Successful marketing strategy begins with an understanding of the market consisting of the customers with different life styles, background and income levels for the goods and services. With the advent of new technology, improving maturity in thinking and living conditions of people, the expanding horizons of marketing, the intensifying competition is satisfying consumers with myriad of products and services and the raising levels of standard of living altogether constitute a new era of marketing. As a result marketers have to adopt a new philosophy, new organization practices, and new strategic approaches to achieve their goals (Krishnamacharyulu and Ramakrishnan, 2006). The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target customers needs and provide them better services. In order to succeed in a dynamic and increasingly complex marketing environment where individuals and businesses are faced with more and more choices, marketers have an urgent need to learn and anticipate whatever they can do better for their consumers. Because consumer is the foundation of every business and what consumers sees, thinks, prefers and buys are of great importance of marketers to fine tune their marketing offers and achieve high level of consumer acceptance and satisfaction. Consumer is the pivotal around which the entire business revolves and consumers differ in how they make purchase decision owing to variables such as type of family, income and occupation, status, etc., and the role of individual plays in the decision process (Hundal, 2008). According to Boone and Kurtz (200), Consumer behavior is the outcome of both individual and environmental influences Therefore, understanding of consumer behaviour, which leads to purchase, is very important. The term consumer behaviour is a subset of human behaviour. However, it does not mean that all human behaviour is oriented towards consumption. Therefore understanding the consumers behaviour and their buying process are the essential task of marketing managers.Consumer behaviour research is an effective tool in marketing for all sorts of organization. It provides clue as how to reach and serve the consumers more efficiently. Consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals and groups and organizations select, buy use and dispose of goods and services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. Studying consumers provide clue for improving or introducing products or services, setting prices, devising channels, constructing messages and developing other marketing activities. Successful marketing requires that companies fully connect with their customers. Understanding consumers gaining a 360 Degree view of both their daily lives and the changes that occur during their lifetimes. Gaining a through, in-depth consumer understanding helps to ensure that the right products are marketed to the right consumers in the right way (Kotler and Keller ). Consumers usually follow the typical buying process that consists of a sequence of events such as problem recognition, information search and evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behaviour. Marketers want to develop products and services to help consumers in order to solve problems rather than the nature of information search that consumers undertake in a particular target market. In addition to this, marketers can also understand different types of evaluation criteria used by the consumers such as various dimensions on products, its features characteristics, and benefits to solve a specific problem. Consequently marketers have to go beyond the mixture of influences on buyers and develop an understanding of how consumers actually make their buying decisions. Consumer decision making is one of the central themes of psychological economics (Sharp and Mott, 1986). The duration and the effort that the consumers devote to a particular decision depend on the importance of the desired good or services to them. Routine purchases that pose little risk to the consumer are called low - involvement decisions. Non-durable goods such as grocery, vegetables, clothes etc., are the products used for daily consumption can be called low-involvement product. On the other hand, purchases with high level of potential, social or economic consequences are said to be high involvement purchase decisions. Consumers generally spend more time and effort in buying decision for high - involvement products than that of low - involvement products. The number of family members involve in low - involvement products is very modest. On the other hand high - involvement purchase are considered very important by consumers where two or more family members are directly or indirectly involved in the decision - making process. Family is an important consumption and spending unit. In addition, families constitute an important economic and social unit that affects consumption decisions of individual family members. The family group is perhaps the most important determinant of consumer behaviour, because of the intricate, continuing interaction among family members. The large number of purchase decisions is influenced by consumers interaction with the reference groups such as family, friends and relatives. However of all reference groups, the family is one of the strongest, immediate and most pervasive effects on consumers personality, motivation and attitude (Kumar and Singh, 2004). Marketing success or failure depends on target consumers reactions expressed in terms of buying patterns. The consumer, the most critical component in marketing strategy of an enterprise, needs to be studied in detail. In order to understand marketing we must understand how the consumer decides in favour of one brand or product, what motivates the consumer to select an alternative, and who influences the consumer to buy the brand or product (Saxena, 2008).The individuals specific behaviour in the market place is affected by internal factors such as needs, motives, perceptions and attitudes, as well as by external factors - family, social groups, culture and economic influences. The family defines purchase needs and inputs financial strains within which the buying is to be done making consumer non-durable purchases in families encompass participation of various family members. Different members play different roles, viz, the person who senses the need for purchases is called initiator and one who in the family seek information before purchases about the brand, features, prices etc., is called information seeker. Influencer is who induces for purchases and the member who contributes finance for the purchases is called financial contributors. Finally, the member who decides the purchases is called decider (Suri and Mamoria, 2005). Generally, the marketers are interested to know in the families, whether one member in the family is making effort to initiate to buy the product in his/her family or not? Are all having the ability to collect and process information relating to the products? Among the family members who influences the buying decision? Actually who is financing for the purchases in most of families, in addition, who makes the buying decision? It may be stated that in the process of buying, different individuals may be involved or only one member may do all the tasks. Buying decisions are also strongly influenced by variables such as cultural, social and personal factors, age, occupation, education and economic situation (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2008). The dressing style, food habits and celebration of festivals by the consumer greatly depends on the religious practices followed by him/her. Thus the consumption pattern of the Indian consumer is based on the values, beliefs and customs inculcated in each person right from the time of birth. Hence an understanding of the profile of an Indian consumer will enable marketers to design suitable marketing mix strategies for selling goods and services to the target market (Nair, 1999). The field of consumer behaviour studies how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires. Studying consumers provides clues for improving or introducing products or services, setting prices, devising channels, crafting messages, and developing other marketing activities (Kotler and Keller, 2008). The consumer buyer behaviour is the buying behaviour of final consumerindividuals and households who buys goods and services for personal consumption. There is no question about it consumers are paramount to the economy. All marketing decisions are based on assumptions about consumer behaviour [Hawkins et al., 2001, Mulkern, 2001; and Labbe, 2000]. In order to create value for consumers and profits for organisations, marketers need to understand why consumers behave in certain ways to a variety of product and services offered. The study of consumer behavior focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption-related items (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2008). Consumer Behaviour DefinitionThe field of consumer behavior covers a lot of ground. According to Solomon (1996), consumer behavior is a study of the processes involved when individuals or groups select, purchase, use, or dispose of products, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy needs and desires. The official definition of consumer behavior given by Belch (1998) is the process and activities people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and desires. Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group, or an organization. Consumer behavior involves the use and disposal of products as well as the study of how they are purchased. Product use is often of great interest to the marketer, because this may influence how a product is best positioned or how we can encourage increased consumption.The American marketing Association defines consumer behaviour as the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives According to Du Plessis (1991) consumer behaviour comprises the behaviour patterns of decision units (individuals as well as families) which precede, determine and follow on the decision process for acquisition of need- satisfying products, ideas and services.According to Hawkins, Best and Coney (1992) the key to successful marketing strategies is a thorough understanding of consumer behaviour. An understanding of consumer behaviour includes observable behaviour such as amount purchases, when, with whom, by whom and how purchases are consumed. It also includes non-observable variables such as the consumers value, personal needs, perceptions, what information they have in memory, how they obtain and process information, how they evaluate alternatives and how they feel about the ownership and use of various products (Hawkins, Best and Coney 1992). The theories of consumer decision-making process assume that the consumers purchase decision process consists of steps through which the buyer passes in purchasing a product or service. However, this might not be the case. Not every consumer passed through all these stages when making a decision to purchase and in fact, some of the stages can be skipped depending on the type of purchases. The reasons for the study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies by understanding issues such as: The psychology of how consumers think, feel, reason, and select between different alternatives (e.g., brands, products); The psychology of how the consumer is influenced by his or her environment (e.g., culture, family, signs, media); The behavior of consumers while shopping or making other marketing decisions; Limitations in consumer knowledge or information processing abilities influence decisions and marketing outcome; How consumers motivation and decision strategies differ between products, that differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer; and How marketers can adapt and improve their marketing campaigns and marketing strategies to more effectively reach the consumer. Models of consumer behaviourUnderstanding consumer behaviour and knowing customers, have and never will be simple. Consumers may say one thing but do another. They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations. They may respond to influences that change their mind at the last minute. These issues have lead to theories like that of the black box approach taken on by Futrell [2000:67]. It refers to how marketers are not able to tap into consumer minds, thus keeping them in the dark. In other words, marketers can apply various stimuli and observe the conduct of consumers, but they cannot observe the consumers actual thought processes. This hidden information is considered to be the black box. In an attempt to obtain some understanding, marketers study consumer behaviour. Many researchers [Hawkins et al. 2001; Bearden et al. 1997; and Engel et al., 1995] describe consumer behaviour as the study of individuals or groups and the mental, emotional and physical processes they use to select, obtain, consume and dispose of products or services, to satisfy needs and wants, and the impact that these processes have on the consumer and society.At one time, marketers could understand consumers through the daily experience of selling to them. But the growth of FMCG companies and markets has removed many marketing managers from direct contact with customers. Increasingly, managers have had to rely on the 7 Os framework for consumer research to answer the following key questions about any market: Who constitutes the market? Occupants What does the market buy? Objects Why does the market buy? Objectives Who participates in the buying? Organizations How does the market buy? Operations When does the market buy? Occasions Where does the market buy? Outlets Andreason (1965) proposed one of the earliest models of consumer behavior. This model is shown in Figure 1.1.The model recognizes the importance of information in the consumer decision-making process. It also emphasizes the importance of consumer attitudes although it fails to consider attitudes in relation to repeat purchase behavior.

No actionSelect Search Yes ConstraintsInformation storageIntrinsic attributesExtrinsic attributesPrice availabilityAdvocate impersonal sourcesIndependent impersonal sourcesAdvocate personal sourcesIndependent personal sourcesAttitudes towards sourcesFiltrationPersonality Direct experienceBeliefs Wants Want strengthFeelings Disposition Perceived beliefs, Norms, Values of significant others.Other customer Decision-makersAttitudes towards product, substitutes, complementIncome, budget piorities, physical capacity, household capacityOwnership Other purchase decisionsHold Key Direct Flows FeedbacksNo

Figure 1.1 Andreason, A.R (1965 Attitudes and Consumer Behavior: A Decision Model in New Research in Marketing (ed. l. Preston). Institute of Business and Economic Research, University of California, Berkeley, pp.1-61There are numerous models trying to explain consumer behaviour. These models generally deal with various stimuli, influential factors, the decision-making process and outcomes. Some models are very basic and categories all variables such as the one proposed by Kotlers [2000:161], which is illustrated in figure 1.2.The starting point for understanding buyer behavior is stimulus-response model shown below. Marketing and environmental stimuli enter the buyers consciousness. The buyers characteristics and decision process lead to certain purchase decisions. The Marketers task is to understand what happens in the buyers consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli and the buyers purchase decisions. They must answer two questions:How do the buyers characteristics-cultural, social, personal, and psychological-influence buying behavior?How does the buyer make purchasing decisions? Marketing stimuliOther stimuliBuyers characteristicsBuyers decision processBuyers decision

Product Price PlacePromotionEconomic TechnologicalPoliticalCulturalCultural SocialPersonalPsychologicalProblem Recognition Information search Evaluation Decision Post Purchase Behaviour Product choiceBrand choiceDealer choicePurchase TimingPurchase amount

Figure 1.2: Source: Kotler, P., 2000, Marketing management, Millennium edition, U.S.A.: Prentice-Hall, p. 161.Figure 1.2 shows how the marketing mix and other stimuli enter a consumers thoughts. The consumer then has to make certain decisions, which are directly influenced by their personal characteristics. For a marketer, the ideal end result would see the consumer making a purchase.Other models contain more detail and would focus on specific issues as demonstrated by Engel et al. [1995:154] and Hawkins et al. [2001:26] in figure 1.3 and figure 1.4 respectively.

Figure 1.3: Source: Engel J.F., Blackwell, R.D., Miniard, P.W., 1995, Consumer behavior, 8th edition, U.S.A.: Dryden Press, p. 155.Figure 1.3 indicates the impact of environmental influences and individual differences on the consumer. They play an important role when it comes to the decision-making process. This process spurs on a consumers memory recall, which can then be used in carrying out a purchase and deciding whether it was a satisfactory action or not.

Figure 1.4: Source: Hawkins, D.I., Best, R.J., Coney, K.A., 2001, Consumer behavior, 8th edition, New York, U.S.A.: McGraw-Hill, p. 26.In figure 1.4 a persons self-concept and lifestyle is the central role of consumer behaviour. External and internal influences can produce and affect needs and desires, ultimately affecting the decision-making process. As this cycle of need satisfying takes place, the consumer gains experience. Gilbert (1991) suggested a model for consumer decision-making in which is shown in Figure 1.5 This model suggests that there are two levels of factors that have an effect on the consumer. The first level of influences is close to the person and includes psychological influence such as perception and learning. The second level of influences includes those, which have been developed during the socialization process and include reference groups and family influences. All these models that have been adapted for tourism offer some into the consumer behavior process involved during the purchase post-purchase decision stages.

Consumer orDecision-makerSocioeconomic influencesCultural influencesFamily influencesReference group influencesMotivation or energizersPersonality/ attitudePerceptionLearning

Figure 2.10 Consumer Decision-Making Framework Figure 1.5: Source: Gilbert, (1991) In Cooper (Ed.). Pp.78-105THE BUYER DECISION PROCESSThe buyer decision process consist of Five Stages-: Need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post purchase behaviour. Clearly the buying process starts long before actual purchase and continues long after. Marketer need to focus on the entire buying process rather than on just the purchase decision. NEED RECOGNITION- The first stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer recognizes a problem or need of FMCG.INFORMATION SEARCH- The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer is aroused to search for more information; the consumer may simply have heightened attention or may go into active information search to the product.EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES - The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer uses information to evaluate alternative brands in the choice set.PURCHASE DECISION- The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer actually buys the product.POST PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR-The stage of the buyer decision process in which the consumer take further action after purchase based their satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

NEED RECOGNITIONPRE PURCHASE SEARCHEVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVESPURCHASE DECISIONPOST PURCHASE BEHAVIOURPerceiving a needValue in consumption or useSeeking the value for his needAssessing the available alternativesBuying valueFigure: 1 SIMPLE MODEL OF RURAL CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

The buying process begins with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer recognises a problem or need or responds to a marketing stimulus. Next, the consumer needs to decide how much information (if any) is required to make the decision. If the need is strong and a product or service that meets the need is easily available, a purchasing decision is likely to be made immediately. If this is not the case, the information search process begins. A customer can obtain information from several sources: personal sources (family, friends), commercial sources (advertising, retailers, packaging), and public sources (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, Internet). The usefulness and degree of influence of each of these sources of information will vary by product and by consumer. It is worth noting that marketers today have a greater degree of control over the information that is provided (or is not provided) to consumers and the manner in which this information is presented (Kivetz & Simonson, 2000).In the evaluation stage, the customer must choose between alternative brands, products and services. An important determinant of the extent of the evaluation is whether the customer feels involved in the product. A buyers level of involvement determines why s/he is motivated to seek information about a particular product or brand while virtually ignoring others. The involvement level, as well as other factors, affects an individuals choice of one of three types of consumer buying behaviour: routine response behaviour, limited decision making, and extended decision making (Pride & Ferrell, 2007, pp. 177-179). Table 3 presents a comparison of the behaviour types.A consumer uses routine response behaviour when buying frequently purchased, low-cost items that demand very little search-and-decision effort (e.g., milk, eggs, bread or socks). Customers spend very little time deciding whether to purchase these items and do not typically need to read reviews or consult with friends for their opinions before making routine purchases. However, when confronted with ethical products, consumers often become more involved, and this results in a more extensive information search (Carrigan & Attalla, 2001 Zander & Hamm, 201). These are usually small purchases, on the lower end of the pricing spectrum. When buying such items, consumers may prefer a particular brand but are familiar with several brands in the product class and view more than one as being acceptable. Typically, low-involvement products are bought almost automatically. Limited decision making is a combination of an extensive purchase decision and a routine one. Consumers who participate in this type of buyer behaviour typically know what type of product they want but are attempting to select a brand. Purchasing clothing is a good example of how limited decision making works. A customer who needs a new pair of jeans goes into a store looking for jeans but investigates a variety of brands to determine which pair is the best fit. When customers engage in purchases that require limited decision making, they may seek advice or a suggestion from a friend. This type of decision making requires a moderate amount of time for information gathering and deliberation. The search is not as thorough or as time consuming as it is with higher priced items.The most complex type of buying behaviour, extended decision making, occurs when purchasing unfamiliar, expensive, or infrequently purchased products (e.g., a computer, television, car or house). Consumers spend substantial amounts of time researching a large number of potential options before they buy. They speak with trusted friends, family, colleagues and sales professionals and read reviews and ratings online and in consumer magazines. Consumers participating in an extended decision-making process typically take more time to make a final purchase decision and spend more time researching their options. Many of these consumers experience cognitive dissonance. Extended decision making is frequently used for purchasing high-involvement products.Purchasing a particular product does not always elicit the same type of problem solving process. Most consumers occasionally make purchases solely on impulse, rather than on the basis of any of these three buying behaviours. Impulse buying is an unplanned decision to buy a product or service, made just prior to a purchase. Such purchases range from small (chocolate, candy, gum) to substantially large (clothes, jewellery, art) and sometimes lead to problems such as financial difficulties, family disapproval, or feelings of guilt or disappointment Wood (2005).FACTORS AFFECTING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics. For most marketer cannot control such factors, but they must take them into account.Cultural Factors Culture factors exert the broadest and deepest influence on the consumer behavior the marketer needs to understand the role played by the buyers culture, subculture, and social class.Culture- the set of basic values, perception, wants and behavior learned by the member of the society from family and other important institutions.Subculture- a group of people with shared values system based on common life experiences and situations. Each culture contains smaller sub-cultures. Sub-culture includes nationalities, religions, racial groups and geographic regions.

Social class- relatively permanent and division in a society house members share a similar values, interests, and behaviors. Social class can be determined by a combination of occupation, income, education, wealth and other variables.

Social Factors A consumers behavior is influenced by social factors, such as the consumer small group, family and social roles and status.Group- Two or more people who interact to accomplish individual or mutual goals. A person's behaviour is influenced by many small groups or reference groups. These groups involve family, religious groups, friends circle, neighbours etc.

Family- The family members (husband, wife, and children) can strongly influence buyer behavior. Marketers are interested in the roles and influences of the husband, wife and children on the purchase of different products and services.

Role and Status- Role consist of the activities people are expected. To perform according to the persons around them Status reflect the general esteem given to it by the society. People choose the products that show their status in the society. The person's position in each group can be defined in terms of both role & status. Each role carries a status that is conferred by society.

Personal Factor A buyer decision of FMCG also are influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyers age life style, and life cycle stage, occupation ,economic situation , lifestyle , and personality and self concept depend upon the personal factor.Age and Life cycle stage- People change the goods and services they buy over their lifetime. Tastes of the people undergo change with their age. Marketers define their target markets in terms of family life-cycle stage and develop appropriate plans and products for each stage.

Family life cycle- the stages through which families might pass as they mature over time.Occupation- A persons occupation also affects the goods and services they bought. Life Style- A persons pattern of living as expressed in his/her activities, interest, and opinion.Personality-A persons distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to his or her own environment.Psychological Factors A persons buying FMCG are influenced by four major psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.Motivation- A need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek satisfaction of the need.Perception- The process by which people select, organizes, and interpret information to form a meaningful picture of the world.Learning- Changes in the individuals behavior arising from experience.Beliefs and Attitude- Belief is a descriptive thought a person hold about something Attitude is a persons consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluation, feelings, and tendencies towards an object or idea. Own elaboration based on (Hasslinger, Hodzic, Obazo, 2007; Kotler and Armstrong, 2007; Stvkov, Stejkal, Toufarov, 2008). INDIAN RURAL MARKETToday Indian consumers are becoming very unpredictable. The consumer today, is richer, younger, eager to accept changes and more aspirational in his/her needs than ever before. This Statement is not confined to urban India but also applicable to rural India. Now, when the urban market is near saturation in the face of stiff competition from global players, the marketers are targeting the rural markets as this seems to be the only way to maintain their market share. Now the focus is at bottom of the pyramid, what Prof. C.K. Prahalad has called tier III of Indian societythe bottomdown, 600 million people living in 6 million odd villages comprising 12% of worlds population, which is now attracting not only Indian corporate houses but also global retail leaders. Overall, there is a huge market which is waiting to be served, ready to splurge, willing to explore new products, brands and services (Dey; Rafat and Agarwal, 2012). 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. 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. It is uneconomical to access a large number of small villages with a very low population density spread over a large geographic area. Social norms, traditions, castes, and social customs have greater influence on the consumer behavior in rural areas than in urban areas. Factors such as limited physical access, low density of shops, limited storage facilities, need for a large number of intermediaries in the distribution channel to reach the end customers, and low capacity of intermediaries to invest in business make the tasks of reaching rural consumers very complex (Sabura; Kumar and Hameed, 2012). 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 1900 -crore Videocon Appliances. "The urban market is a replacement and up gradation market today," adds Samsung's director, marketing, Ravinder Zutshi. In India where about 70% population resides in the rural areas and nearly half of the national income is generated by the rural population, hence it become necessary to understand the psyche of the rural population, their needs, aspirations and also their behavior to be success in the marketing in rural areas. The villagers have accepted the modern way of agriculture as a business but also have accepted modern living. Apart from the food items, they are interested in buying durable products. This change in the attitude of rural consumers is sweeping across the countryside. The expanding rural market is important to growth of economic development of India. Rural markets have proved to be very attractive for corporate and the size of market is increasing year by year. The increased income/purchasing power of the rural consumer and the improved income distribution have enhanced rural demand for several products. With a population already in excess of one billion people, India has caught the eye of multinational corporations across the globe as a place of opportunity for exploring new markets. The Indian rural market has a huge demand base and offers great opportunities to marketers. Two-thirds of Indian consumers live in rural areas and almost half of the national income is generated from here. The reasons for heading into the rural areas are fairly clear (Siras, 2012). India is one of the largest emerging markets, with a population of over one billion. Out of which 68.84 % are living in rural areas (Census 2011). Level of urbanization increased from 27.81% in 2001 Census to 31.16% in 2011 Census. Rural India is on the threshold of momentous change. Rural India will be a market worth USD 500-600 billion by 2020, according to McKinsey report. Rural consumption levels are also anticipated to equal current urban levels by 2017. The economy is vibrant, incomes are rising; and the habits, preferences and attitudes are changing rapidly. To be successful in the rural market, companies will have to be innovative and sensitive while devising marketing strategies. Traditional urban marketing strategies will have to be localized as per the demands of the rural market (Prajapati and Thakor, 2012).

Thrust on rural development since 1950 eventually made India into an attractive rural market. Increased awareness along with rise in income levels influenced the rural marketing environment in the country (Velayudhan, 2002). Other factors that contributed to the growth of rural markets are penetration of media, rising aspiration of rural people and packaging revolution (Bijapurkar, Rama, 2000; Kotler et al., 2009). Fast moving consumer goods (henceforth referred to as FMCG) market has emerged as one of the most attractive rural markets in India (Kashyap, Pradeep & Raut, Siddharth, 2007). An effective FMCG marketing strategy in a rural setup essentially includes product variants, product categories, price points, sizes and widespread distribution network (Kumar & Madhavi, 2006). The rural FMCG market in India has grown 15% in 2011 (Nielsen Report, 2012). The Indian rural consumer market grew 25% in 2008 and would reach US$ 425 billion in 2010-11 with 720-790 million customers (Quarterly Report, CII-Technopak, 2009). According to FICCI Technopak Report 2009, FMCG industry is projected to grow by 12% and reach a size of US $ 43 billion by 2013 and US $ 74 billion by 2018.

Demographic profile of rural Indian market No. of Villages 638,691 Rural Population 741 Million There are total 3,697,527 retail outlets in rural India Rural literacy rate( 7 year and above) is 45% The no of middle income and higher income household expected to grow up to 111 million Rural market is growing up to 5 times than urban market Investment in formal saving instruments: 6.6 million household in rural 6.7 million in urban 145,98 villages with population less than 200 and 13,113 Villages with population over 5000 7271 Villages with railway station 1,38,000 villages with post offices 15039 Villages with hospital 12 million rediff signup out of total 20 million are from rural area FMCG segment with an estimated annual size of 50,000 cr. 32000 rural bank branchesSources census of India 2011 Global Retail development index 2010Rural Market and Rural MarketingDifferent experts and organizations have divergent views on what constitutes the term, rural. Collins Cobuild Dictionary (2001) describes the word rural as place far away from towns and cities. A rural market broadly comprises of consumer markets, institutional markets and services (Dogra & Ghuman, 2008). According to Velayudhan (2002), rural marketing includes all those activities of assessing, stimulating and converting the rural purchasing power into an effective demand for specific products and with the aim of raising the standard of living. It is a two way marketing process of flow of goods and services from rural to urban areas and vice-versa (George & Mueller, 1955). Rural marketing is any marketing activity in which one dominant participant is from rural area (Kotler, et al., 2009). Marketing scenario in India changed with market liberalization policies after 1990s (Gopalaswamy, 2011). Most of the Indian rural markets are Virgin in nature and they are now opening for most of the packaged goods and for a number of product categories (Bijapurkar, Rama 2000). Rural marketers have to differentiate themselves on quality and value for money (Anand & Krishna, 2008). For this purpose, they need to understand the factors that influence the rural purchase of FMCG (Krishnamoorthy, 2008).

The rural Indian market is no doubt having huge potentials yet to be tapped, but at the same time this market has plenty of obstacles to be handled properly for making a dent in to the rural market. The better understanding of rural market characteristics and rural people psych will help the marketer to integrate in the life of rural people more efficiently and effectively. The real India lives in the village. Rural marketing is the new buzzword as the new marketing mantra for the survival and the growth of and the success forcing companies to go rural. These statements tell the importance of rural marketing for the survival and the growth of any marketers and are supported by the facts given below-The total FMCG market is in excess of US$16.4 billion and is set to treble from US$11.6 billion in 2003 to US$33.4 billion in 2015. It is currently growing at 14%. With 12.2% of the world population living in the villages of India, the Indian rural FMCG market is something no one can overlook (Singh and sheikh, 2012).

Rural Marketing Mix Marketing mix refers to the set of tools used by a company to promote and sell its brands or product in market. The most important decisions, and indeed the essence of the marketing managers task within a company, are decision about the controllable marketing variables: decision about what E. Jerome McCarthy termed the 4Ps: product, price, place and promotion.On contrary to the traditional 4Ps model, some of the marketers are adopting the 4Asmodel, which is considered to be more customers oriented. As per figure 2, The 4As of rural marketing mix i.e. Affordability, Availability, Acceptability and the Awareness have been now universally accepted both by practitioners and the academicians, as touch stone for the success of any product/ business strategy in the rural market. What 4Ps are to mainstream marketing, the 4As are for the rural marketing.Figure 2 : 4AsModel4Ps(Interaction means with the customers) 4 As Challenges

Product capability of satisfying the needs and wants. Acceptability

Price the amount the customer has to pay for acquiring the product.Affordability

Place refersto the point where sale is made.Availability

Promotion activities undertaken to make product known and preferred among the target customers.Awareness

4Ps(Interaction means with the customers) 4As ChallengesProduct capability of satisfying the needs and wants. Acceptability Price the amount the customer has to pay for Affordability acquiring the product. Place refers to the point where sale is made. Availability Promotion activities under taken to make product known Awareness and preferred among the target customers.Acceptability as a Challenge:Catering to the 70 crore rural customers residing in the 6 lakh villages, where the habits, customs and the culture changes every100 km, the customization of products to suit the requirements of such diverse demographics hence becomes logical for the acceptability of any product.Affordability as a Challenge:As being the major and sole element of marketing mix which earns revenue and the exchange value, the needed amount and the determinant of the market demand for the product.Availability as a Challenge:Making the product available has always been a critical task in the rural market.Awareness as a Challenge:Creating consumer awareness about the product and making it affordable for the rural customers will pay dividends only if the advertised products are available in the rural market (Shah.c, Desai R; 2013).

The better understanding of rural market characteristics and rural people psyche will help the marketer to integrate the life of rural people more efficiently and effectively. As like an umbrella it will cover more and more rural customer and once it happens, may lead a faster growth of any marketer in rural market as we all know that the FMCG market will be driven by the rural market().The rural market is an area of darkness to Indian entrepreneurs. The Indian rural market, with its vast size and demand base, offers great opportunities to marketers. More than 70 percent of the countrys consumers are in the rural market and more than half of the national income is generated here. The rural market is very much larger than the urban in the aggregate. Yet, the rural market represents the largest potential market in the country. Its primary activities are agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry etc. It contributes to over half of Indias GDP. It does not lag behind the urban in growth rate of GDP either. If consider growth rates in per capita income, rural market has been more or less matching the urban (Kashyap, 2012).The rise of rural markets has been the most important marketing phenomenon of the 1990s, providing volume growth to all leading companies. Many corporates have been trying to get a grip on rural market. The reasons why companies are going rural are manifold. Higher rural income driven by agricultural growth, increasing enrolment in primary schools, high penetration of television and other mass media have increased the propensity to consume branded and value added products in rural area (Badi, 2007).As a result of the Green Revolution, there is a socio-economic revolution taking place in Indian villages since last three decades. Increasing knowledge of fertilizers, water resources, pesticides, better quality seeds, modern farm equipments and methods of farming have changed the villages far better. The per capita income of the farmers is on the increase and the manner in which they spend their disposable income has also changed. The rural market is not passive. It is vibrant and growing at a faster pace. It will soon outstrip the urban market if this pace of development continues (Rama, 2013). Socio-economic changes in villages have led villagers to think of material well being. This change in the attitude of the Indian rural people is sweeping across the countryside. The expanding rural market is important to the growth of economic development of India. With the change in scenario, the marketing focus is also changing towards villages: Go rural is the slogan of marketing gurus (Sarangapani and Mamta, 2008).The Indian rural market is much larger than the urban market in terms of population and number of households. The rural market consists of more than 100 million households with a total population of about 740 million. In spite of being larger in size, rural areas are characterized by low per capita income, low literacy, average agricultural productivity and low level of industrialization. To successfully exploit the potential offered by rural market, there is need to understand the market not just in term of number of households & population, but in terms of their occupation pattern, income generation, market arrangements for agricultural produce, the process of rural & cottage industrialization, communication facilities, infrastructure development, rural buyer behavior, attitude and belief of rural people and their changing values & aspirations. 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 (Kumar, 2013). 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. 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 (Pareek and Pincha, 2013).What rural market buys?Rural India buys small packs, as they are perceived as value for money. There is brand stickiness, where a consumer buys a brand out of habit and not really by choice. Brands rarely fight for market share; they just have to be visible in the right place. Even expensive brands, such as Close-Up, Marie biscuits and Clinic shampoo are doing well because of deep distribution, many brands are doing well without much advertising support Ghadi, a big detergent brand in North India, is an example (Pareek and Pincha, 2013).Rural ConsumerRural Consumers are fundamentally different from their urban counterparts socially, psychologically, physiologically and literally. Rural consumers buy only inexpensive products. There is mass consumption among them regarding a particular product or brand since they are homogeneous of village or regional level. The behavior of the rural consumer depends upon the product he wants to purchase. The behavior is highly dynamic even in the consumption of one single product (Challapalli, 2004).Special features of rural marketUnlike 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 (Jaideep).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 (Sabura; Kumar and Hameed, 2012).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 (Jaideep). 1.20 DEFINITION OF MARKETING: The word market is derived from the Latin word Marcatus meaning goods or trade or a place where business is conducted. The term marketing is defined as a business activity planned at satisfying to a reasonable extent, consumer or customer needs and wants, generally through an exchange process.The human needs are less and are important for his survival. The wants of people are many and varied and change with time, place and society. The wants keep changing with life styles, earning capacity of consumers, social values, education etc. Human intentions and decision to acquire may not be the same due to existing conditions. A man may like or intend to stay in a five star hotel. He may decide (or acquire) a room in a three star hotel due to his tight financial position.Kotler defines marketing as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others.As per the definition by the American Marketing Association (AMA), marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. Market traditionally is a place where buyers and sellers gather to exchange their goods.With this concept of markets, it is seen that Marketing means working with markets to actualize potential exchanges for the purpose of satisfying human needs and wants. Definition of Marketing Management, according to Kotler, is the process of planning and executing the conception, the pricing; promotion and distribution ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. He has thus approved the definition of the AMA.1.21 DEFINITION OF RURAL SOCIETY IN INDIA: There is a lack of universal definition of rural and consequently urban society in India. The differences exist between urban and rural societies but both are parts of one human society. Thus differences are more of theoretical concept than divisions based upon the community life.Definitions:Definitions of RuralLimitation

CensusVillage: Basic unit of rural areas is theTerm rural is not defined.

revenue village, might comprise severalThedefinitiondoesnot

hamlets demarcated by physicalspecifythepopulation

boundaries.strata.

Town: Towns are actually rural areasTerm rural is not defined.

but satisfy the following criteria:Thedefinitiondoesnot

Minimum population >=5000rule out 5000+ population

Populationvillages.

density>=400/sq.km.

75% of the male population

engaged in non-agri activity.

RBILocations with population up to 10,000It does not include 10,000+

will be considerate as rural & 10,000 topopulation villages in rural

1,00,000 as semi-urban.definition.

In country, thedefinition

includes5,000 10,000

population towns in rural.

NABARDAll locations irrespective of villages orVillage & town characteristics are

town, up to population of 10,000 willnot defined.

be considered as rural.

PlanningTowns with population up to 15,000Town characteristicsarenot

Commissionare considered as rural.defined.

SaharaLocations having shops/commercialPopulationcriteria&other

establishments up to 10,000 are treatedcharacteristics are not taken in to

as rural.considerations.

LGThe rural & semi urban area is defined

Electronicsas well other cities other than the seven

metros.