I DESIGN OF THE STUDY....................... 1-23 1.1 Introduction......................................................................... 1

1.2 Review of Literature............................................................ 2

1.3 Statement of the problem ................................................... 12

1.4 Objectives of the study ....................................................... 14

1.5 Hypotheses......................................................................... 14

1.6 Methodology of the study ................................................... 14

1.7 Scope of the study.............................................................. 18

1.8 Limitations of the study....................................................... 19

1.9 Scheme of the study........................................................... 19

CHAPTER I

DESIGN OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Consumption is the soul and the purpose of all production. So Peter

Drucker was apt in saying, ‘it is the consumer who determines what the

business is1’. A consumer is one who does some physical activities and

deliberates to take decisions concerning purchase and to dispose off on to

evaluate products and services. Consumer behaviour reflects the totality of

consumer’s decisions with respect to acquisition, consumption and disposition

of goods, services, time and idea by (human) decision making units (over

time). It also includes whether, why, when, where, how, how much and how

often and how long consumer will use or dispose of an offering. The markets

are customer driven these days and the target of all marketing activities is

consumers. To understand the consumers, are not easy jobs as his behaviour

is mostly unique and unpredictable. This has made the firms to step into the

shoes of the customers and understands from his point of view selection and

purchase of products and services. Marketers need to identify the end users

of product and services and frame marketing plans than considering the

wholesalers and retailers who actually are the intermediaries in the process of

purchase. Marketers therefore should consider the consumers and then

develop their plans of action. Here lies the essence of marketing. The

consumer is the king and all actions should start with this notion in mind.

Market structure in India is dichotomous having rural and urban markets.

There are certain unique characteristic features which call for separating

marketing strategies to be distinctly developed to suit to rural and urban

market behaviours. This is especially because rural consumers differ in terms

of its consumption pattern, purchase decisions, purchase behaviour, attitudes

and perceptions towards products. The dominant economic peculiarities of

rural India may be also recognized in terms of the source of income

1

(Agriculture), the frequency of receipts of income (unstable because of the

dependence on monsoon) and the seasonal nature of income and

consumption (mainly farmers). These differences also affect the consumption

pattern of rural consumers.

Indian rural markets are estimated to be growing quickly compared to

urban markets. Being a new market, it could easily mend; provide the

manufacturers to develop an insight into the behavioural pattern of rural

consumers. The potential of rural markets is said to be like a woken up

sleeping giant. Currently rural markets account for 53 percent of the fast

moving consumer goods, 100 percent agriculture products and 59 percent of

durable goods market in India2. This stresses the need for developing and

offering products that are tailored to meet the needs of rural consumers.

1.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Rural marketing is an unexplored area compared to urban markets.

The reason is obvious. Marketing theories were originally developed in the

urban context focusing on urban consumers and urban products. However, a

review of available literature is quite essential in order to finalise the focus of

any research study. Below an attempt is made to review the available

literature on consumer behaviour classifying those under four heads:-

• Consumption pattern

• Factors influencing consumer choice

• Consumer decision making

• Post purchase behaviour

Consumption Pattern

Philip Kottler (1965)3 opined that all the models so far developed by

various scientists should be used in an integrated manner in order to

understand the consumer in general. In his opinion, buying patterns are being

influenced by price, quality, availability, service, style, option and image.

Depending on the product involved, different variables and behavioural

mechanisms assume different degrees of importance in influencing the

purchase decision process.

2

Kaul et al. (1977)4 in their study conducted in Punjab, analyzing the

rural and urban food consumption pattern found that consumption of relatively

superior food is positively correlated with the income level of the individuals.

The study also found that the usage of millets and to some extent cereals is

higher in rural areas.

Mahajan (1980)5 in his study on inter-regional homogeneity of

consumer behaviour in India revealed that consumer behaviour markedly

differ between the rural and urban sectors. It further revealed that inter

regional homogeneity in consumption seems to be realized at best in the case

of North India and Central India.

Ramesh and Tajinder (1987)6 while studying the extent of popularity

and nutritional contribution of processed fruit product among different socio-

economic groups observed that consumption of processed fruit products like

jam, squash and juice showed an increase with education of women.

Raut (1987)7 in his study on consumer’s attitudes towards

advertising pointed out that 89 per cent of the respondents believed that

advertising is useful to the consumers for giving convenient information about

the products and to increase consumer awareness. It also provides an

opportunity to the consumers to make comparison and make shopping easier

to the consumers.

Mani and Srinivasan (1990)8 in their analysis on buying behaviour

of consumers with respect to processed fruits and vegetables found that

majority of the consumers purchased jam in large quantity followed by

squash. Many consumers were loyal to a particular brand and were conscious

of quality (taste) than price or shelf life.

Raveendran (1990)9 in his study on marketing of coconut and its

products in Orissa State found that about 70 per cent of coconut oil arriving in

the market in 15 kg and 5 kg tins are traded in rural areas. The main

consumers are middle class and lower class population. Among the upper

class both in urban and rural areas the preference for small packs are

increasing.

3

Ramachandran10 et al. (1996) in their study found that coconut oil is

the most preferred oil for edible and toiletry purposes. Higher income groups

make monthly purchases, whereas lower income groups purchase weekly.

Palm oil is the second preference among other edible oils. Home made oils

are used because of low cost availability of by-products and purity. Purchase

of other edible oils was due to the fluctuations in price than health factors.

Katy and Dipika (1997)11 in their study attempted to analyse

consumer’s purchase behaviour over two periods in the cities of Mumbai,

Calcutta and Delhi. The study showed that while segmenting market on the

basis of consumption pattern of various product categories Calcutta seemed

to be opting for reduced consumption as a way of economizing rather than

downgrading on product quality.

Bagozzi and Dholakia (1999)12 found that goals played an essential

role in purchase behaviour of consumers and can be traded in the marketing

of durables, non-durables, services and even ideas or persons. They also

pointed out that goals provide a conceptual framework for thinking, influence

decision making and guide consumer choice and action.

Kishore and Nabi (2000)13 in the study “television industry a cut

throat competition” opined that durable product marketers (including

television) do not enjoy considerable flexibility in the matter of price because

of highly competitive markets on the one hand and high price sensitivity of the

major chunk of Indian consumers on the other. They also inferred that just like

price, the consumers attach considerable significance to the brand image

while purchasing a durable product like television. Essentially, television is a

branded product and consumers always go for established brand names.

Rodge (2001)14 finds that the rural consumers give more

importance to the advertisements compared to urban consumers. Both rural

and urban groups found that all the advertising media are equally important

and effective.

Sathya Sundaram (2002)15 has reviewed that a silent revolution is

taking place in rural areas where the majority of the population lives. The

consumption patterns and preferences of the rural consumers are changing.

4

The rural population is being influenced by television advertisement

campaigns. Moreover, the farm sector is having tremendous amount of

accumulated disposable income. Of course, the real challenge lies in

understanding the actual needs of rural consumers.

Ruchi Treham and Harmandeep Singh (2003)16 pointed out that

Indian market is a huge market with lot of potential in it. Nearly 70 per cent of

the population lives in rural areas. They also pointed out that Indian markets

have both urban and rural characters. Both markets significantly differ from

one another while considering general and product specific factors and

making their purchase decisions.

Kuldeep Singh and Varshney (2003)17, in their study observed that

shrinking market share and reduction in sale do not mean consumers have

actually been cutting back on their use of toilet soaps. They also stated that it

is not the lack of awareness but lack of affordability which restricts consumers

from buying toilet soaps.

Polegato and Zaichkowsky (2004)18 observed that husbands are

seen increasingly willing to take on food shopping and revealed that 25 to 45

per cent of husbands share family food shopping role with their wives.

K.C.Raju ((2005)19 studied the budget share among different

items of consumption of rural Kerala over a period from 1972-2000, by

estimating monthly per capita expenditure at 93-94 prices. He estimated 10

broad groups of items and their percentage to total expenditure. He found that

in rural Kerala there has been a general increase in the total expenditure on

food and non food items over the years. But the proportion of food

expenditure on non food items over the period is quite visible.

Vijayakumar (2005) 20 found that the age group of people is an

important criterion to determine the consumption pattern of carbonated soft

drinks. It is also pointed out that age, marital status; occupation and family

income were significantly related to the monthly spending on soft drinks.

Factors Influencing Consumer Choice

According to Singh and Singhal (1986)21 a well designed packaging

acts as the main identifying feature for quality and quantity and make the

5

consumers more informative and choosy. It further informs the consumers as

to what quality, quantity and price, the package is worth off.

Bhavani Prasad and Sitakumari (1987) 22 while evaluating the

impact of advertising on consumer durables market observed that ‘friends’ is

the main influence followed by relatives and hence they should be given more

emphasis while planning promotion strategies. Advertisement is the next

major influencing factor for the consumer durables.

Hundal and Sandhu (1987)23 in their study on buying behaviour of

television buyers in Punjab identified reasonable price as the major factor

which influences the brand preference among the consumers. They also

added that friends and relatives are the major influence in selecting a brand.

Venkatesharlu et al. (1987)24 in their study on factors influencing

consumer decision making process towards biscuits found that sample

consumers mostly purchased biscuits at least once in a week. Consumers

preferred packed biscuits to loose ones and small packets to big ones.

Parents and children were more or less equally involved in decision making.

Consumers perceived quality and taste were important influencing variables

that determined brand loyalty. Kramar (1988)25 stated that the recent trends

appeared motivated by nutritional food safety perceptions, and health

concerns were not the only factors. He also observed that taste, price,

convenience, variety and quality were also important. He found that the

consumers were increasingly demanding safe and nutritious food

appropriately processed, labeled and certified.

Xavier (1991)26 in his study to determine the chief influence in the

family decision process found that in more than half of the households

husband is the major influence. In households with college going children,

they influenced the decision process highly. He also determined the major

factors which have a bearing on the television purchase decision process

such as picture sharpness, sound, quality, appearance and brand reputation.

Kinnucan et al. (1993)27 found that quality and flavour perception

were important determinants for purchasing catfish. Convenience was an

important factor influencing the decision to purchase lobster. Nutritional value

6

and health considerations were important determinants in the decision to

purchase shrimp in the United States.

Metwally (1994)28 in his research paper attempted to determine the

main factors affecting the decision of import agents in the Middle East to

import consumer goods from a specific country using discriminant analysis. It

was found that quality, price and credit facilities were the most important

discriminators between the two groups of agents.

Mohammed Abdul Naseem (1996)29 in his study referred that brand

name, picture, quality, price, availability, service, design, sound system and

number of channels were the factors that influenced purchase of television.

Majority of respondents were aware of the existence of multinational

companies also. The study also revealed that when India television choice is

made most on quality basis, multinational television choice is made nearly on

brand name basis.

Rao (1997)30 who studied the purchase timing of consumer

durables observed that influence of advertisement, absence of servant maid

help, life style changes etc. are the factors that are mostly agreed by the

consumers as the factors that influenced the purchase of durables. He also

identified income as an important factor influencing the purchase. Consumers

in all income groups felt that company reputation and product or brand image

played an important role in their purchase decisions. The study also revealed

that higher income group is influenced more by word of mouth while lower and

middle income groups are influenced by dealer recommendations.

Raka and Arora (1997)31 who examined the buying behaviour

towards processed fruits and vegetables products, identified taste as the most

important factor which influences the purchase decision followed by price and

quality.

Kempt and Smith (1998)32 observed that consumers first usage

experience with a brand is a critical factor in determining brand beliefs,

attitudes and purchase intention.

7

Subbalekshmi (1999)33 observed that rural consumers in general

were influenced by the packing of the product where as urban consumers by

the promotion and product features like taste of the product.

Gupta and Verma (2000)34 examined the influence of husband, wife

and children and the interaction between them in the purchase decision

process. The study also focused on the influence of socio-economic variables

like age, education, income and employment in the decision dimensions and

found that income of the family and women employment is the major factor

influencing family decision making. In the purchase decisions, husbands tend

to concern themselves with relatively important and functional product

attributes like price while wives concentrate on relatively minor aesthetic

product attributes like colour. He also pointed out that financial resources that

husband or wife brings to the household also influence household decisions.

Rodge (2001)35 finds that are the rural consumers attach more

importance to the advertisement and its impact as compared to urban

consumers. He also point out that rural consumers are more influenced by

electronic media than print media.

Kumar (2003) 36 revealed that the majority of consumers are highly

enlightened and are concerned of quality of the products. He also revealed

that the consumers uniformly, both in urban and rural areas, desire to have

quality of the products at reasonable price and trust more the advice of the

retailers.

Consumer Decision Making

Davis and Rigux (1974)37 inferred in study on husband-wife

influence on problem recognition, information search and final decision of

customer choices that there is a clear pattern of wife dominance in decision

making regarding kitchenware, household cleaning products, food, wife and

children’s clothing.

Gupta and Singh (1989)38 in their study on consumer brand choice

behaviour for television observed that majority of consumers owned black and

white televisions. Durability, brand image and price were the reasons for

preference followed by family liking and after sale service.

8

Thanulingam and Kochadai (1989)39 while studying the awareness

of consumers towards food products, drugs, cosmetic and certain services

like banking services, life insurance etc. found that consumers make purchase

decisions before buying food items. They look for the label on food products,

demand product information at the time of purchase and give importance to

trade marks and quality.

Nabi and Raut (1990)40 made a study to examine the influence of

various media in the consumer decision making process particularly of

television buyers opined that television and news paper are the two effective

media used for advertising television. Income-wise analysis also showed that

television is considered as the most effective media by all the respondents

irrespective of income differences.

Skinner (1990)41 opined that when a consumer purchases an

unfamiliar expensive product he uses a large number of criteria to evaluate

alternative brands and spends a great deal of time seeking information and

deciding on the purchase. The type of decision making used varied from

person to person and from product to product.

Sathyaraju (1992)42 who made a study on the refrigerator market

in Kerala observed that around 44 per cent of the decision regarding

refrigerators purchase is taken by a decision making unit consists of husband

and wife. Brand choice was influenced mainly by factors like good

compressor, price, durability, word of mouth, etc. He also pointed out that

capacity is an important factor in refrigerator purchase and 88 per cent of the

buyers preferred 165 liters capacity.

William and Narasimham (1994)43 developed a theory of the

evolution of choice decision for consumer durable products which addressed

information acquisition behaviour and the duration of the purchase

deliberation process itself.

Jayasankar (1995)44 while examining the performance of BPL found

that despite the minor role played by impulse in the purchase decision of

consumer durables, emotional involvement had also been found important in

9

recent years. Involvement refers to the personal relevance or importance of a

product or service that a consumer perceives in a given situation.

Freda (1995)45 observed that for a consumer durable good, the

family members together decide on the product to be purchased, brand and

shop.

Bronnenberg et al. (1996)46 in their article observed that it is

becoming increasingly evident that a consumers brand choice decision in low

involvement categories does not involve full search, evaluation and

comparison of price of all brands available at the point of purchase. The

authors proposed a two-stage choice in which consumer first identifies a

subset of brands within the universal set of brands called the choice set and

then evaluates only those brands that are in the choice set relative to one

another to select a single brand.

Kulkarni and Murali (1996)47 in their study on purchasing practices

of consumers of Parbhani town observed that majority of the household’s

purchases were done by husband alone followed by husband and wife jointly.

Most of the consumers preferred quality of the goods, while purchasing

adopted cash payment method and brought the goods from retail shops.

Yadav (1998)48 opined that the decision for buying vegetables for

family consumption is dominated by wife, influenced by the likes and dislikes

of the family members and by the influence of electronic media on the

children.

Venkateswaralu and Rao (2000)49 in their study opined that the role

of women in decision making for consumer non-durables is high and in the

case of durables both husband and wife decide together.

Verma and Israney (2000)50 conducted a survey to find out the

consumers attitude towards the advertisement messages revealed that the

general attitude of the majority of consumers is favourable towards

advertisement messages. They also pointed out that it is not easy for

advertisers to persuade adult consumers to shift their brand preferences

based on product advertisement alone.

10

Raju and Saravanan (2001)51 pointed out that most of the families

take purchase decisions collectively in the case of consumer durables and

revealed that advertisement or publicity through mass media proves to be the

best source of reaching the public closely followed by information from friends

and relatives.

Gaur and Vaheed (2002)52 observed that consumers buying

behaviour normally should include the less observable decision process that

accompany consumption including where, how often and under what

conditions consumers make their purchase of desired goods and services.

Vikas Sarab (2003)53 in his study opined that brands are successful

because the people prefer them to ordinary products. In addition to the

psychological factors, brands give consumers the means whereby they can

make choice and judgments. Customers can then rely on chosen brands to

guarantee standard quality and services. People believe that the brand itself

is something that changes consumer behaviour.

Post Purchase Behaviour / Brand Loyalty

Singh (1980)54 examined consumer’s store loyalty and preferences

in his study and revealed that nearness, reputation of the store and

acquaintance with store owner attracted store loyalty. While analyzing

correlation between store loyalty and brand loyalty, store loyalty was found

stronger than the other.

Singh and Singh (1981)55, while studying the brand loyalty in India

observed that single brand loyalty is very less and dual or multi brand loyalty

is existing now. He also ranked reasons for loyalty based on importance of

factors such as quality, previous usage, availability and company/brand

reputation.

Holbrook et al. (1982)56 opined that variety seeking or exploratory

purchase behaviour are to be explained by experimental or hedonic motives

rather than by utilitarian aspects of consumption. Preference towards new

varieties has been identified as a determinant factor in brand switching.

Singh and Prabhakar (1989)57 stated that on the basis of consumer

perception a consumer would take the purchase decision and a particular

11

brand was getting priority over other brands. They also observed that the

marketers realized the importance of consumer perception and attempted to

create a unique image for their products, which enable to achieve an

advantage over their competitors’ products.

Jagdish et al. (1991)58 who studied customer satisfaction on Allwyn

trendy watches identifies certain unique features which influence the

consumers especially the youngsters such as light weight, water proof, wide

choice of designs and colours, accurate indication of time and flexibility to

change cases and straps.

Broudbridge and Morgan (2001)59 in their study on consumer

buying behaviour of and perception towards retail brand baby products found

that consumers need to feel confident with the product in terms of reliability

and performance and brand names provided this assurance of quality with

baby products. Further it appeared that the more distinctive a brand

positioning is, the less likelihood that the consumers will accept a substitute or

own brands.

From the above review of literature, three main gaps are identified.

Firstly majority of the studies are neither based on sound theory nor on a

rigorous methodology. The studies seem to be adhoc in nature. Secondly

rural based studies are very limited. This is a big research gap in Indian

marketing research despite the domination of the rural areas in the country.

Thirdly Kerala based studies are meager. The scholar could trace only one

piece of literature relating to Kerala state. There are a few more studies on

Kerala but they are more emphasising on consumer expenditure rather than

consumer dynamics (marketing approach). These arguments validate the

need of the present study.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Rural consuming system and its evolution are different from that of

urban consumption. Material prosperity in the rural India due to the effect of

liberalization and globalization, resulted in increased production and improved

transportation and communication facilities. Increased rural development

investment has increased the purchasing power of the rural folks. The

12

increased purchasing power changes the dynamics of rural consumption

behaviour .Thus; it is worth to examine how the rural consumers are being

motivated, how far these determinants differ from urban consumers and how

far the socio-economic cultural factors are influencing the rural consumers. A

thorough understanding of rural consumer behaviour would help in identifying

different market segments and to evolve suitable marketing strategies for

effectively penetrating and thereby to command a respectable share in rural

markets. In India the rural markets are spread over about 6 lakhs villages

across 28 states. Certain states like Bihar and Orissa are over dominated by

rural characteristics. Other state like Maharashtra and Gujarat are more urban

oriented.

Kerala’s economy is distinguished from the rest of the country due to

certain unique characteristics like rapid growth of population, highest density

ratio, greater share of non-agricultural equipments, high level of literacy,

health conditions, higher level of infrastructure, adaptation of technological

advancement in communication, high level of urbanization etc. Although

Kerala is lagging behind many other Indian states and territories in terms of

per capita GDP and economic productivity, Kerala’s Human Development

Index [HDI] and standard of living statistics are the best in India. In the four of

the most important social indicators of social development, adult literacy, life

expectancy, infant mortality and birth rates, Kerala is not only far ahead of

India and every other Indian state, but it also stands out among the low

income countries of the world and even on a par with some middle income

European countries. Moreover Kerala’s achievements are distributed equally

across urban – rural, male – female and low caste/ high caste population. In

this respect, Kerala outshines the rest of India. Kerala’s share in the

population of India is 3.1 per cent; out of this 74 per cent live in rural Kerala.

This shows the vast potential of rural market in Kerala60. Because of the

development profile and spatial advantage of the state, rural consumers of

Kerala expresses a distinct behaviour when compared to a typical rural

consumer. Therefore the study of rural consumers in Kerala assumes

importance so as to assess their specific characteristics and consumption

13

behaviour. The study looks into the ‘Dynamics of Rural Consumer Behaviour

in Kerala’.

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1) To assess the socio economic profile of rural consumers.

2) To examine the pre-purchase, purchase and post purchase

behaviour of rural consumers towards consumer durables.

3) To examine the pre-purchase, purchase and post purchase

behaviour of rural consumers towards consumer non durables.

4) To identify the factors influencing the purchase decision of rural

consumers towards consumer durables and non durables.

1.5 HYPOTHESES

1) The level of satisfaction differs with respect to selected products

and with respect to selected variables.

2) The level of satisfaction differs between regions with respect to the

selected products.

3) Inter regional disparity exists among the factors influencing the

purchase decision of consumer durables and non-durables.

4) Factors determining the purchase decision of rural consumers are

different for durables and non-durables.

1.6 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

The methods and procedures adopted in conducting the research are

presented under following heads.

APPROACH: Consumer’s behaviour studies can be attempted either

from the economics theory angle or marketing approach angle. Marketing

approach is empirical and practical in nature. The present study follows

marketing approach.

14

Locale of the study:

The study was confined to three districts of Kerala representing north,

south and central zones. The districts selected were Thiruvanadapuram

,Thrissur and Wayanad based on the prominence of its rural characteristics.

Through multi stage sampling procedure one panchayath from each district

and three wards of each panchayath were selected. Based this sampling

frame on the present study was confined to Athiyannoor Panchayath of

Trivandrum District, Mattathur Panchayat of Thrissur District and Pulpally

Panchayath of Wayanad District.

Selection of the sample respondents:

From each of the above panchayaths three wards were selected at

random from each Panchayath. Random sampling method was adopted to

select the respondents .From each Panchayath 100 consumers were selected

from the selected wards. Thus a total of 300 household consumers

constituted the sample of the study.

Data collection:

Data collection was made during the year 2005. A structured interview

schedule was prepared after extensive review of literature and discussions

with experts in the area. Based on the review, modifications were made and

the resulted schedule was pre tested among the non sample respondents at

Thrissur region and based on that final interview schedule was prepared.

Selection of the Products:

For the purpose of research both durable and non durable products

were selected. After conducting a pilot study among the selected areas the

mostly used consumer durables and commonly used non durables among the

five classifications were identified and selected for the study. Television,

Pressure Cooker, Gas Stove, Wrist Watch and Fan were taken under durable

category. The selection of non durables were made by classifying the

products under five common categories viz. food items, toiletries, beverages,

processed fruits and vegetables and edible oil and from each category two

products were selected. The products include wheat flour and rava (food

items), bath soap and toothpaste (toiletries) tea and coffee (Beverages) jam

15

and pickle (processed fruits and vegetables and coconut oil and palm oil

(Edible oil).

Selection and measurement of variables:

To assess the socio economic profile the variables like age, sex, education,

occupation, family size etc. were taken into account. The variables were selected to

identify the factors affecting purchase decisions/consumer choice, both for durable and

non durable products based on a pilot study. For the purpose of measuring the level of

satisfaction two sets of variables were also identified for both durables and non durables.

Statistical tools used for the study:

Following statistical tools were employed to analyse the data.

1. Index

For analysing the satisfaction out of the selected products by the

respondents, satisfaction indices were calculated based on Likert Scale.

∑

∑ ∑= =

=

sjmax

Sijx SI11

1 j 1 j

3100

Where,

i

j

sj

sjj

max sj

=

=

=

=

=

respondents

factors

score of the jth factor

total score for the jth factor of the ith respondents

maximum score for the jth factor

Index Zones

< 33.33 Less satisfied

33 – 66.66 Moderately satisfied

66.66 Highly satisfied

16

2. Kendall’s coefficient concordance

To understand the concordance/agreement among the judges in ranking

the factors influencing the purchase decision and product features

influencing consumer choice, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was

used.

Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) was calculated by using the

formula:

N) - (N K

S W3

121 2

=

Where,

N = Number of objects

K = Number of judges

∑= 2Rj) - Rj ( S

X2 was computed for testing the significance of ‘W’ by using the formula:

W)1 - N( K X2 =

3. Friedman Test

For knowing the inter regional differences in the factors influencing the

purchase decision of consumers and product features influencing

consumer choice, Friedman test was used as follows:

Let ( Xij) be the rank from I to K assigned to Xij with in the block 1 for

the ith row.

( ) ( ) 2

∑=

⎟⎟⎠

⎞⎜⎜⎝

⎛⎟⎠⎞

⎜⎝⎛ +

+=

1

1 j

2 2

1 K b - Rj 1) (K bk

12 FX

17

Where,

b = Number of blocks

K = Number of attributes

Kruskal – Wallis test

The Kruskal – Wallis one way analysis of variance by ranks is an

extremely useful test for deciding whether the independent samples are from

different populations. It will explain whether the differences amongst samples

signify genuine population differences or whether they represent merely

random samples from the same population. The Kruskal – Wallis test was

applied here by using the formula:

1) (N 3 - nj

Rj nj 1) (N N

12 Hk

1 n

2+

+= ∑

=

Where,

K

nj

N

Rj

=

=

=

=

number of samples

number of ∑ in jth sample

∑nj, the number of cases in all samples combined

Sum of ranks in jth samples

∑=

k

1 ndirects one to sum over the K samples.

1.7. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Dynamics of rural consumer behaviour is a very complex area.

However the scope of the present study is limited to three stages pre

purchase, purchase and post purchase. The spatial coverage is limited to only

three panchayats. The consumer durable and non durable ranges are limited

to five and ten respectively.

18

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.

1) Only few durables and non durables are selected considering the

volume of the study.

2) The reasons for brand preference with respect to each brand have

not attempt because of the usage of large number of brands for each

sample products.

3) As the sample rural areas could have the influence of nearby urban

areas, a purely rural behavioural pattern could not be drawn.

1.9 SCHEME OF THE STUDY

The scheme of the study consists of seven chapters. Chapter one

deals with statement of the problem, objectives, hypothesis , review of

literature, methodology, scope and limitations of the study. Second Chapter

gives the theoretical frame work of consumer behaviour. An overview of rural

marketing in India is given in the 3rd Chapter. The analysis parts are given in

the next three chapters and final chapter presents summary, findings and

conclusions of the study.

References:

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