A Research Proposal/Synopsis on A Comparative Study of Consumer Behaviour in Rural and

Urban Market with Reference to selected FMC

Submitted to Solapur University, Solapur (Department of Commerce and Mana ement! Submitted by Mr# More $attatray !opat Under "uidance of $r# R#R# %elikar Director S#S, Solapur $or PhD in Commerce and Mana ement Solapur University, Solapur %&'%(%&')

!roducts"

&itle of Research !roposal ' A Comparative study of Consumer Behaviour in Rural and Urban Market with Reference to selected FMC (# )ntroduction* *he ma+ority of south Asian population of about ',- billion resides in villa es. points to/ards the need for mar0eter to develop a ood understandin of rural mar0et and rural mar0etin phenomenon, 1t is not si2e of the population that ma0es the rural mar0et very important for mar0eter, Rural mar0et offers immense potential for e3pansion and ro/th Currently, $MC" products command a rural mar0et si2e of -% percent /hich is pro+ected to reach -4 per cent and ro/ by '& per cent in ne3t three years as a ainst 5 per cent ro/th of semi(urban $MC" demand /hich mi ht touch %' per cent level from present level of '6 per cent, 1nterestin ly, in urban 1ndia /here si2e of $MC" mar0et is currently estimated at %6 per cent is li0ely to come do/n to %% percent, re isterin a fall of 4 per cent, 7ne of the reasons for this is ro/in health consciousness amon consumers, the study reveals, (8S 9conomic #ureau : 89; D9<=1, AU"US* -, Mon Au &5 %&&4, &&:&& hrs! Althou h rural mar0et offers immense potential, mar0eters need to reco ni2e the fact that there are considerable differences in many respects, includin the nature, Characteristics buyin pattern, value e3pectations and behavior of rural customers /hen compared /ith urban counterparts, 1t is fact that the value e3pectations of rural customers are entirely different from urban counterparts, Mar0eter cannot satisfy value e3pectations of all customers. similar product offerin s, it is re>uired to study and compare consumer behavior of rural and urban customers for desi nin special offerin s to customers from urban and rural mar0et, !roducts"

+# Research !roblems* Present research is initiated to solve problem faced by society (customers! as /ell as by $MC" companies, a, Social !roblem Due to lo/ brand a/areness retailers are e3ploitin the customers from rural mar0et by pushin the products in /hich they are earnin more mar ins, At the same time $MC" companies are operatin and tar etin more on urban customers, still they have not focused much on rural customers hence? customers from rural mar0et are not ettin products as per their value e3pectations, b, )ndustry !roblem *hou h it is fact that rural mar0et offers opportunity for e3pansion and ro/th, leadin companies are facin problem of less sales and lo/ mar0et share in rural mar0et as compare to urban one, 1ncreasin brand a/areness in rural mar0et is a challen e in front of all leadin $MC" companies, &able#( Market Share of Companies from Rural and Urban Market# *able bello/ sho/s the mar0et share in percenta e of leadin companies from rural and urban mar0et, Sr, 8o ' % ) A Company Rural Mar0et Share @ Urban Mar0et Share @ =U< Dabur Marico Col ate "CP< )& -& %))B 4& -& 455%

(Source: ( 1D$C 1ndian Research!

-# Statement of Research !roblem ;ith the ob+ective of providin the solution for social and industrial problem researcher has selected topic titled CA Comparative study of Consumer Behaviour in Rural and Urban Market with Reference to selected FMC .# /b0ectives of Research* $or the present study researcher has set follo/in ob+ectives, ', *o compare brand a/areness of selected $MC" products in rural and urban mar0et, %, *o study the information sources available in rural mar0et and to desi n effective media mi3 to increase brand a/areness in rural mar0et, ), *o 0no/ the influence of information sources in decision ma0in in rural Mar0et, A, *o compare the satisfaction level of customers from present product offerin s in rural and urban mar0et, -, *o study and differentiate value e3pectations of rural and urban customers from Selected $MC" products, 5, *o study the impact of retailers recommendation on purchasin decision in rural and urban mar0et, 4, *o study and correlate various factors such as income level, education, a e /ith the brand a/areness, 1, 2ypothesis Researcher has set follo/in null hypothesis to test for present study ', *here is no si nificant difference in the brand a/areness in rural and urban mar0et, !roducts"

%, Rural customers are not satisfied /ith the present value offerin s of $MC" products, ), Purchasin decision in rural mar0et is not influenced by retailer.s recommendation

3# Scope of the Research* *he scope of the study is confined to $MC" products? researcher has selected five products vi2? =air oil, Shampoo, Deter ent ca0e and po/der, #athin Soap, *ooth paste for the study, "eo raphical scope is confined to Pune city for urban customers and '& villa es in solapur district for rural customers, 4# )mportance of the Research* Present research is important to the customers of rural mar0et because, they /ill et the $DC" product as per their value e3pectations, Study is helpful for industry, to 0no/ ho/ to increase the brand a/areness /hich is important to customers to avoid retailers influence in decision ma0in and for companies to increase their sales, 5# Research Methodolo6y* Research desi n of study deals /ith to understand understandin of Consumer behavior, factors involved in decision ma0in in case of $MC" products in rural mar0et, Research is Descriptive inferential in nature, 5#( $ata Re7uired *o study the behavioral pattern and decision ma0in data is re>uired about the factors associated in influencin decisions, Customer e3pected values from $MC" products, information about brand a/areness is re>uired, *he conceptual data about characteristics of rural mar0et, Consumption pattern, income, occupational pattern is also re>uired, 5#+ $ata Sources*

*he data re>uired for the study /ill be collected from t/o sources vi2? Primary source and Secondary source,

Secondary $ata *he secondary data re ardin the ro/th of rural mar0et, occupational pattern, availability of media, distribution channel and other characteristics of rural mar0et /ill be collected throu h boo0s, /ebsite and ma a2ines etc, !rimary $ata *he primary data re ardin brand a/areness, information sources, influencin factor and customers perceived values from particular product /ill be collected from customers via structured >uestionnaire, 5#- )nstrument for data collection *o collect the primary data from customer.s researcher /ill use structured >uestionnaire, *he >uestionnaire /ill have some open ended and close(ended >uestions to collect the necessary information, 5#. Samplin6 method As the universe of research is all the customers from defined eo raphy, researcher /ill use Stratified random samplin techni>ue to select the samples from universe, Sample si2e /ill A&& Customers (%&& rural and %&& urban!, 5#1 $ata Analysis Researcher /ill analy2e the data usin simple statistical tools li0e /ei hted avera e, ran0, correlation etc, researcher /ants to test hypothesis /ith the help of Chi(s>uare test and f test, 8# Chapter Scheme

*he study is or ani2ed /ith the help of follo/in chapters, Chapter9 )* 9 1ntroduction and Research Methodolo y Chapter9 ))* 9 <iterature revie/ Chapter9)))* 9 Conceptual $rame/or0 Chapter9 ))): ( Data analysis and 1nterpretation Chapter9 ):* 9 $indin s and Su Biblio6raphy ', Dotler Philip and Deller Devin? (%&&6!, E Marketing Management., Prentice =all of 1ndia Private <imited, 8e/ Delhi, *hirteenth 9dition, %, "opals/ami, *, "? (%&&B!, ERural Marketing, U#S Publishers Distributors Private <imited, Second 9dition, ), 8aresh Malhotra? (%&'&!, EMarketing Research, Prentice =all, Si3th 9dition, A, F, C, #erry? (%&&6!, EMarketing Research., *A*A Mc"ra/ =ill, Si3th 9dition 9dition 5, ///, oo le,com? (1D$C 1ndian Research!,
4, ///, oo le,com ? (8S 9conomic #ureau : 89; D9<=1!,

estions

-, C, R, Dothari? (%&&6!,Research Methodology 8e/ A e 1nternational, Si3th