the psyche of the rural consumers and then act
accordingly. Rural marketing involves more intensive personal selling
efforts compared to urban marketing. Firms should refrain from designing
goods for the urban markets and subsequently pushing them in the rural
areas. To effectively tap the rural market, a brand must associate it with the
same things the rural folks do. This can be done by utilizing the various rural
folk media to reach them in their own language and in large numbers so that
the brand can be associated with the myriad rituals, celebrations, festivals,
"melas” and other activities where they assemble.

 Distribution Strategy

One of the ways could be using company delivery van which can serve two
purposes - it can take the products to the customers in every nook and corner
of the market, and it also enables the firm to establish direct contact with
them, and thereby facilitate sales promotion.
 

However, only the bigwigs can adopt this channel. The companies with
relatively fewer resources can go in for syndicated distribution where a tie-
up between non-competitive marketers can be established to facilitate

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 distribution. Annual "melas" organized are quite popular and provide a very
good platform for distribution because people visit them to make several
purchases

 According to the Indian Market Research Bureau, around 8000 such melas
are held in rural India every year. Rural markets have the practice of fixing
specific days in a week as Market Days (often called "Haats') when
exchange of goods and services are carried out. This is another potential low
cost distribution channel available to the marketers. Also, every region
consisting of several villages is generally served by one satellite town
(termed as "Mandis" or Agri-markets) where people prefer to go to buy their
durable commodities. If marketing managers use these feeder towns, they
will easily be able to cover a large section of the rural population.

 Promotional Strategy

Firms must be very careful in choosing the vehicle to be used for

communication. Only 16% of the rural population has access to a vernacular
newspaper. So, the audio visuals must be planned to convey a right message
to the rural folk. The rich, traditional media forms like folk dances, puppet
shows, etc., with which the rural consumers are familiar and comfortable,
can be used for high impact product campaigns.

Some Live Examples

 One very fine example can be quoted of Escorts where they focused on
deeper penetration. They did not rely on TV or press advertisements, but

13
 rather concentrated on focused approach depending on geographical and
market parameters like fares, melas, etc. Looking at the 'kuccha' roads of
village, they positioned their bike as tough vehicle. Their advertisements
showed Dharmendra riding Escort with the punch line 'Jandar Sawari,
Shandar Sawari'. Thus, they achieved whopping sales of 95000 vehicles
annually.

 HLL started 'Operation Bharat' to tap the rural markets. Under this
operation, it passed out low-priced sample packets of its toothpaste, fairness
cream, Clinic plus shampoo, and Ponds cream to twenty million households.

 ITC is setting up e-Chou pals, which offers the farmers all the information,
products and services they need to enhance farm productivity, improve farm-
gate price realization and cut transaction costs. Farmers can access latest
local and global information on weather, scientific farming practices as well
as market prices at the village itself through this web portal - all in Hindi. It
also facilitates supply of high quality farm inputs as well as purchase of
commodities at their doorstep.

 BPCL introduced Rural Marketing Vehicle (RMV) as their strategy for rural
marketing. It moves from village to village and fills cylinders on the spot for
the rural customers. BPCL considered low-income of rural population, and
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 therefore introduced a smaller size cylinder to reduce both the initial deposit
cost as well as the recurring refill cost.

Characteristics of rural markets

1 .Large number of consumers:

According to the 1991 census, the rural population constitutes about 74% of
the total population in our country. While the population went from 55 crores
(1971) to 85 crores (1991), the rural-urban proportion have remained more or less
the same as in 1971. There are states like U.P, M.P, Bihar, Rajasthan and Orissa
where rural population varies from 80 to 90 percent. Therefore a large population
gives an opportunity for marketing a variety of goods and services. However
income and purchasing power play a major role in determining the demand in rural
areas.

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2. Occupation pattern:

Agriculture and related activities continue to be the main occupation for

majority of the rural population. Land is the major source of income for about 77%
of the population. Others are engaged in business (10%), non-agriculture labour
(9%), salary earners (2%) and not gainfully employed (2%). It is evident that rural
prosperity depends upon growth and development of agriculture.

3. Literacy level:

It has been estimated that the rural literacy level is 36% compared to 62% in
urban areas. Literacy is one of the important factors in developing awareness and
knowledge about technological changes. As many as 16 major languages are
spoken adding to the complexities in rural communication.

4 .Low standard of living:

Low income, low purchasing power, overall social and economic

backwardness lead to low standard of living. In general a rural consumer spends
less on non-food items.

5. Media reach:

The media reach in rural household is low. Statistics indicates that the reach
of Print media is 10%, followed by TV 31%, Radio 32% and Cinema 36%.

16
Therefore the marketer has to consider rural specific promotion media and methods
to reach the villagers.

6. Communication facilities:

About 20% of the six lakh villages are without telephone facility even today.
This includes Rajasthan (17600 villages), MP (14200 villages), Maharashtra
(12000 villages), Gujarat (7000 villages), and AP, Assam, Orissa about 6000
villages each. (Source: The Indian Express dated 30.3.2003).

7. Transportation facilities:

About 50% of the markets are not connected by road. Most of the roads are
kuccha and become unusable during rainy season. Many farmers use bullock cart
for transporting their produce from village to the market. This means of transport is
time consuming.

8. Rural electrification:

The main objective is to provide electricity for agricultural operations and

for small industries in rural areas. About 5 lakh villages (77%) have electric supply
and this has increased the demand for electric supply and this has increased the
demand for electric motors, pumps and agricultural machinery.

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9 .Medical facilities:

Medical facilities are quite inadequate and the villagers have to travel long
Distances for getting medical treatment.

10. Distance:
Village nearer to towns has elements of the urban life. Interior villages are
More traditional.

Special features of rural market:

As, said by Pradeep Kashyap in his book “THE RURAL MARKETING BOOK”,
Unlike urban markets, rural markets are difficult to predict and possess special
characteristics. The featured population is predominantly illiterate, have low
income, characterized by irregular income, lack of monthly income and flow of
income fluctuating with the monsoon winds.

Rural markets face the critical issues of Distribution, Understanding the rural
consumer, Communication and Poor infrastructure. The marketer has to strengthen
the distribution and pricing strategies. The rural consumer expects value for money
and owing to has unsteady and meager status of weekly income; increasing the
household income and improving distribution are the viable strategies that have to
be adapted to tap the immense potential of the market.

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Media reach is a strong reason for the penetration of goods like cosmetics, mobile
phones, etc., which are only used by the urban people. Increasing awareness and
knowledge on different products and brands accelerate the demand. The rural
audience are however critical of glamorous ads on TV, and depend on the opinion
leaders who introduce the product by using it and recommending it.

Opinion leaders play a key role in popularizing products and influence in rural
market. Nowadays educated youth of rural also influences the rural consumers.
Rural consumers are influenced by the life style they watch on television sets.
Their less exposure to outside world makes them innocent and fascinated to
novelties. The reach of mass television media, especially television has influenced
the buying behavior greatly

Why Rural India?

More than 70% of Indian population lives in rural India, which itself shows the
immense untapped power of the rural consumer in the coming period. This
population requires various products that are to be served by the FMCG companies
which now have already reached to stagnation in urban markets.

As, per the National council for applied Economic Research (NCAER) study there
are many “middle income and above” household in rural areas as there are in urban
areas. There are almost twice as many “low middle income” households in rural
areas than in urban areas. According to NCAER the projections, the number of
upper income households will increase rapidly in rural areas.

Also, after stagnation of urban markets, rural

markets provide the only destination for companies to grow their business. With

19
increasing demands of consumer goods from the rural areas companies are now
looking forward to make attempts to gain more and more market share in these
areas. The rural market is zooming ahead at around 25 per cent annually. “The
rural market is growing faster than urban India now,” says Venugopal Dhoot,
chairman of the Rs 989 -crore (Rs billion) Videocon Appliances. “The urban
market is a replacement and up gradation market today,” adds Samsung’s director,
marketing, RavindeR Zutshi.

Reasons for improvement in rural markets:

Socio-economic changes (lifestyle, habits and tastes, economic status) Literacy

level (25% before independence €“more than 65% in 2001) Infrastructure facilities
(roads, electricity, media) Increase in income, Increase in expectations.

MART, the specialist rural marketing and rural

development consultancy has found that 53 per cent of FMCG sales lie in the rural
areas, as do 59 per cent of consumer durable sales, said its head Pradeep Kashyap
at the seminar. Of two million BSNL mobile connections, 50 per cent went to
small towns and villages, of 20 million Rediffmail subscriptions, 60 per cent came
from small towns, so did half the transactions on Rediff’s shopping site.

Creating brands for rural India:

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Rural markets are delicately powerful. Certain adaptations are required to cater to
the rural masses; they have unique expectation and warrant changes in all four
parameters of product, price, promotion and distribution.

A lot is already emphasized on adapting the product and price in terms of

packaging, flavoring, etc and in sachets, priced to suit the economic status of the
rural India in sizes like Rs.5 packs and Re.1 packs that are perceived to be of value
for money. This is a typical penetration strategy that promises to convert the first
time customers to repeated customers.

The promotion strategies and distribution strategies are of paramount importance.

Ad makers have learnt to leverage the benefits of improved infrastructure and
media reach. The television airs advertisements to lure rural masses, and they are
sure it reaches the target audience, because majority of rural India possesses and is
glued to TV sets!

Distributing small and medium sized packets thro poor roads, over long distances,
into deep pockets of rural India and getting the stockiest to trust the mobility is a
Herculean task. Giving the confidence those advertisements will support. Sales
force is being trained to win the confidence of opinion leaders. Opinion leaders
play an important role in popularizing the brand. They sometimes play the role of
entry barriers for new products.

The method of promotion needs to be tailored to suit the expectations of the

market. Techniques that have proved to be successful are Van campaigns,
edutainment films, generating word of mouth publicity through opinion leaders,
colorful wall paintings. The Wide reach of television has exposed the otherwise

21
conservative audience to westernization. Panchayat televisions in Tamilnadu
carries message that are well received and contribute to community development.

Dynamics of rural markets differ from other market types, and similarly rural
marketing strategies are also significantly different from the marketing strategies
aimed at an urban or industrial consumer. This, along with several other related
issues, have been subject matter of intense discussions and debate in countries like
India and China and focus of even international symposia organized in these
countries.

Rural markets and rural marketing involve a number of strategies, which include:

 Client and location specific promotion

 Joint or cooperative promotion

 Bundling of inputs

 Partnership for sustainability

Client and Location specific promotion involves a strategy designed to be suitable

to the location and the client. Joint or co-operative promotion strategy involves
participation between the marketing agencies and the client. ‘Bundling of inputs’
denote a marketing strategy, in which several related items are sold to the target
client, including arrangements of credit, after-sale service, and so on. Media, both
traditional as well as the modern media, is used as a marketing strategy to attract
rural customers.  Partnership for sustainability involves laying and building a
foundation for continuous and long lasting relationship.

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Innovative media can be used to reach the rural customers. Radio and television
are the conventional media that are reaching the rural audience effectively. But
horse cart, bullock cart and wall writing are the other media, which can carry the
message effectively to the rural customers. 

Rural marketing is an evolving concept, and as a part of any economy has

untapped potential; marketers have realized the opportunity recently. Improvement
in infrastructure and reach, promise a bright future for those intending to go rural.
Rural consumers are keen on branded goods nowadays, so the market size for
products and services seems to have burgeoned. The rural population has shown a
trend of wanting to move into a state of gradual urbanization in terms of exposure,
habits, lifestyles and lastly, consumption patterns of goods and services. There are
dangers on concentrating more on the rural customers. Reducing the product
features in order to lower prices is a dangerous game to play.

As per research of Purba Basu, (faculty of ICFAI business school), the lifestyle of
rural consumers is changing. Rural Indian market and the marketing strategy have
become the latest marketing buzzword for most of the FMCG majors. She added
the strategies of different FMCG companies for capturing rural market like Titan’s
Sonata watches, Coco Cola’s 200ml bottle, different strategies of HUL and Marico
etc. She takes into consideration the study of National Council for Applied
Economic Research (NCAER). According to the NCAER projections, the number
of middle and high-income households in rural area. India is expected to grow
from 80 million to 111 million by 2007. In urban India, the same is expected to
grow from 46 million to 59 million. Thus, the
absolute size of rural India is expected to be double that of urban India.

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 According to Pradeep Tognatta, (former vice
president of LG) The economic growth in India's agricultural sector in last year
was over 7%, compared with 3% in the industrial sector. This implies a huge
market potentiality for the marketer to meet up increasing demand. Factors such as
village psyche, strong distribution network and market awareness are few
prerequisites for making a dent in the rural markets. The model is of the stolid
Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever Group, which has enjoyed a century-long
presence in India through its subsidiary Hindustan Lever Ltd. It was Hindustan
Lever that several years ago popularized the idea of selling its products in tiny
packages. Its sachets of detergent and shampoo are in great demand in Indian
villages. Britannia with its low priced Tiger brand biscuits has become some of the
success story in rural marketing.

Rajesh K Aithal of IIM(L) had done his research on rural telecom in India .He
explain that Rural markets are an important and growing market for most products
and services including telecom. The characteristics of the market in terms of low
and spread out population and limited purchasing power make it a difficult market
to capture. The Bottom of the pyramid marketing strategies and the 4 A's model of
Availability, Affordability, Acceptability and Awareness provide us with a means
of developing appropriate strategies to tackle the marketing issues for marketing
telecom services in rural areas. Successful cases like the Grameen Phone in
Bangladesh and Smart Communications Inc in Philippines also provide us with
some guidelines to tackling the issue.

Promotional strategies

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 Though the rural markets offer big attractions to the marketers, one of the
most important questions frequently asked is “How do we reach the large rural
population through different media and methods?

Formal media
It includes Press and print, TV, Cinema, Radio, and Point of purchase and Outdoor
advertisement. Reach of formal media is low in rural households (Print: 18%, TV:
27%, Cinema: 30%, and Radio: 37%) and therefore the marketer has to consider
the following points:

➢ Newspapers and magazines:

English newspapers and magazines have negligible circulation in rural areas.

However local language newspapers and magazines are becoming popular among
educated facilities in rural areas. Examples: Newspapers: Eenadu in A.P., Dina
Thanthi in Tamil Nadu, Punjab Kesari in the North, Loksatta in Maharashtra and
Tamil magazine Kumudam is very popular in rural areas.

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Example of Eenadu newspaper in A.P

➢ Television:

It has made a great impact and large audience has been exposed to this
medium. HLL has been using TV to communicate with the rural masses. Lifebuoy,
Lux, Nihar oil etc are some of the products advertised via television. Regional TV
channels have become very popular especially in Southern states. Examples: SUN
TV is very popular even in rural areas in Tamil Nadu and Asia net is a preferred
regional channel in Kerala. Many consumer goods companies and fertilizer
companies are using these TV channels to reach the rural customer.

➢ Radio:

26
 Radio reaches large population in rural areas at a relatively low cost.
Example: Colgate, Jyoti Labs, Zandu Balm, Zuari industries are some of the
companies using radio communication programme. There are specific programmes
for farmers like Farm and Home/Krishi Darshan in regional languages. The
farmers have a habit of listening to regional news/agricultural news in the morning
and the late evening. The advertisement has to be released during this time to get
maximum coverage in rural areas. Another advantage is that the radio commercial
can be prepared at short notice to meet the changing needs of the rural folk.
Example: Release of a pesticide ad at the time of outbreak of a pest or disease in
crops.

➢ Cinema:

About 65% of the earnings from cinema are from rural markets. Film
viewing habits is high in certain states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh. Village theatres do roaring business during festivals by having four shows
per day. The monthly charge for showing an ad film is within Rs.500. Local
distributor or dealer who has good contacts with cinema houses in villages can
easily monitor this activity. Examples: Films on products like Vicks, Lifebuoy and
SPIC fertilizers are shown in rural cinema halls. Apart from films, Ad slides can
also be screened in village theatres.

➢ Outdoor advertisements:
This form of media, which includes signboards, wall painting, hoarding, tree
boards, bus boards, dealer boards, product display boards etc, is cost effective in
rural areas. Symbols, pictures and colors should be used in POPs meant for rural

27
markets so that they can easily identify the products. Generally rural people prefer
bright colors and the marketer should utilize such cues.

➢ Point of purchase:

Display of hangings, festoons and product packs in the shops will catch the
attention of prospective buyers. However a clutter of such POP materials of
competing companies will not have the desired effect and is to be avoided.

➢ Direct mail advertising:

It is a way of passing on information relating to goods or services for sale,

directly to potential customers through the medium of post. It is a medium
employed by the advertiser to bring in a personal touch. In cities lot of junk mail is
received by all of us and very often such mails are thrown into the dustbin whereas
a villager get very few letters and he is receptive to such mailers.

➢ Wall paintings:

It is an effective and economical medium for communication in rural areas,

since it stays there for a long time depending upon the weather conditions. The cost
of painting one square foot area is just Rs.10. Retailers welcome painting of their
shops so that the shop will look better. Walls of farm houses, shops and schools are
ideal places for painting and the company need not have to pay any rent for the
same. The walls have to be painted at least one or two feet from ground level. It is
better to take permission of the owner. Very often the owner takes responsibility
for taking care of the wall painting. Painting to be avoided during election time and

28
rainy season. The matter should be in the form of pictures, slogans for catching the
attention of people. Companies marketing TV, fans, branded coffee/tea, toothpaste,
pesticides, fertilizers etc. use wall painting as promotion medium in rural areas.
Tree boards:
These are painted boards of about two square feet in dimension having the
picture or name or slogan of the product painted on it. The cost of such a painted
board is about Rs.80. These boards are fixed to the trees on both sides of the
village road at a height of about 10 feet from ground level. These boards attract the

Attention of slow moving vehicles like cycles, bullock carts and tractors and
people walking on the road. Considering the poor condition of roads, even the
buses move at slow speed through village road. Fertilizer and pesticide companies
in rural areas extensively use tree boards. These are low priced promotion items
and can be used by consumer goods companies too.
Informal/Rural specific media

These media with effective reach and personalized communication will help
in realizing the promotional objectives. Companies to suit the specific
requirements of rural communication are using a variety of such media effectively
and some of the more important media and methods are given below.

29
 An example of wall paint advertisement by Coca cola in rural India.

➢ Farm-to-Farm/House-to-House visit:

Rural people prefer face-to-face communication and farm visits facilitate

two-way communication. The advantage is that the sales person can understand the
needs and wants of the rural customer by directly discussing with him and answer
his queries on products and services. Potential customers in the village are
identified and the company’s/distributor’s representative makes farm-to-farm visits
and highlight the benefits of the products. The person carries with him literature in
local language and also samples of products. The person does not sell the product
but only promotes the use of the product. Very often the local dealer also joins the
representative in making farm-to-farm visits. The dealer clarifies the terms and
conditions of sale and also makes independent follow up visits for securing orders.
Example: This approach has been found to be very effective for agricultural
machinery, animal health products and agricultural inputs. Many LIC agents and
companies dealing with high value consumer durables have tried this method with
success in rich rural areas.

30
  Group meeting:

Group meetings of rural customers as well as prospects are an important part

of interpersonal media. The company is able to pass on the message regarding
benefits of the products to a large number of customers through such meetings.
Group meeting of key customers are conducted by banks, agricultural inputs and
machinery companies in rural areas. The bankers visit an identified village, get the
village people in a common place and explain the various schemes to the villagers.
Such meetings could be organized in prosperous villages for promoting consumer
durables and two wheelers also. Example: MRF Tyres conduct tractor owners meet
in villages to discuss repairs and maintenance of tractors.

➢ Opinion leaders:

Villagers place more emphasis on the experience of others who have used a
product/brand to make purchase decision. Opinion leader is a person who is
considered to be knowledgeable and is consulted by others and his advice is
normally followed. Such opinion leaders could be big landlords, bank official,
Panchayat-president, teachers, extension workers etc. Examples: a) Mahindra
Tractors use bankers as opinion leaders for their product. b) Asian Paints promoted
its Utsav brand of paint by painting the village Sarpanch’s house a few months
prior to the launch if the branch to demonstrate that the paint does not peel off.

➢ The Melas:

31
 Melas are of different types i.e. commodity fairs, cattle fairs and religious
fairs and may be held only for a day or may extend over a week. Many companies
have come out with creative ideas for participating in such melas. Examples: a)
Britannia promotes Tiger Brand Biscuits through melas. b) The mahakumbh at
Allahabad is the biggest mela in India. HLL has put up 14 stalls in the mela
grounds for promoting Lifebuoy. Handcarts have been deployed for increasing
access.

 The Haats :

Traditionally on certain days of week, both the sellers and buyers meet in the
village to buy and sell goods and services. These are the haats that are being held
regularly in all rural areas. The sellers arrive in the morning in the haat and remain
till late in the evening. Next day they move to another haat. The reason being that
in villages the wages are paid on weekly basis and haat is conducted on the day
when the villages get their wages. For the marketer, the haat can be an ideal
platform for advertising and selling of goods. By participating in haats and melas,
the company can not only promote and sell the products but also understand the
shared values, beliefs and perceptions of rural customers that influence his buying
behavior

32
 .

Example of a rural haat Bazaar.

➢ Folk dances:

These are well-appreciated form of entertainment available to the village

people. The folk dance “Kuravan Kurathi” is popular in Tamil Nadu. The troupe
consists of dancers, drummers and musicians and they move in a well-decorated
van from one village to another village singing and dancing. In a day the troupe
covers about 8-10 villages. As soon as the van reaches a village, film songs are
played to attract the attention of the villages. This is followed by folk dances. Mike

33
announcement is made about the company’s products and leaflets are distributed.
After the dance program, queries, if any, about the products are answered by the
sales person. Folk dance program costs about Rs.5000 per day and therefore these
programmes are conducted during the peak season in selected villages.
Examples: Fertilizer and pesticide companies organize folk dance
programmes during peak season in selected markets. Thumps Up has sponsored
Lavanis, the folk dance programmes of Maharashtra and over 30 programmes have
been arranged in selected rural markets

 Audio Visual Publicity Vans (AVP Vans):

AV unit is one of the effective tools for rural communication. The van is a
mobile promotion station having facilities for screening films slides and mike
publicity. The sales person makes a brief talk about situation in the village, the
products and the benefits. The ad film is screened along with some popular film
shots and this continues for about 30 minutes. At the end of the film show, he
distributes handbills and answers queries of the customers. The whole operation
takes about 1-2 hours depending upon the products under promotion, number of
participants in the meeting and time taken for question and answers. The vans
move to the next village for the second show. The cost of running a fully equipped
AVP unit is about Rs.4000 per day and AVP van operation has to be considered as
an investment for business development in rural areas. Example: Companies such
as HLL, Colgate, and Phillips have made effective use of AVP vans for
popularizing their products in rural areas.

 Product display contests:

34
 Package is an integral part of the product. Its main purpose is to protect the
product during transit, to preserve the quality and to avoid any loss in quality and
quantity. The main purpose of this contest is to remind the customer to buy the
product as soon as he enters the shop. Another objective is to influence the dealer
To stock the product and support the company in increasing the sales. The display
contest has to be announced well in advance and promotional materials to be
distributed to all the selected dealers in a geographical area. Prizes for best displays
are announced to motivate the dealers; the contest lasts for about a month. A well-
planned product display contest not only increases the involvement of dealers in
the company’s products but also increases the sales during the contest period. This
is used for promoting consumer goods such as shampoos, soaps and toothpaste
Field demonstration:
This is based on the extension principle “seeing is believing” and is one of
the most effective methods to show the superiority of the company’s products to
the customers. A progressive farmer who is an opinion leader is selected and the
demonstration is conducted in his field in the presence of a group of farmers in the
village. The farmers observe the results in the field and the local dealer calls on
them in their farms and persuades them to buy the particular brand of pesticide or
fertilizer. Examples: a) Spraying a particular brand of an insecticide against insect
pests and showing the farmer how effectively the insects are controlled. b)
Demonstrating the use of tractor/implements for different agricultural operations.
c) Hawkins pressure cooker has demonstration representatives who carry out
demos in rural households. The representative receives 1% commission for every
customer who approaches the dealer via demonstrations. e) Similarly effectiveness

35
of detergents, pressure cookers, vacuum cleaners and mosquito coils could be
promoted by demonstrations in selected markets.
Field days:
These are extension of field demonstrations. One of the main objectives of
following modern agricultural practices is to increase the yield. The company
organizes demonstrations in a piece of land belonging to progressive farmers. All
the fertilizers, pesticides, nutrients etc. are applied after making field observations.
Just before harvest, all the important farmers are invited to see demonstration plot
and see for themselves how the yields are better in the plot compared to other
fields. Field demonstrations/field days consume lot of time and efforts and
therefore have to be planned well.
Information centers:
They provide latest information on cultivation of crops, fertilizer application,
weed, management and control of pests and diseases. Experienced agricultural
graduates who make frequent visits to the field and
Advice farmers on modern agricultural practices manage the centers. They also
provide information on farm implements, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, diesel
engines, sprayers and tractors etc. Many consumer goods companies have opened
show rooms in prosperous rural areas. Example: Hero Honda has opened extension
counters with show room facilities in major rural markets.

➢ Life-style marketing:

Each rural market segment has certain special features i.e. they share
common life-style traits. They include village sports, religious events, prominent
personalities and role models. Examples: Textile mills maintaining community

36
gardens, Mineral water companies supplying clean drinking water during summer
festivals in villages and Consumer goods companies sponsoring Kabaddi.

 Distribution Channel Strategies

The channel members consist of wholesalers and retailers who are

middlemen in distribution and they perform all marketing functions. These
middlemen facilitate the process of exchange of goods; create time, place and
possession utilities. Therefore channels are useful to producers as well as
consumers. Even if a company has a product that meets the requirements of rural
consumers, it will succeed only if it is made available at the right place as and
when required by the consumer.

➢ Direct sales to consumers:

Examples: In many states, the government has encouraged farmers to sell

vegetables directly to urban consumers by setting up “Framers market”. Farmers,
in this case, put up stalls in the market place and directly sell fresh vegetables to
the consumers, eliminating middlemen in the market.

➢ Manufacturer- wholesaler- retailer- consumer:

37
 The manufacturer appoints wholesalers in key rural markets and these
wholesalers cater to the needs of retailers in villages. Example: Sale of pesticides
used in agriculture.

➢ Manufacturer-retailer-ultimate consumer:

Examples: 1) Companies like Hero Honda have direct retailers in semi-

Urban markets. 2) Mahindra Tractors have appointed distributors in all prosperous
Rural areas and these distributors deal directly with farmers for sales and
services of tractors. 3) Philips has direct distributors in areas with low demand and
poor accessibilities. The distributors extend credit facilities; they follow a journey
cycle and have delivery vans to service remote markets.

38
Relaxo is one of India's most quality conscious and progressive footwear
companies. Headquartered in Delhi, India, it maintains a fine combination of
comfort, style and workmanship and is embarking upon appreciable growth plans
for the future.

Over 30 yrs of experience:

Relaxo stepped into the footwear industry in 1976. It started off with the
manufacture of Hawaii slippers and subsequently diversified into manufacturing
casuals, joggers, school and leather shoes.

Record-breaking growth rate:

Relaxo has experienced a record-breaking growth rate of 4800% within the last 10
years! From a modest sale of around Rs. 1 million in the year 77-78, it has today
crossed the Rs. 2000 million+ figure.

39
Second largest footwear company in India:
Relaxo has the capacity to manufacture over 100 million pairs, per annum. It is
second only to Bata - a name of international repute in the footwear market.

In India, Relaxo has a customer base of around 100 million people.

Largest manufacturer of Hawaii slippers:

Relaxo's capacity to manufacture 300,000 pairs of Hawaii slippers per day is the
highest in the footwear industry.

Expert Management Team:

The company is empowered by a team of experienced, mature, dynamic and result
oriented professionals with an experience in varied fields of marketing, finance,
production, HRD and administration. It is headed by 6 Directors, a President
(operations), 5 GMs and over 30 managers.

Trained workforce:
Relaxo employs over 2500 personnel who are well trained in their respective
production activities including 400 officials spread over all 9 manufacturing units
and the corporate office. 

Employees are induced to in house training programs and outside workshops

sponsored by leading institutions to broaden their existing working knowledge and
experience.

40
 Relaxo’s Vision, Mission and Values

Vision: Achieving Rs 1000 crores annual Turnover by the end of 2011-12

Mission: Ensuring Customer Satisfaction and Quality par Excellence

Values:

• Corporate citizenship

• Honesty

• Transparency

• Team Orientation

• Employee Satisfaction

• Customer Orientation

Relaxo’s Management Team

CHAIRMAN Mr. M L Dua

Managing Director Mr. R K Dua

Director Mr. Nikhil Dua

Executive Vice President (Marketing) Mr. Gaurav Dua

41
Executive Vice President (Finance) Mr. Ritesh Dua

Executive Vice President (Retail) Mr. Nitin Dua

Relaxo’s Team

Business professional 72

Technical professional 92

Retail 375

Support staff 661

Team Relaxo

92
72

Business professional
Technical professional
Retail
661 Support staff
375

The following is supported by 4571 workmen Total Strength 5771 Employees

42
43
 Relaxo’s Manufacturing Units

Some of Relaxo’s manufacturing factories

RELAXO FOOTWEARS LTD UNIT-1 BAHADURGARH Products-Hawai &

Soles

44
RELAXO FOOTWEARS LTD UNIT-2 BAHADURGARH Products-Hawai &
Soles

45
RELAXO FOORWEARS LTD - UNIT-3 Bhiwadi PRODUCT-HAWAI

RELAXO FOORWEARS LTD – UNIT-5 HARIDWAR

Products- Sports Shoes, Sandals, Joggers

46
 Relaxo Brand Wagon

Relaxo’s Hawai Schoolmate

Flite EVA Boston

Sparx shoes Mary Jane

Sparx sandals Elena Casuals

Relaxo’s Target Market in segments

47
 From the above chart you can see which brand of relaxo is targeted towards which
segment of the market.

Relaxo’s Financial Credentials

Relaxo has been growing at a fast pace since its inception in 1976. It has been
growing at a rapid rate which can be seen by the following figure.

48
 Turnover in Rs crore
1000
1000
900

800

700

600

601.48
500 Turnover in Rs crore

400
407.46
300
305.66
200.85 235.93
200

100

0
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2011-12

Figures for year 2009-10 and year 2011-12 are projected figures

Relaxo’s credentials in sales volume for different brands.

EVA/Flite

49
 Credentials Sales volume in crore pairs

3
2.74

2.5

2 1.83
1.62
Credentials Sales volume

1.5
1.2

0.5

0
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

For FY 2009-10 figures are projected.

Sparx:

It is one of their most popular brands these days, sales for which are increasing day
by day and are reaching new heights.

50
 credentials - Sales volume in lakhs pair

25
22.87

20

16.39

15
credentials - Sales volume

10

6.42

5 3.69

0
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

The above chart shows the growing popularity of their brand “Sparx”.

For FY 2009-10 figures are projected.

The figures include School Mate, Casuals, Elena and DIP Sparx

51
 Credentials - sales volume in lakhs pair

45

40

35

30

Credentials - sales volume in lakhs

25 pair

20

15

10

0
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

The figures include School Mate, Casuals, Elena and DIP Sparx

For FY 2009-10 figures are projected.

The figures include Canvas, Mary Jane, Canvas Premoulded, Bahamas and
Leatherites.

52
 Credentials - sales volume in lakhs pair

35

30

25

20 Credentials - sales volume in lakhs

pair

15

10

0
2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

The figures include Canvas, Mary Jane, Canvas Premoulded, Bahamas and
Leatherites.

For FY 2009-10 figures are projected.

Relaxo’s retailing business

53
Total Retail Outlets as on October 2009 – 88

Delhi – 39

Haryana – 17

Punjab – 15

UP & Uttarakhand – 12

Gujarat – 05

And still counting…..

54
 Relaxo’s India presence

Relaxo is present all over India as you can see from the above presence map.

Relaxo’s Hawaii

Relaxo’s Hawaii is their major brand which is targeted towards the rural market. It
is the main product of the study for which the research has been conducted. It is a

55
very popular brand in rural areas and Relaxo manufactures around 3 lakh pair’s of
Hawaii every day.

Relaxo Hawaii is an affordable product and is targeted mainly towards the rural
parts of India. It is also a very important member of the Relaxo brand wagon.

Hawaii’s product Range

56
This is the product range of Hawaii available in market.

Relaxo Hawaii’s rural advertisements

Relaxo till date has been advertising its brand of Hawaii through traditional
instruments like vendor posters, wall paints in rural areas which are a predominant

57
source of advertising has also been used by relaxo in its marketing strategy for
promotion of realxo’s Hawaii in rural areas.

A wall paint used by Relaxo to promote its brand of Hawaii cushion in rural areas

In the above picture you can see a wall paint advertisement being used by Relaxo
as a part of their rural marketing strategy.

Celebrity endorsement

Relaxo has been using actress priti jhangiani as its face for marketing Relaxo
Hawaii in rural areas. She is a popular actress in bollywood with a very typical

58
Indian face. She is used as the face for Relaxo’s Hawaii to reach rural consumer as
rural people can relate to her Indian face and features.

A print advertisemtn showcasing actress priti jhangiani advertising Relaxo’s

Hawaii slipppers.

Television Advertisement

59
Relaxo has also made TVC adverts to reach rural markets especially for its brand
of slippers Hawaii. It has used actress priti jhangiani in the advert depicting her
inside a small village with relaxo slippers. The advertisements depicts her getting
out of the bus into the village with her Relaxo slippers in her feet and then she
takes a rickshaw ride and you can see village people all round her throughout the
advert who are also wearing Relaxo Hawaii slippers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vft3EqKKipw

This is the “YouTube” link for Relaxo Hawaii TVC advert with actress priti
jhangiani.

These were some of the promotional ways by way of which

Relaxo has tried to promote its brand of slippers in rural markets.

Objectives of the study

60
Objective: The main objective of the study is to find Relaxo’s Hawaii rural reach
and awareness and find out effective ways of marketing the Hawaii in rural areas
to make it more popular.

Aims:

 To analyze the popularity of Relaxo Hawaii compared with other

competitors in the rural market.

 To examine the effect of advertising on the minds of the rural consumers.

 To analyze and examine the effect of celebrity endorsement on rural

consumers.

 To examine effective ways of out of home advertising in rural areas to gain

maximum visibility.

 To find which media is more popular with rural people in these changing
times.

Methodology

Scope of study: The study is conducted to find out effective ways of reaching the
rural consumer for increasing the brand popularity of Relaxo’s Hawaii brand.

61
Data collection Resources:

Primary data: The data for the study is collected by help of the specific
questionnaire directed towards rural people to know their preferences of
advertising mediums.

Sampling: The data is collected from five villages and semi urban areas of Delhi
and nearby states. 20 people from each village is randomly selected and questioned
personally for their preferences.

Villages include...

 Dhansa
 Kapas – Hera
 Baagpat
 Jhajjar
 Bawana

20 people from each of these villages were randomly selected for the
questionnaire and personally interviewed for their preferences.

Limitations or biasness of the study:

62
  Due to restraints of time the geographical area chosen for this study is
predominantly from regions of north India.

 During the research some of the people were not willing to answer the
questionnaire and some were not answering to the questions with
seriousness which is again biasness for the study.

Results and Findings

For finding how many other types of green products do people actually know about
we asked them the following question.

1) How many green products do you know more than stationary?

63
 green products known

16
2

46
more than 10
more than 5
more than 3
more than 1

36

We can see from the above chart that people don’t really know about many green
products in India. They are less informed about various green options that can be
used by them in their day to day lives.

To analyze effectiveness of green products in the mind of he consumers…we

asked them

7) do you think green products are really effective for a good environmental cause?

64
 effectiveness of green products

70
65

60

50

40 35
effectiveness of green products

30

20

10

yes
no

The chart above shows that people believe that there are better ways to save the
environment than using green products which make a deep cut in the pockets of the
consumer.

We asked people as to how many times do they buy these green products….

2) How many times do you buy green products?

65
 use of green prodcuts

70

60 61

50

40

30

19 use of green
20
prodcuts

7 13
10

0
always
sometimes
generally
Never

The table above shows that people are not buying green products that frequently.

To check whether people actually do know about green products we asked them
the question….

3) Do you know about green products?

66
 information on green prodcuts

43 yes
No

57

The reply of staggering 57% people in an urban area shows that people are not well
aware about the term of GREEN PRODUCTS. They are yet to know about
effectiveness and information on green products.

To know whether people are ready to pay a price for using these green products,
we asked them….

4) Are you ready to pay a bigger price for greener products?

67
 premium price for a green product
60
57

50

40

30 28 premium price for a green product

20 15

10

0
always
sometimes
never

The above replies show us that people in India are not ready to pay a premium
price for these green products. They still want value for money products and are
still price sensitive while making a purchase.

Also we asked them about the premium amount that they mitie want or may not
want to pay for the green products…

5) Would you mind paying extra for a green product?

68
 premium price for green products
60
60

50

40

30 premium price for green products

21
20
19

10

0
I wont pay extra
sometimes
I wont mind paying
extra

It is evident from the above chart that people are price sensitive and would not like
pay extra for the same service of product wether it is green or not. A staggering
60% people would not pay extra premium price for greener products.

To know about the perception of people regarding green products already available
in the market we asked them…

5) are green product a good choice or just an expensive option for you?

69
 perception about green products

80 74

70

60

50

perception about green products

40

30
26

20

10

expensive option
good choice

As, the above chart shows that people believe that green products are an expensive
option rather a wise choice in the mind of the Indian consumer.

70
 Analysis of the study

As the demand for green products undoubtedly exist, Green Marketing provides an
opportunity to the companies to increase their market-share by introducing eco
friendly
products. Stricter environmental regulations across the world, growing consumer
preference for eco-friendly companies, and the inherent cost advantages in
lowering
toxic waste, are encouraging industries big and small to clean up.
Result of a survey conducted showed that, consumers are not overly committed to
improving their environment and may be looking to lay too much responsibility on
industry and government. Though it’s the responsibility of the firm to produce
products,
which are having minimum impact on the environment, but ultimately it’s the
consumer
who is having responsibility to use eco friendly products. Consumers are not too
much
concerned about the environment but as they have become more sophisticated,
they
require clear information about how choosing one product over another will benefit
the

environment. Consumer education results in their empowerment. Empowered

consumers
choose environmentally preferable products when all else is equal.
Ultimately green marketing requires that consumers ‘Think Green, Think clean,
Think
Ecofriendly’ i.e. they want a cleaner environment and are willing to "pay" for it,
possibly
through higher priced goods, modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental
intervention. Until this occurs it will be difficult for firms alone to lead the green
marketing revolution.

71
 Conclusion

Thus, looking at the challenges and the opportunities, which rural markets offer to
the marketers, it can be said that the future is very promising for those who can
understand the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their best advantage.
A radical change in attitudes of marketers towards the vibrant and burgeoning rural
markets is called for, so they can successfully impress on the 230 million rural
consumers spread over approximately six hundred thousand villages in rural India.
The Indian growth story is now spreading itself to India's hinterlands. Rural India,
which accounts for more than 70 per cent of the country's one billion population
(according to the Census of India 2001), is not just witnessing an increase in its
income but also in consumption and production. Moreover, the rural consumer
market, which grew 25 per cent in 2008 when demand in urban areas slowed due
to the global recession, is expected to reach US$ 425 billion in 2010-11 with 720-
790 million customers, according to a white paper prepared by CII-Technopak.
That will be double the 2004-05 market size of US$ 220 billion.

Thus if marketers can understand the demands of

these consumers and advertise their products well they can surely gain market

72
share in rural markets. For this they need to understand how can they market the
products effectively to the rural consumers by specifically using the mediums
which can easily and effectively reach the rural consumer and also keeping in mind
the changing trends in these rural markets.

The following can be concluded from the field Research attempt

 People have less information about green products and green marketing in
Indian context.
 People are price sensitive and want to pay a similar price for green products.
 People want to buy value for money products.
 People should be more informed about the effectiveness of green products
and their usage over a time period.
 People don’t want to spend a premium price for the same usage of products.
 Companies are still scared of rolling out green products for the fear of being
left out.
 Recession and inflation plays a important role in the buying behavior of the
consumers.

Recommendation’s from the study

73
Issues like Global warming and depletion of ozone umbrella are the main for the
healthy survival. Every person rich or poor would be interested in quality life with
full of health and vigor and so would the corporate class. Financial gain and
economic profit is the main aim of any corporate business. But harm to
environment cost by sustain business across the globe is realized now though off
late. This sense is building corporate citizenship in the business class. So green
marketing by the business class is still in the selfish anthological perspective of
long term sustainable business and to please the consumer and obtain the sanction
license by the governing body. Industries in Asian countries are catching the need
of green marketing from the developed countries but still there is a wide gap
between their understanding and implementation, so it is recommended that these
countries specially countries like INDIA and CHINA should take important steps
towards making green products more popular for the welfare of the society.

Suggestions

1) Green marketing in India requires more marketing.

2) Companies need to educate people about effectiveness of green products and

how people can contribute in a little manner for a good life.

3) Green products should be priced more efficiently to make them competitive

with existing products and options.

4) Companies need to target the right people for green products.

74
5) People should be compelled by government authorities to use green products
where applicable. For e.g ban on plastic bags, use of CNG in new delhi etc.

6) People should be awarded and recognized for using green products in small
ways to make them feel special and recognizing their contribution.

7) Examples should be used from the western world where people are now going
towards greener products much faster compared to the asia pacific region.

Learning Experience from the study

The study of the perception of consumers in India about the green products and
green marketing tells us that, Consumers in India are still not well aware about the
effectiveness of green products. In difficult times of inflation people are more
adhered to buy value for money products. They are lagging behind in the
knowledge and use of greener options to save the environment when compared to
their western counterparts who are running for these green and organic products
crazily. Indians need to be more informed about the practices of green products to
save the world from ill happenings like global warming for a better future of the
world as a whole.

Bibliography

75
 Polanski, M. J. "An Introduction to Green Marketing." Electronic Green
Journal 1, no. 2 (November 1994).
 Ottman, J A(Jan2004) “empower to the people”In business.
 Prakash, A. (May2002) “ Green Marketing, public policy and managerial
strategy”
 Ottman JA, Stafford ER, Hartman CL,(June-2006)” Avoiding Green
Marketing Myopia.

 Kotler, Philips & G. Armstrong. Principles of marketing. New Delhi,

Prentice Hall.

 Richa Agrawal, Green Marketing: An Emerging Trend (PJMR, Vol. 5,April

2000)

 www.ecomall.com

 www.greenmarketingcorner.com

 www.greenpeace.org

76
 Appendix

The questionnaire used for the research was as follows:-

Green marketing questionnaire

Name:
Age:
Occupation:

1) Do you know about green products?

a) Yes
b) No

2) How many times do you buy green products?

a) Always
b) Sometimes
c) Generally
d) Never

3) Do you feel responsible for environment around you?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Somewhat

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4) Would you spend more for a greener option?
a) Always
b) Sometimes
c) No I wont..

5) Do you think green products are a good choice or just an expensive

option?
a) Expensive
b) Good choice

6) How many times do you buy green products while making purchase?
a) Always
b) Never
c) Sometimes
d) generally

7) Would you mind spending extra money for a green product?

a) I wont pay extra
b) May be sometimes
c) I wont mind paying extra

8) Do you think green products are truly effective?

a) Yes
b) No

9) How many types of green products do you know about other than
stationary?
a) More than 10
b) More than 5
c) More than 3
d) More than 1

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 10) Does green marketing effect your buying behavior towards a product?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Sometimes

Questionnaire developed by Aditya Jain (ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUE

OF MANAGEMENT)

For project on green Marketing

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