The market is a place where buyers and Sellers Exchange Things .

In lay man terms

"It is a place where buyers and sellers exchange goods/Service for some value in
return such as Money" . So the Market is same everywhere . But , The difference is
in the consumer behaviour . There will be different buyers in each market. This is
because of different factors which Influence them. So the same way there is a
difference between Rural and Urban Market. The factors are so many to define.
There is a difference in all the marketing Variables. That is where most of the
companies approach with different Marketing Mix and Strategies to Rural Market.
The strategies differs from the urban to rural market. The companies which have
understood the phenomena of rural market have succeeded in the market, For Ex:
HUL, ITC, Colgate, Rajdoot Motorcycle. These companies have done a perfect home
work and Implemented in terms of effort and Operations. These companies
approach shows that there is a difference between Rural and Urban Market.
The Differences can be Infrastructure, Economy, Lifestyle, Socio- Cultural
Background, Availability or reach,Habits, Competition, Consumer Behaviour.
Infrastructure: The facilities like Electricity, Internet, Roads and Buildings,
Educational Institutions, Financial Institutions, Communication and Organised
Market , Other Facilities differs in urban and Rural market. In urban everything gets
implemented soon and Availability is also there. Where as in rural market
everything takes a good amount of time.
Economy: Here the Economy means, The earning Capacity in a rural Market. The
cost of Living always depends upon their way of earning. So, the Income levels are
unreliable, as Most of them are depended upon the seasons and Agriculture. So the
Income levels cannot be a fixed one.
Lifestyle: The Lifestyle , that is living pattern of both the markets differ a lot. This
can be important factor which influences the companies to think of when they
approach rural market.
Socio- Cultural Background: Due to the illiteracy level, and Culture adaptability
from long time the rural market always gets differ than the urban market. The
superstition and other belief as well as the way of thinking towards products and
goods differ in these two markets.
Availability or Reach: Due to the areas which are diverted Geographically and
Heterogeneous market the reach is very difficult. The logistics for rural market is a
tough task than to reach the Urban Market.
Habits: The daily routine of the people makes them to cultivate different habits.

Apart from due to the awareness is low in Media terms there will be a difference in
the habits.
Competition: The competition in the market for brands and Companies always
differ . As in rural markets it is always the channel Partner and Retailer plays a vital
role. But where as in Urban Market Brand Plays a great role.
Consumer Behaviour: Last but not least, The consumer behaviour is the task for
the task for the companies . The mindset of the rural consumer is completely
different from Urban Consumer. The Mindset of the consumer is different . For Ex:
In urban market , to buy Electronic Item the customer thinks of Brand and Its
updated feature. where as in rural market he thinks of in so many ways , such as
money, Durability, Buying Capacity and so on. So these mindset makes a difference
in both markets.

Urban and rural communities have historically had different demographics, interests and opportunities.
While the communications boom of the late 20th century, most notably the advent of the Internet, is
blurring the lines somewhat, there are still broad differences. These differences often necessitate varied
marketing strategies for companies wishing to sell to both markets.
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Demographics
The demographics of rural America have been changing in recent years. Some resort or recreation areas
have seen an influx of new residents whose tastes and demographic profiles may be quite different from
their neighbors'. However, generally speaking, rural residents still tend to be more homogenous than their
urban counterparts and tend to share cultural and religious values. They are more likely to be blue collar
than white collar, and tend to make less money on average. An ad campaign aimed at a rural market
would therefore necessarily be different from one aimed at an urban market. A rural car dealership, for
example, might stress affordability and a trusted brand over green technology or new design features,
which might have more appeal at an urban dealership.

Access
Rural areas are by definition remote from city centers; they therefore, do not enjoy the same easy access
to major shopping venues that city dwellers enjoy. A marketing plan targeting rural consumers might rely
on Internet sales or a partnership with stores already serving the rural area. Its message would be less
likely divided into different versions for different consumer subgroups. A marketing campaign aimed at
urban consumers might need to be broken into subsets to appeal to the many diverse groups within the

marketing area. It would also need to be more unusual or aggressive to stand out from the sea of ads
competing for urban consumers' attention.

Culture
Rural and urban America have many cultural characteristics in common, yet some differences apply. An
ad featuring a popular country music star would be more favorably received in rural markets, as an ad
featuring jazz would likely be well-received in an urban market. An ad using words like "dependable,"
"traditional" and "values" might resonate best with rural consumers, while words such as "innovative,"
"fresh" and "new" might have more appeal to an urban consumer. Marketing that blends in with the
cultural norms of each community is more likely to result in sales.

Methods
Consumers who live in a rural area where change is slow to take place may respond best to one-on-one
marketing done by salespeople who take the time to establish themselves in the community and earn trust.
However, the same personal, get-to-know-you approach might be viewed with suspicion in an urban
setting, especially if a no-nonsense, factual selling technique is the norm. It's wise to take note of the sales
techniques that are already working, when drawing up a location-specific marketing campaign.

Consumer Behaviour: The key is the research.

Marketing over the last two decades has made significant progress in terms of
segmentation, positioning and targeting of the product. In this progress is included
the core aspect of consumer behaviour. The study of such behaviour is a necessity
for any company in any business, regarding this it is interesting the analysis of
consumer behaviour in purchasing technological products. There are several cases
of companies not only in the technology field, leading market research in order to
understand how they can maintain the loyalty of existing customers and attract
new ones, but not everyone can have positive results. A remarkable example of
success is Apple Inc. which with its revolutionary and aesthetically refined products
managed to have a tremendous positive feedback from consumers and is able to
maintain a strong and lasting relationship.

Consumer Behaviour : Marketing Research and MarketingMix

Marketing Research
In creating a product and an advertising campaign is essential to consider the
target market. It is crucial to know what are the habits of the consumer, their
needs when purchasing a specific product and what are the benefits of such
purchase. So it is vital to understand how to attract consumers' attention and get a
complete picture of the situation. It is possible to do that by following five basic
steps/questions to know the customer.
It is important to know:
Who buys?
How do they buy?
When do they buy?
Where do they buy?
Why do they buy?
Marketers must use research to gain total understanding of the situation that they
have to face. With this tool they can deduce the consumer response to specific
stimuli. The research is the basis from which to understand the market conditions;
without adequate research is likely to fail in the launch of the product and
consequently a loss of image quality of the brand (Kotler et al. 1999). There are
some cases of colossal failures by large companies that did not produce a valid
search and found themselves in difficulties such as McDonald's. In 1985, the
famous fast-food chain in the creation of the famous Big Mac appeared in the
Indian market without taking into account a crucial factor, in India people do not
eat beef for religious reasons. McDonald's has lost a large market share and the
image has obviously been compromised because there has been no research on the
culture and the hypothetical consumers were offended by that product (Willan
2011). So research is vital to identify the potential customer, in this respect
Professor Peter Drucker says, "make what you can sell and not sell what you can
make" (Willan 2011), the concept of research is implicit in the phrase. It is clear at
this point that marketersmust consider a diverse range of aspects of the
relationship between product and consumer.

Marketing Mix - Apples case study

During research marketers need to identify the consumer in order to know with
certainty what kind of product offer. The buyer is exposed to stimuli that are also
known as the marketing mix and can be identified with the four Ps: product, price,
place and promotion (Blythe 2008). Apple Inc. is an example of a successful
marketing mix, this company has a positive feedback by the consumers because
they know how to deal with them, Apple Inc. knows exactly what the consumer
wants and its success is given by a powerful research.
Product
The first thing to take into account about the marketing mix is the product.
Basically the product is anything tangible or not, may be a service, a physical good,
a place, a product is anything that satisfies a need (Blythe 2008). Apple gives to
their customers a wide range of products that covers many field in technology for
example they have different kinds of laptop with different size and power, also they
invented the iPod which now is not only an mp3 player but is a status symbol of our
era (MarketingTeacher.com), in addition in the last four years they have created a
brand-new market for smart-phones and tablet-pc, this is called by the Apples
CEO Steve Jobs the post-pc era (Jobs 2011). According to Apples product
portfolio (OnlineMba.com 2010, see appendix) most of the profits come from iPhone
and in less than a year iPad has generated revenues almost as high as those from
laptops.
Price
The price is the amount of money the consumer pays for the product or service.
The price in our modern market should be competitive, this means that it should
not be so high but there are exceptions (Blythe 2008). The price of Apples products
is not low compared to other brands but there is a reason for this. Apple is a
premium brand, it dominates the market and this company knows that even though
the price in some countries is quite high they will have customers anyway
(MarketingTeacher.com). Generally their products are a union between technology
and liberal arts so they do not just sell products but they sell art (Jobs 2011).
Place

The place is the location where consumers purchases the product and where they
can receive support, it is also called distribution channel (Blythe 2008). As the
Apples CEO said during the last keynote held in San Francisco in 2011 one of the
reason of this success is the powerful network of retail they have around the world
(Jobs 2011). Apples retails are everywhere, the major cities in the world usually
have at least three big stores where they can receive customers and, most
important, customers can test the product before the purchase and receive support
(MarketingTeacher.com).
Promotion
The promotion is the set of rules for advertising a product, for example a product
can be advertised by PR, personal selling, also different kinds of advertising are
used such as digital marketing adverts, television, billboards and so on (Blythe
2008). Of course for Apple this is very important, in the last six years the brandawareness has significantly increased because they are able to create powerful and
funny adverts where they explain how their product works. Also they offer different
kinds of discounts for students and professionals (MarketingTeacher.com).
Factors affecting the consumer buying process
The process of purchase is influenced by other aspects related to the customer in a
more closely way, these are : cultural, social, personal and psychological. The
culture in which theconsumer lives and grows is the starting point from where the
needs arise and will also shape the behaviour. It is also necessary to take into
account demographic factors such as sub-cultures and groups of people. Then, the
marketer must be able to identify changes in the consumer culture in order to keep
updated on new needs and behaviours. With regard to social factors can be referred
to social groups to which the consumer belongs, an important social group is the
family of the consumer (Kotler et al. 1999). In this environment is outlined the DNA
of the potential buyer. Other social factors are the role and status held by the
consumer in the society, in fact in the purchase of a product is often influenced by
the groups to which it belongs. With regard to personal factors is indispensable to
consider characteristics such as age, job, economic circumstances, life-style and the
personality of the buyer. Finally, a more difficult issue to study and understand is
the psychological aspect of the purchase. Marketers must identify the reason for

this purchase, the marketer asks why consumers should buy a particular product
and of course you ask why he should buy his own (Kotler et al. 1999).
The consumer buying process can be analysed by following five stages which are:
problem/need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase
decision, post-purchase behaviour.
Problem/need recognition
In this stage the consumer is trying to find a solution to a problem or a need.
Marketers work is to identify which is this problem and try to find a solution with
their product (LearnMarketing.net).
Information search
Before the purchase the consumer does research about the product. He or she can
have information from friends, neighbours but also from commercials. Obviously
the mass media plays an important role in giving information about a product
(LearnMarketing.net).
Evaluating of alternatives
After the research the consumer has different solution to satisfy its needs. He or
she is now in the position to evaluate alternatives products to purchase. The
consumer, in this stage, face the decision of which is the best solution to the
problem. This is an important step because is when the consumer makes the choice
about the product to buy (LearnMarketing.net).
Purchase decision and post-purchase behaviour
This is the stage where the consumer actually buy the product, he or she evaluates
the brand which likes the most. Also the consumer calculate the risk of the
purchase and this could lead to change his/her mind about it. In the post-purchase
stage the buyer might think if its purchase is good, this feeling could be avoided by
marketers by convincing the consumer that what he/she purchased is the best
product on the market (LearnMarketing.net).

Conclusions
In conclusion is evident that to create a competitive product to put into the market
is vital to have a strong knowledge of the chosen consumer. The most powerful tool
to understand the consumers behaviour is research, without an adequate one the
possibilities to fail are several. If a firm point its attention on the research there are
many chances to create a long lasting relationship with the customers and this
could lead to brand-loyalty and substantial profits.