*

ADVANCE
MARKETING
MANAGEMENT - 2

* Ch. 3
RURAL MARKETING

Topic :- Challenges of Rural Marketing

* INTRODUCTION :Rural markets with

substantial

improvement in

purchasing
power, increasing brand conscious, changing consumption pattern
and rapid spread
of communication
net
work offers vast
untapped
potential. It should also be recognized that it is not that easy
to
operate in rural markets. Because of several attendant problems and
inherent characteristics with in the rural markets, rural marketing
has
become a time consuming affair and requires considerable
investment in terms of availing appropriate strategies with a view to
tackle the problems. The major problems of rural markets are as
follows:

* DEFINITIONS : Rural marketing means selling rural products in rural

and urban areas agricultural input in rural markets.

*PROBLEMS / CHALLENGES

* Create Demand :Demand of rural market is not same as compare to urban

market. Because of low income level, low literacy rate etc.
Rural population is not afford urban product and unaware
about its product. So marketers faces to crate demand in rural
markets.

* Transportation
Problems :-

Transportation is essential for movement of products

from urban production centers to remote villages. In rural
India transportation facilities are quite poor. Nearly 80
percentages of villages in the country are not connected by
well constructed roads. Many parts of India have kuccha
roads. Due to poor transportation facilities it is not possible
for a marketer to access the rural market.

* Warehousing Problems :A storage function is necessary because there is a time

gap between production and consumption of commodities.
Agricultural commodities are produced seasonally but they
are demanded over the year so there is need to store them.
But in rural areas, there is lack of public as well as private
warehousing. Marketers face problems of storage of their
goods.

* Inadequate media
coverage :-

Media have lots of problem in rural areas.

Television is a good source to communicate the
message to rural people. But due to non availability
of power as well as television sets, majority of rural
population cannot get the benefits of various media.

* Many languages :India is a country of many languages. Language becomes

barrier in effective communication in the market efforts. The
number of languages vary from state to state, region to region
and district to district, etc. They are quite uncomfortable with
English and Hindi language. They can understand only in local
language.

* Traditional Life :Life in rural areas is still governed by customs and

traditions and people do not easily adapt new practices.

* Buying Decisions :Rural consumers are cautious in buying and decisions

are slow and delay. They like to give a trial and only
after being personally satisfied, do they buy the product.

* Middlemen Problems :In all the sectors, middlemen is the key element of
distribution, especially whole- sellers and retailers.
Generally, rural consumers are familiar to middlemen and
personal relations. But they are main objective is profit
making and not interested in customer service and
marketers images.

* Lack of Finance :In rural areas, banking facilities is

inadequate and one bank between fifty village.
Credit facility for farmers is quite inadequate
between the period of harvesting crop and
selling. Therefore, holding capacity of farmer
is very low. They immediately sell their crops
at a very low price. In the absence of money.

Low Literacy Rate :-

The literacy rate is low in rural areas as

compared to urban areas. Marketers face
communication problem due to the lack of
literacy rate. Print medium is not much
effective and it is irrelevant since its reach is
poor. So, low level of literacy becomes
challenge for marketers in rural areas.

2001
Difference
Overall India
Rural
Urban

64.8
58.7
79.9

2011

74.0
68.9
85.0

+9.2
+10.2
+5.1

* Unaware :Rural areas, people are unaware about

multinational product and its quality.
Approximately 55% rural households do not
have T.V. connectivity. So, regular advertising
through mass media tool is still a challenging
task for the marketer, for crate product
awareness.

* Seasonal demand :Seasonal demand is main problem of rural market.

Agriculture situation plays a significant role in the demand
of commodities in the rural market because it is the main
source of income. Again agriculture depends on monsoon so
buying capacity of rural consumers varies. Despite this,
many rural areas are not connected by rail transport.
Kuccha roads become unserviceable during monsoon.

Communication Problems :-

facility such as telephone, fax and telegram are rather

poor in rural areas. Print media is less applicable in rural
market. Media like wall painting, vehicle, hoarding etc. are
spread in retail area.

*Prepared By :Patadiya Ravi

*Thank You