Attitudes and Behavior

of Rural Consumer
Made by:-
Alisha Bajpai
Sakshi Pawariya
MBA(Business Economics), 3rdsem.
Session - 2011-2013
Institute of Business Management
CSJM University,kanpur
 Contents
Some facts about Rural
India

Characteristics of the Rural

Consumer
Some facts about Rural India
 Some facts about Rural India
• About of 70% India's population lives in rural
areas.
• There are more than 6,00,000 villages in the
country as against about 300 cities and 4600
towns.
• Rural consumers are different from urban
consumers.
 Some facts about Rural India
• Rural consumers of India are vastly diverse in
terms of religious, social, cultural and linguistic
factors.
Characteristics of the Rural Consumer

Age and stages of the life cycle

Occupation and Income
Economic Circumstances
Lifestyle and Culture
Personality and Self concept
Psychological factors
Information search and Pre purchase
evaluation
 Age and Stages of Life cycle
• The purchase of products and services is
influenced by age and life cycle stage of the
consumer.
• In India 85% of the population is below the
age of 45 and 55% of its population is below
25 years of age.
• 70% of this potential lies in rural India.
Consumption by age and life cycle stages : rural
vs urban
Product and services
Age Life cycle Urban Rural
stage
Below 12 Child Video games , chocolates , Toys , ice candy , daliya.
beverages/health drinks
13-19 Teenage Cell phones , motor cycles , Bicycle , television ,
internet cinema
20-40 Young Car , personal computer Motor cycle , telephone ,
,branded clothing , alcohol , tailored/unbranded
stores/malls clothes , local liquor ,
haat

40-60 Middle aged Luxury car , credit cards , Tractor , kisan credit card
insurance , holiday trips , postal savings , mela

Above 60 Old Clubs , theatre , parks Chaupal , playing cards ,

pilgrimage
Occupation and Income
 Occupation and Income
• In rural sector, Products beyond the very basic
ones are bought by a consumer influenced by
his occupation and income.
• Occupation leads to the income which effects
the consumption pattern.
 Occupation and Income
Rural occupation and consumption pattern
Occupation Contribution to Contribution to 2- Contribution to
TV ownership wheeler ownership refrigerators
(%) (%) (%)
Owner farmers 33 33 31
Shopkeeper/trader 14 16 20
Salary earner 31 39 40
Agri worker 6 3 2
Unskilled non-agri labourer 9 4 5
Artisans 6 4 2
Rest(livestock, fishery, milkman) 2 1 1
Source: NCAER data analysed by Bijapurkar and Murthy 1999
Economic Circumstances
 Economic Circumstances
• Purchasing power of an individual plays an
important role in choice of product.
• The fact that majority rural sector are self
employed increases the risk of stability of
income.
• His urban counter part enjoys a stable
monthly inflow of income.
 Economic Circumstances
• The saving habits in the rural sector include
fixed deposits and small savings in the bank
and post office.
• Villagers are still reluctant to go for credit
purchase as is hampers their reputation in
village.
• In a very real terms, a rural consumer has
more buying power than urban counterpart.
Life Style and Culture
 Life Style and Culture
• Activities – work, hobbies, social events
• Interests – food ,fashion, family, recreation
• Demographics – Age, education, geography
Personality and Self Concept
 Personality and Self Concept
• Personality is the sum total of unique
individual characteristics that reflect how a
person respond to his environment.
• There is a natural tendency to buy those
products which we think match with our
personality.
Psychological Factors
 Psychological Factors
• Rural consumer is quite content to satisfy his basic
needs.

Esteem needs

Social needs

Security needs

Basic needs
 Psychological Factors
• He is less adventurous to take risk.
• He is not driven by Status symbols, in order to
upgrade a better lifestyle.
Information search and Pre
purchase Evaluation
 Information search and Pre purchase
Evaluation
• Rural consumer gets his information from
opinion leaders and influencer, rather than
media.
• In the case of high involvement products, this
needs to b supplemented by an ‘out of village’
visit to a company outlet.
 References
• Rural marketing by Pradeep Kashyap and
Siddhartha Raut
• www.wikipedia.org
Thank you