1. International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-
4421 3 Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014 Factors Affecting Buying Behaviour of Rural Consumers
Amreek Singh, Research Scholar, HSB, GJUS&T, Hisar
Vakil Singh, Research Scholar, HSB, GJUS&T, Hisar
ABSTRACT all those activities of assessing, stimulating and converting
the rural purchasing power into an effective demand for Present study aims at identifying the
factors affecting Speclllc products and Wllll llle alm of lalslllg the Slalldald buying decisions of
rural consumers and whether of lVlllg' Rural lllalkellllg ls any lllalkellllg acllvlly lll importance of
these factors varies with age and income of Wlllcll Olle dollllllalll palllclpalll ls llolll llllal area
(K0llel’ respondents. Study identi ed the eight factors i.e. price, el al" 2009)‘ quality, warranty,fi
advertisement, brand, friends _ _ _ _ _ recommendations, family members recommendation and
Tllele ale 6’ 00’000 Viiiag.“ lll llldla Colllpllslllg of l6’ 60’ packaging which rural consumers
consider while making 00’00,0 households’ eallllllg l’ l4’458 rupees annually‘ purchase
decisions. It was found that factors effect on Rlllallles Save 30’663 lllpees alld.Spelll_l 83’735
rupees pal rural Consumer vary with age and income and found year. Monthly per capita
expenditure in rural Haryana in increasing with age and income. Importance of all factors
200940 was apploxllllalely l5l0 rupees‘ .(Dalla el al" in buying behaviour of rural consumer
found increasing 20l2'l3.)' Rlllal .ale_a glow day by Flay’ lll zool. llllal trend with increase in their
age and income. The e ect of populationof India is 74.3 crore but in 2011 that 1S 83.3 pricefl
and quality on buying behaviour of rural consumer crore‘ ll ls lllclease by 9 clole‘ increases si
ni icantl with increase in a e and income. Adver semeit ind brljcmd Ofproducts fourgm,fi
Signi cantly Table 1: Population by Rural Urban Residence (in crore) very important to highfi
income rural consumers than lower ‘ income consumers. Friends and family members’
recommendations had signi cantly more impact on buying Population decisions of lowerfi
income consumers than high income consumers. Packaging had significantly more impact on
Population buying decision of lower income consumers than high income consumers. Po
uiation
Source: Census 2011 —Provisional Population Totals-
INTRODUCTION: india
Thrust on rural development since 1950 eventually made Collsllmel bellavlolll, ls de ned _aSfi
acllvllles People India into an attractive rural market (Ali et al., 2012). undertake when
lablalnlng’ collsllmlng’ and dlsposlllg of Increased awareness along with rise in income levels
products and selillces (Blackwell el al’.200l)' The study of in uenced the rural marketingfl
environment in the country collalllllel bellavlolll does not _Ollly lllclllde leasolls fol (Velayudhan,

2. 2002). Other factors that contributed to the bllylllg but also llle Collslllllplloll process of bllylllg ’
growth of rural markets are access of media, rising conaumlals gel dllvell by_ lllllllellces Sllall
as feellllgs’ aspiration of rural people and good packaging of products mollvalllln’ lncllme’
llfeslyle’ Opllllolls’ Culture’ (Bijapurkar, Rama, 2000; Kotler et al., 2009). Rural pelsollallly etc
(SllVaSlaVa’20l3) market is not all about low price point and PR building. With penetration of TV
advertisement and other REVIEW OF LITERATURE: informative media, the awareness level of
rural people is increasing gradna11y_ The urban markets got sannatad with Host of factors
affect the consumer behaviour like socio- products and brands which forced marketers to turn
oniniraia Priooa ads and any lorornorionai Sonorno but in towards rural markets (Nain and
Kumar, 2009). According india is inoroasingiy gorring more and more Conscious or to
Mckinsey survey 2007, rural India, with population of brandS- Trio rnrai yondi does not
Cornprorniso for the 627 million would become larger than the total population Clnaiiry of
branded irorns and Won Prepared to Pay more of consumer markets in countries like South
Korea or Prices for in‘? branded Product The Choice or brand Canada in Coming 20 years_
Many experts and ambassador has a very signi cant effect on the purchase organizations havefi
differing Views on what constitutes the bonaVionr or rnrai Consnrnor (Nain & Kdrnar» 2oo9)«
Rurai term, ‘rural’. Collins Cobuild Dictionary (2001) describes Consnrnors in Haryana not oniy
aware of branded Products the word ‘rural’ as ‘place far away from towns and cities’. rarnor
rnoy Purchase Variety of branded Products and According to Velayudhan (2002), rural
marketing includes Concluded that rural consumers are willing to buy a Variety i-Explore
International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-
4421 3 Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014 of products and brands if their prices are lowered in
future. in uence consumer buying behavior. But brand factor are Income was found to be thefl
most important factor more inspire the consumer to choose the products. followed by
education, occupation. Caste is one of the most important factors in rural Haryana affecting
purchase Singh and Singh (2014) found that role of rural teenagers decision of rural
consumers (Kumar & Bishnoi, 2007; was found dominant across all decision stages in case of
Kumar & Singh, 2008; Kumar & Singh, 2013 a). toothpaste and bathing soaps however the male
respondents of 16-19 years old played dominant role at Srivastava (2013) reliability and
product attributes plays a information search & evaluation stage and in brand very important
role for low income and price conscious selection at nal purchase stage. It was found thatfi
consumers. The consumers largely remain brand loyal. in uence of teenagers in family buyingfl
decisions of Promotions and offers have considerable impact on toothpaste and bathing soaps
increases with increase in household and young adults. At the same time where they their age
and family income. Kumar and Singh (2013 b) are buying generic products, they nourish
aspiration value stated that rural male teenagers in the age group of 16-19 for branded

3. products which remains restricted due to lack years belonging to high income class had
signi cantly of money. Anandan. C et al. (2007) found that quality was more in uence in familyfi fl
buying of cell phone than their the major factor to prefer a particular brand in washing
counterpart. soaps in the rural market. If preferred brands were not available, customers buy
the available brands. High price OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY; and non-availability were the
key reasons for dissatisfaction of the rural consumers. Nagaraja (2004) study was conducted
with following objectives; impact of socio-economic in uences on rural consumer l_ To identifyfl
factors affecting buying decisions of behaviour in terms of their buying practices, to the social
rural consumers; status and level of income. Rural consumer was more 2_ To study the
importance of identified factors rational as a buyer and exhibits a higher level of rationality
affecting buying decisions of rural consumers by compared to the urban consumer. age and
income of respondents. Kumar (2011) revealed that celebrity attributes likely to in uencefl
consumer purchase intentions. The practice of flelebrltrlll eniorsements has pr(_)hfer2;‘ted Over
ftlmg Ntwr a Present study was conducted to identify the factors irfgluslttry a:Sp:CCi:?l1; :1
p;1:;:1VeM:r:r:::: Gus: affecting buyingidecision of rural consumer and study _ ' , _ their
importance in buying decision of ruralites across age endorsers to in uence the purchasefl
decision of consumers and income. Data was Coiiected from four Viiiages of In Order t9
Increase the” Sales and extend the“ market Kurukshetra district. Total of 180 samples were
collected shares.‘ Rajput et a1’ (2012) Stated that people are more out of which 146 were
found suitable for study. Data was Consclous and aware towards branded products‘ They are
collected via questionnaire on ve point scale. Frequency, ready to pay any_price for comfortfi
and quality of branded mean and ANOVA were used to analyze the data_ products. In India
people have become more conscious presently only brand image is not only the signi cant Tfi
abi e 2: P 1, O i e of R es 0 n d e ms factor in choosing the products but other factors also likefi
. . . . grap ic varia es requency ercen quality, verity, comfort, price and expectations. Prasad &
Age Reddy (2003) found the effect of celebrity ads and brand on consumers in their purchase
decisions and to look into years ' the appropriateness of such celebrities to various products
‘hey S“""°“' Income Mukherjee et, al. (2012) found that Indian consumers are heterogeneous.
The disposable income is rising, consumption patterns are changing and the level of brand
consciousness is rising_ They are price sensitive and Table 2 depicts the characteristics of
respondents and therefore, appropriate pricing of the product is crucial for sh0Ws that rhalerrty
Orthe respendents are Youth under age market entry and penetration. Hence, it is important
that Or35 years It represents 16-4 % rural eensurners 0f36‘45 retailers adopt appropriate
market strategies to target Years and 8-2 % Were in the age group er 46'-55 Years In lndian
consurners’ know their demographic filuo this study 43.2 % respondents are from lower income
income patterns, purchase behaviour and level of brand rarnuy earning upte 102000 rupees
per month and in the consciousness. Ramachander (1988) concludes that the rneerne hraeket
Or 11»000'20»000 rupees there Were 37%- degree of brand loyalty, pricing, packaging and

4. other Only 19.8 % represents elite class having income more variables such as culture and
socio economic factors than 202000 rupees per menth- i-Explore International Research
Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-
4421 Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014 Table 3: Factors Affectin Bu in Behaviour of Rural
Consumers
Table 3 shows that how important are these factors to while they buy any product. It was found
that all factors
villagers while they buy any products and their responses found having effect on buying
behaviour of rural
were recorded on ve point important scale. Study reveals consumers as majority of the ruralfi
consumer reported that
that except advertisement and packaging of the products they consider these factors while
purchasing.
all others factors were found very important to villagers
Table 4: Effect of Factors on Consumer Behaviour of Rural Consumer Behaviour by Age and
Income
Price 3.513 .017 4.829 .003
Quality 3.151 -027 8.353
Warranty 0.216 .885 1.828 .145
Advertisement 0.358 .784 3.031 .031
Brand 1.922 .129 4.929 -003
Friend 1.541 .207 3.600 -015
recommendations
Family member 2.176 .093 3.767 .012
recommendations

5. Packaging 0.70 .976 2.631 -052
i-Explore International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN:2319-
4421
Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014
Table 4 shows that importance of all factors in buying [6] http://www.censusindia.gov.in
behaviour of rural consumer found increasing trend with [7] Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Koshy, A. &
Jha, M. increase in their age and income. The effect of price and (2009), Marketing
Management A South Asian quality on buying behaviour of rural consumer increases
Perspective. 13 ed., Pearson Education, New Delhi. signi cantly with increase in age andfi
income as their p [8] Kumar, A. (2011), Celebrity Endorsements and its value is less than .05.
Advertisement and brand of impact on consumer buying behaviour, products found signi cantlyfi
very important to high http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id= income rural
consumers than lower income consumers. 1802531 Friends and family members’
recommendations had [9] Kumar, S. & Singh, V. (2013 b). In uence of signi cantly more impactfl fi
on buying decisions of lower Teenagers in Family Purchase Decision Making of income
consumers than high income consumers. Cell Phones. Advance Management Research: An
Packaging had signi cantly more impact on buying International Journal (AMRIJ). 1(1), 120-fi
139. decision of lower income consumers than high income [10]Kumar, S., & Bishnoi, V. K.
(2007). In uence of consumers. Marketers’ Effort on Rural Consumers and Their Mind Set: Afl
Case Study of Haryana”, paper CONCLUSION; presented at 2“ IIMA Conference on Research
in Marketing, January 3-5, 2007, Ahmadabad, India.
Study identi ed the eight factors i.e. price, quality, [lllKurnar» 5-: & Slngns lVl- R- P- (2008)-fi
Brand warranty, advertisement, brand, friends recommendations, Asplratlons and Brand
Swltehlng Behaylour or family members recommendation and packaging which Rural
Consumers A ease study of Haryana Paper rural consumers consider while making purchase
presented and puhllshed ln lllvl Koznlkodea decisions. It was found that factors effect on rural
Conrerenee 3a 4: 5- Aprll 2008- consumer vary with age and income and found increasing
[l2lKurnar= S-a & Slngna V- (2ol3 a)- An lnslgnt lnto with age and income. Importance of all
factors in buying Teenagers’ lnlluenee on Buylng Deelslon Maklng behaviour of rural consumer
found increasing trend with Proeess or Rural Farnllles Paper presented and increase in their
age and income. The effect of price and puhllshed ln “Natlonal Conrerenee on Paradlgrn for
quality on buying behaviour of rural consumer increases sustalnable Buslness3 People, Planet
and Pro t” signi cantly with increase in age and income. HT Roorkeea 8‘9 Maren: 20l3-fi fi
Advertisement and brand of products found signi cantly [l3ll/luknerlees A-3 Satlla» D-a Goyalsfi

6. T- M» Mantrala: very important to high income rural consumers than lower M- K- & Zoua S-
(20l2)a Are lndlan eonsunlers incorne consurners_ Friends and farnily rnernbers’ brand
conscious? Insights for global retailers, Asia recommendations had signi cantly more impactfi
on buying Pdel e Journal 0fM‘””katl"g and Logistics: 24 (3), decisions of lower incomefi
consumers than high income 482'499 consumers. Packaging had signi cantly more impact onfi
[l4lNagarala- (2004) Consumer Behaylour ln rural buying decision of lower income consumers
than high areas? A rnleroleVel study on huylng henaylour or incorne consurners rural
consumers in Kaval Mandal, Indian Journal of Marketing, 34(11), 30-35.
REFERENCE: [15]Nain, M. and Kumar, S. (2009). Impact of Brand Ambassadors on Purchase
Behavior of Rural Youth [ii Air, Md A.’ Thumikivi & Ram Raj’ K. N. (2012), and Identifying the
Requisites of a Rural Brand Factors in uencing purchase or Ambassador-A case Study offl
Haryana. Paper FMCG by Rural Consumers in South India: An Em presented and publlshed In
paper presented and piricai Study’ International Journal of Business published in IIM
KOZl'lll(0d€,.CO1’1fCI'€1’lCC Marketing Research and Development ISSN 1929-0977, to Rural
Consumers 6-8’ Apnl 2009' . . . (1): 4867. [16]Prasad.& Reddy. (2003), Use of Celebrities in [2]
Anandan C et al. (2007) A Study on brand Advertisements and Their Impact on Consumer ’ . ’. .
Behaviour, Indian Journal of Marketing, 2, preference of washing soaps in rural areas, Indian
February [3] il{°>(iltl2itl:1(i1rlk(2)1Jr]l/lI{a.r(t2e(t)l(’)1(l)g), 3"l?l(i:)l/I?)2i)r13e7‘ting in India The
[17]Rajput N" Kesliarwani S’ & Khanna A’ @012)’ Economic frimes Se Zember 18(6). ’
Consumers’ Attitude towards Branded Apparels: , p . . [4] Biackweii Roger D.’ Miniard Paul W. &
Engei Gender‘ Perspective, International Journal of James F. (2001). Consumer Behaviour.
Thomson. Marketing Smdles’ 4’( 2)‘ . South Western. [18]Ramachander, S. (1988), Consumer
Behaviour and . _ . ,7 [5] Datta, P., Saproo, A. & Kulshreshth, s. (2012-13). Ma‘k°‘“?g-
T°Wf°‘r‘lS an lndlan APP‘°a°h-3 The Marketing Whitebook 2012-2013 one stop Economic
and.P0lmCa[ Weekly’ 23’(9)’22_25' gmdefor marketers Business woridi [19] Singh, V. & Singh,
A. (2014). Teenagers’ In uence ’ in Family Buying Decision Making of FMCG i-Explorefl
International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-
4421 Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014 Products: A Case Study of Rural Market. [2l]Velayudhan,
S. (2002), Rural Marketing-Targeting International Journal of Management and Social the Non-
urban Consumer, Response Books, Sage Sciences Research (IJMSSR) 3 (2), 17-26.
Publications India (P) Ltd., New Delhi [20] Srivastava, S. (2013), Factors Affecting Buying
Behaviour of Consumers in Unauthorized Colonies for FMCG Products, Global Journal of
Management and Business Studies. ISSN 2248- 9878, 3(7), 785-792. i-Explore International
Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org

7. T- M» Mantrala: very important to high income rural consumers than lower M- K- & Zoua S-
(20l2)a Are lndlan eonsunlers incorne consurners_ Friends and farnily rnernbers’ brand
conscious? Insights for global retailers, Asia recommendations had signi cantly more impactfi
on buying Pdel e Journal 0fM‘””katl"g and Logistics: 24 (3), decisions of lower incomefi
consumers than high income 482'499 consumers. Packaging had signi cantly more impact onfi
[l4lNagarala- (2004) Consumer Behaylour ln rural buying decision of lower income consumers
than high areas? A rnleroleVel study on huylng henaylour or incorne consurners rural
consumers in Kaval Mandal, Indian Journal of Marketing, 34(11), 30-35.
REFERENCE: [15]Nain, M. and Kumar, S. (2009). Impact of Brand Ambassadors on Purchase
Behavior of Rural Youth [ii Air, Md A.’ Thumikivi & Ram Raj’ K. N. (2012), and Identifying the
Requisites of a Rural Brand Factors in uencing purchase or Ambassador-A case Study offl
Haryana. Paper FMCG by Rural Consumers in South India: An Em presented and publlshed In
paper presented and piricai Study’ International Journal of Business published in IIM
KOZl'lll(0d€,.CO1’1fCI'€1’lCC Marketing Research and Development ISSN 1929-0977, to Rural
Consumers 6-8’ Apnl 2009' . . . (1): 4867. [16]Prasad.& Reddy. (2003), Use of Celebrities in [2]
Anandan C et al. (2007) A Study on brand Advertisements and Their Impact on Consumer ’ . ’. .
Behaviour, Indian Journal of Marketing, 2, preference of washing soaps in rural areas, Indian
February [3] il{°>(iltl2itl:1(i1rlk(2)1Jr]l/lI{a.r(t2e(t)l(’)1(l)g), 3"l?l(i:)l/I?)2i)r13e7‘ting in India The
[17]Rajput N" Kesliarwani S’ & Khanna A’ @012)’ Economic frimes Se Zember 18(6). ’
Consumers’ Attitude towards Branded Apparels: , p . . [4] Biackweii Roger D.’ Miniard Paul W. &
Engei Gender‘ Perspective, International Journal of James F. (2001). Consumer Behaviour.
Thomson. Marketing Smdles’ 4’( 2)‘ . South Western. [18]Ramachander, S. (1988), Consumer
Behaviour and . _ . ,7 [5] Datta, P., Saproo, A. & Kulshreshth, s. (2012-13). Ma‘k°‘“?g-
T°Wf°‘r‘lS an lndlan APP‘°a°h-3 The Marketing Whitebook 2012-2013 one stop Economic
and.P0lmCa[ Weekly’ 23’(9)’22_25' gmdefor marketers Business woridi [19] Singh, V. & Singh,
A. (2014). Teenagers’ In uence ’ in Family Buying Decision Making of FMCG i-Explorefl
International Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org
International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) ISSN: 2319-
4421 Volume 3, No. 8, August 2014 Products: A Case Study of Rural Market. [2l]Velayudhan,
S. (2002), Rural Marketing-Targeting International Journal of Management and Social the Non-
urban Consumer, Response Books, Sage Sciences Research (IJMSSR) 3 (2), 17-26.
Publications India (P) Ltd., New Delhi [20] Srivastava, S. (2013), Factors Affecting Buying
Behaviour of Consumers in Unauthorized Colonies for FMCG Products, Global Journal of
Management and Business Studies. ISSN 2248- 9878, 3(7), 785-792. i-Explore International
Research Journal Consortium www.irjcjournaIs.org