A Study on Rural Consumers Expectations and Buying Behaviour of Consumer Durables

Predominantly India is dominated by rural population. Roughly around 12 percent of the world’s population is living in rural India. According to 2014 World Bank Report, 67.63 percent of Indian population lives in rural areas. In the year 2010, Indian rural population was about 70 percent. After 2010, there has been a gradual decline in the rural population in India. Rural India accounts for 64 percent of total expenditure and 1/3 of total savings. On the one hand, Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry is growing. On the other hand many companies feel that the urban markets are saturated. Most of the leading companies are now trying to target rural markets. Till very recently, per capita income of rural population is roughly about Rs. 60,000. Due to the initiatives like minimum support price, rural employment guarantee scheme, disposable income of rural population has started increasing. But the increase in income is not that remarkable. However, rural India has its own peculiar sets of problems. More visible problems are poor infrastructure, poor education system, and non existence of proper communication system. Further more, the rural villages are scattered over a wide geographical areas. More than 65 percent of the villages have less than 1,000 people. One more peculiarity of rural population is strange cultural practices and belief systems. Because of small and scattered rural villages, big retail organisations find it very difficult to run their business economically. Though rural market is said to have huge potentiality, it is not free from peculiar problems. Expectations, perceptions, and participation of rural consumers are totally different compared to urban population. The main focus of this study is to understand the expectations of rural consumers of durable goods. The findings of the study may be used by marketers to formulate strategies to tap potential rural markets.