INDEX

CH. Sub Page

No. Chapter
No. Title No.
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Need for the Study 4

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1 Introduction to rural markets 8
2.2 Theoretical reviews on rural consumer behaviour in India 12
Purchase behaviour of rural consumers towards FMCG
2.3 goods 16
Differentiation of original Vs. Counterfeit FMCG brands by
2.3.1 rural consumers 20
2.3.2 Customer Exploitation Reasons 23
2.4 An overview of rural retailing in India 25
2.5 How do rural retailers gain competitive advantage? 27
Impact of rural retailers on consumer buying behaviour
2.5.1
towards FMCG goods 29

2.5.2 (Figure 1): Titles of factors with influencing variables &

respective factor loadings 31

2.5.3 Awareness of rural consumers towards various marketing

media that promote FMCG goods 34

2.5.4 Impact of communication media on consumer buying

behaviour towards FMCG goods 34

2.5.5 Challenges Faced by FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer

Goods) Sectors for Rural Marketing 35
2.6 Research Gap and Hypothesis 37
2.6.1 Research Questions 37
2.6.2 Objectives 38
2.6.3 Hypothesis 39
2.6.4 Literature Review Matrix 41
2.7 Summary of the literature Review 53
                 
3           RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  54 
   3.1        Introduction 54
   3.2        Research paradigm 54 
      3.2.1     Paradigm adapted 54 
      3.2.2     Justification for the paradigm adapted 57 
   3.3        Research approach 57 
      3.3.1     Research approach adapted 57 
      3.3.2     Justification for using both the approaches 58 
   3.4        Research design 59 
      3.4.1     Exploratory research design 59 
      3.4.2     Conclusive research design 60
      3.4.3     Research design adapted in this study 60 
Justification for adapting both descriptive and exploratory
      3.4.4     research design 61 
   3.5        Sampling design 62 
      3.5.1     Sampling design used in this study 62
      3.5.2     Justification for the sampling technique followed 63 
      3.5.3     Sampling unit 63 
      3.5.4     Target population 64 
      3.5.5     Sample size 64 
      3.5.6     Sampling plan 64 
   3.6        Data collection method 65
      3.6.1     Primary data collection followed in this research 65 
         3.6.1.1  The Experts opinion in questionnaire design 66 
      3.6.2     Secondary data collection method used in this research 67 
   3.7        Analysis and Interpretation of data 67 
   3.8        Objectives of the Study 68 
   3.9        Hypothesis 69
   3.10        Statistical tools employed 70 
   3.11        Software tools used 72 
      3.11.1     Software tools used for quantitative analysis 72 
      3.11.2     Software tool used for qualitative analysis 73 
   3.12        Strategies for validating findings 73 
      3.12.1     Strategies for validating quantitative technique 74 
3.12.1.
         1  Reliability 74 
3.12.1.
         2  Validity 74 
      3.12.2     Strategies for validating findings for qualitative analysis 74 
 3.12.2.
         1  Credibility 74 
3.12.2.
         2  Transferability 75 
3.12.2.
         3  Dependability 75 
3.12.2.
         4  Conformability 75 
   3.13        Ethical considerations 76 
   3.14        Limitation of the research 76 
   3.15        Summary of research methodology used 76 
                 
4           Fairs in Gujarat  77 
   4.1        Introductions: 77 
   4.2        Major Fairs in Gujarat 78 
   4.3        A visit to Tarnetar Fair 2013 and 2014 80 
                 
5           Data Analysis and Interpretation  82 
   5.1        Missing value analysis 82 
   5.2        Normal distribution 82 
   5.3        Descriptive statistics 86 
Demographic Characteristics of the Consumers Surveyed in
      5.3.1     86 
Gujarat
      5.3.2     Descriptive statistics (preference) 92 
Important Attributes influencing the purchase power of
      5.3.3     consumer 96 
         5.3.3.1  Common for all Products 96 
         5.3.3.2   Hair Care Product 97 
         5.3.3.3  Skin Care Product 98 
         5.3.3.4  Laundry 99 
      5.3.4    Influencers who make an impact on the purchase decisions 100 
      5.3.5     Media drive attention 101 
      5.3.6     Form of advertisement 103 
      5.3.7     Advertisement creating awareness 104 
      5.3.8     Liking for advertisements 105 
      5.3.9     Attitude towards the Retailers 106 
      5.3.10     Attitude towards Counterfeit products 107 
   5.4        Reliability 108 
   5.5        Factor analysis 108 
   5.6        Validity of the study 112
   5.7        Testing of hypothesis 112 
      5.7.1     Hypothesis - 1 112 
      5.7.2     Hypothesis - 2 113 
      5.7.3     Hypothesis - 3 114 
      5.7.4     Hypothesis - 4 115 
      5.7.5     Hypothesis - 5 115
      5.7.6     Hypothesis - 6 117 
      5.7.7     Hypothesis - 7 117 
      5.7.8     Hypothesis - 8 118 
      5.7.9     Hypothesis - 9 119 
      5.7.10     Hypothesis - 10 120 
      5.7.11     Hypothesis - 11 121 
      5.7.12     Hypothesis - 12 122 
      5.7.13     Hypothesis - 13 123 
      5.7.14     Hypothesis - 14 124 
      5.7.15     Hypothesis - 15 126 
      5.7.16     Hypothesis - 16 127 
      5.7.17     Hypothesis - 17 128 
            Summary of the findings  130 
                 
6           Findings, Suggestions and Conclusions 131
   6.1        Demographic Findings 131 
   6.2        Prefarable brands 132 
      6.2.1     Skin Care Products 132 
      6.2.2     Hair Care Products 132 
      6.2.3     Laundry Products 133 
Important attributes influencing the buying of selected
   6.3        products categories 134 
      6.3.1     General Attributes 134 
      6.3.2     Specific Attributes 134 
   6.4        Mediums which Influenced the Purchase Behaviour 135 
   6.5        Awareness Mediums 135 
   6.6        Preference of genuine Brands and use of counterfeiters  136 
    6.7        Importance of Retailers 137 
   6.8        Price or Value for Money as an important Factor 138
                 
7           Further Scope of Studies 139 
            References  I ‐ XII 
            Annexure 1    
            Annexure 2    
            Annexure 3    
            Annexure 4