Discernment of the Myths and Beliefs Prevalent Towards Rural Markets: A Tamilnadu Rural Consumer Opinion

Abstract

Rural markets in emerging Economies like India offer both opportunities and challenges. As per census India 2011, there are 15,979 Villages in Tamil Nadu, in which 37,189,229 consumers making 51.55% of the total population reside. There are several opinions about the rural market. Some are beliefs with strong support whereas some others are just myths with no empirical support. This study tries to discern the myths and beliefs towards rural markets by gathering the opinion from the 411 rural consumers of Tamil Nadu. Forty six statements describing myths and beliefs were identified. The top myths identified were a. addressing rural market requires reaching all villages; b. franchising is only option to reach rural market; and c. rural consumers lack of knowledge, so can be convinced easily and the top beliefs identified were a. products whose prices are low can be sold in a rural market; b. rural market will be mainly an extension of urban markets and will eventually embrace the product and brand lifestyles of the latter; and c. rural customer are unwilling to pay for premium service.