Mayas Publications logo
Buy Books Buy journals

Factors Influencing the Purchase Behaviour of Rural Consumers Towards FMCG Products in Tiruvallur District, Tamil Nadu

Back To Issues

Issue Abstract

Abstract

The hinterlands in India consist of about 650,000 villages. These villages are inhabited by about 850 million consumers, making up about 70 percent of the population and contributing around half of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Consumption patterns in these rural areas are increasingly resembling those of urban areas. Some of India's largest consumer companies serve one-third of their consumers from rural India. The Companies marketing FMCG to rural consumers cannot merely extend their general marketing strategies to rural markets. Instead, they need to devise rural-specific strategies. The present research focuses on factors influencing rural consumers towards the purchase of FMCG Products in Trivellore District, Tamil Nadu. Exploratory Factor analysis was used to find out the predominant factors. The study found that five predominant factors, namely Product features, Reliability, Trust, Lifestyle factor, and Promotional factors, influence rural consumers towards the purchase of FMCG Products in Trivellore District, Tamil Nadu. 

Keywords: Trust factor, Price points, Brand visibility, Value for money, Rural purchase, Product Education.

Author Information
Dr. G. Vijaya Kumar Assistant Professor of Commerce, Research Supervisor & Guide, Department of Commerce, Sir Theagaraya College, Chennai.
Issue No
8
Volume No
1
Issue Publish Date
05 Aug 2026
Issue Pages
1-11

Issue References

References

  1. Anand and Hundal, B.S. (2008), “Perceptions of consumers towards promotional schemes for durables: a study in Punjab”, The ICFAI University Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol.3 No. 2, 17-31.

  2. Anand, Sandeep and Krishna, Rajnish (2008), “Rural brand preference determinants in India”, In Conference on Marketing to Rural Consumers – Understanding and tapping the rural market potential, IIMK, pp. 1-5.

  3. Arens, F. William (2006), Contemporary Advertising, 10th ed, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York

  4. Bhatt, Rajeshwari G. and Jaiswal, M. C. (1986), “A study of an advertising impact and consumer reaction”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.18, pp. 9-16.

  5. Bijapurkar, Rama (2000), “The Marketing in India, The Economic Times, September 18, pp. 6.

  6. Bijoor, Harish (2005), “Creating brand strategies for rural India”, Deccan Herald, July 4.

  7. Bishnoi, V.K. and Bharti (2007), “Awareness and consumption pattern of rural consumers towards home and personal care products”, In Conference on Marketing to Rural Consumers, IIM K, pp. 93-106.

  8. Dhunna, Mukesh (1984), “An analysis of consumer behavior—a case study of soft drinks”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.14, pp. 26-28.

  9. FICCI Technopak (2009), FMCG Sector the Road Ahead, Massmerize, Conference on Fast Moving Consumer Goods, pp. 3-12.

  10. Jha, Mithileshwar (2003), “Understanding rural buyer behavior”, IIMB Management Review, Vol.15 No. 3, pp. 89-92.

  11. Kashyap, Pradeep and Raut, Siddharth (2007), “The Rural Marketing Book, Biztantra Khatri, M (2002), “Challenges in rural marketing,

  12. Strategic Marketing, July-Aug, 2002. Kothari, C.R. (2004), Research Methodology Methods and Techniques, 2e, New Age International (P) Ltd., New Delhi, pp. 152-232

  13. Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Koshy, A. and Jha, Mithileshwar (2009), Marketing Management: A South Asian Perspective. 13th ed., Pearson Education, New Delhi

  14. Krishnamoorthy, R (2008), Introduction to Rural Marketing, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai

  15. Krishnamurthy, Jagadeesh (2009), “The challenges and opportunities of marketing in rural India, Events Faqs Newsletter (EF), December, pp. 14-18.

  16. Kumar, S.A. and Madhavi, C. (2006), “Rural marketing for FMCG, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.36 No. 4, pp. 19-38.

  17. Kumar, Sanjeev and Bishnoi, V.K. (2007), “Influence of marketers’ efforts on rural consumers and their mindset: a case study of Haryana”, The ICFAI Journal of Brand Management,  Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 28-50.

  18. Luck, D.J. and Rubin, Ronald S. (2007), Marketing Research, 7 e, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.Malhotra, Naresh K. (2007), Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

  19. McClave, T. James, Benson, P. George and Sincich, Terry (2008), Statistics for Business and Economics, 10th ed., Pearson Education Inc, New Jersey, USA, pp. 10-11.

  20. Mitra R. and Pingah, V. (2000), “Consumer aspirations in marginalized communities: a case study in Indian villages”, Consumption Markets and Culture, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 125-144.

  21. Narang, R. (2001), “Reaching out to the rural markets of Uttar Pradesh”, Indian Management Studies Journal,  Vol. 5, pp. 87-103.

  22. Nielsen White Paper (2012), Emerging Consumer Demand: Rise of the Small Town Indian,

  23. Nielsen White Papers, India Pandey, D.P. (2005), “Education in rural marketing”. University News, vol. 43, pp. 7–8.

  24. Prahalad C. K. (2005), The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Wharton School Publishing.

  25. Ramana Rao, P.V. (1997), “Rural market problems and perspective”, Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol. 27, pp. 17–19. Ramanathan, V. (2007), “Retailing channel enhancement strategies adopted by FMCG companies in South Indian rural markets”, The ICFAI Journal of Management Research, Vol.6 No. 11, pp. 64- 70.

  26. Sahoo, S.K. and Panda, J.P. (1995), “The rural market and rural marketing in India: challenges and strategies”, Indian Journal of Commerce, Vol.18, pp. 185.

  27. Sarangapani, A. and Mamatha, T. (2008), “Rural consumer: post purchase behavior and consumer behavior”, The ICFAI Journal of Management Research, Vol.7 No. 9, pp. 37-67.

  28. Sayulu, K. and Ramana Reddy, V.V. (1996), “Socio-economic influences on rural consumer behavior – an empirical study”, Management Researches, Vol. 3, pp. 41-51.

  29. Sehrawat, Mahavir and Kundu, Subhash C. (2007), “Buying behavior of rural and urban consumers in India: the impact of packaging”, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 630-638.

  30. Shapiro, B.P., Rangan, V.K., Moriarty, R.T. and Ross, Elliot (1987), “Manage customers for profits (not just sales)”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 65 No.5.

  31. Simon, J.L. and P. Burstein. (1985), Some Principles of Measurement. New York.

  32. Random House. Singh, H., Singh, P., Badal, O., Singh, S., and Sen, C. (2008), “Problems and prospects of food retailing in the state of Uttar Pradesh (India)”, Journal of Services Research, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 91-99.

  33. Sinha, M. (2008), “Walk their walk and talk their talk: the mantra of success in the hinterland”, The ICFAI University Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 7-23.

  34. Technopak Perspective (2009), A quarterly report by CII-Technopak, Vol. 2, pp. 1-23

  35. Vaswani et al. (2005), “Rural Marketing in Development Paradigm, International Conference on Marketing Paradigms for Emerging Economies, IIM-A, Jan 12-13

  36. Velayudhan, S. (2002), Rural Marketing-Targeting the Non-urban Consumer, Response Books, Sage Publications India (P) Ltd., New Delhi,

  37. Venkatesh, G.(2004), “Technology, Innovation and rural development”, IIMB Management    Review, Vol.16 No. 4, pp. 23-30 

  38. Young, C. and Robinson, M. (1992), “Visual connectedness and persuasion”, Journal of Advertising Research,  Vol.32 No. 2, pp. 51-59.

  39. Zhao, Y. (1994), Price dispersion and retailer behavior, Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

Back To Issues