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A STUDY ON MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE SHGS IN

RANAPUR BLOCK OF ODISHA

Article  in  Indian Journal of Social Research · July 2019

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Indian Journal of Social Research Vol. 60 (3) (May - June, 2019) (431-438)
ISSN : 0019-5626
Academic and Law Serials
e-ISSN : 2454-3624

A STUDY ON MARKETING STRATEGY OF THE

SHGS IN RANAPUR BLOCK OF ODISHA

Swati Sucharita
Research Scholar
Department of Home Science
Institute of Science
Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi — 221005 (U.P.)

Indira Bishnoi
Professor
Department of Home Science
Institute of Science
Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi — 221005 (U.P.)

Abstract
The condition of women in a given society represents the condition of the society
itself. If a society is to be developed, the condition of women in that society also
needs to be developed. The Self-help Groups (SHGs) have played great role in
uplifting the rural women directly and the rural population indirectly as the
empowerment of women leads to upliftment of the whole family. Despite of all
the good efforts of the SHGs, the marketing problem remains as a prominent
one faced by many SHGs. To understand the cause of marketing problem it is
necessary to understand the marketing strategy used by the SHGs. Keeping this
in mind the present study was designed to study the marketing strategy used by
the SHGs in Ranapur block of Odisha. It was found that majority (80.5%) of the
respondents were marketing their product in local shops. In case of managing
competition, majority (89.8%) of the respondents focused on maintaining the
quality of the product. In case of product packaging, majority of the respondents
(79.9%) were packing their product and mostly used polythene bags (89.5%) for
packing. It was also found that majority of the respondents were not branding and
labelling their product and did not used any type of advertising for promoting
their product as all these added extra cost to the product. The marketing strategy
score was calculated and accordingly the SHGs were classified from very good to
poor category. It was found that the marketing strategy of majority (47%) of the
SHG was average, followed by good (26.4%) and poor (20.6%). Very few SHGs
(6%) had very good marketing strategy. This means that the marketing strategy
of the SHGs needs improvement.

Key words: Marketing Strategy, Rural women, SHG, Upliftment

432 Swati Sucharita and Indira Bishnoi

Introduction

T he concept of SHG is more than two decades old now and the SHG
model in India has adopted quite well in Indian scenario. The basic
focus of the SHG is on the rural women specially from socioeconomically
backward families. The poor rural women who were earlier bound to
the four walls of the home were mobilized by the SHGs. The SHGs
gave a platform for their abilities and opportunities to overcome social
taboos and constraints.
SHGs promote self-sufficiency by setting a standard platform through
self-employment mainly focusing on the livelihood of rural women.
The principle of the SHGs revolves around mutual trust, self-help
and economic empowerment. As decades passed, considering the
outcome there was a huge demand for formation of SHGs by various
organizations or institutes to provide the services to all the members,
even in the remote areas. SHGs brought a great impact on the livelihood
of the rural people, especially women in various aspect like gaining
self confidence, will power, strength in bargaining, decision making
etc and most prominently in participating in formal banking system.
There is no denying in the positive impacts of the SHGs on the life of
rural women including the improvement in decision-making ability,
still there are a lot of areas where these women lack proper insight
to do things differently or economically. Such as preparing a proper
marketing strategy to help improve the demand of the product.
Exploring new markets with existing products or developing new
products for new markets would again depend on the age, experience
and resources. There are certain practical problems that marketing
entail and women must learn to adjust to these inconveniences. The
marketing activities of the SHGs are far below the new standards set
by globalization. They only engage in direct marketing. Marketing is
a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups to
obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging
products and value with others (Kotler, 2009).
Some of the major problems being faced by the SHG members were
no separate market or shops for Women SHGs products, lack of
information about markets inability to withstand the competition, no
attractive packing and necessary advertisement, customer’s perception
of their products and lower demand due to availability of substitute
products. Considering the above situations, this paper attempts to find
out the marketing strategy of the SHGs in Ranapur Block of Odisha.
A Study on Marketing Strategy of the SHGS in Ranapur Block of Odisha 433

Methodology
The present study was conducted in Naygarh district of Odisha.
This district consists of eight blocks out of which Ranapur block was
selected purposively as it was having more number of SHGs. The block
consisted 34 grampanchayats, from each grampanchayat 2 SHGs were
selected and from each SHG 6/7 members were selected, making the
sample size 400. The sample size was calculated by using Yamane’s
formula; which is
n = N/(1+N*e2) = 400
Where
n = sample size
N= population size and
e = permissible error
Data was collected using questionnaire schedule and appropriate
stastical tools were used to analyse the data.
Results and Discussion
Table 1: Distribution of respondents views regarding the place for
marketing their product

Yes No Total
Place of marketing
Number % Number % Number %
Local shops 317 80.5 77 19.5 394 100.0
Individual sales person 271 68.8 123 31.2 394 100.0
Wholesale merchants 275 69.8 119 30.2 394 100.0
Private company 111 28.2 283 71.8 394 100.0
Weekly market 19 4.8 375 95.2 394 100.0
Door to door 20 5.1 374 94.9 394 100.0

The above table 1 shows where the respondents market their product.
It is evident that majority 317 respondents (80.5%) market their product
at local shops. Whereas 271 respondents (68.8%) and 275 respondents
(69.8%) market their product to individual sales person and wholesale
merchants respectively. Similarly 111 respondents (28.2%) market their
product to private company. Very few respondents i.e. 19 respondents
(4.8%) and 20 respondents (5.1%) market their product in weekly
market and door to door selling.
434 Swati Sucharita and Indira Bishnoi

Table 2: Distribution of the respondents based on the type of competition

management technique used by them

Yes No Total
Manage competition by
Number % Number % Number %
Producing quality products 354 89.8 40 10.2 394 100.0
Advertising 12 3.0 382 97.0 394 100.0
Dropping the price of the product 149 37.8 245 64.2 394 100.0
Offering discount 118 29.9 276 70.1 394 100.0
Introducing innovative product - - 394 100.0 394 100.0
Attractive packaging - - 394 100.0 394 100.0

From the table 2, it can be understood that majority of the respondents

i.e. 354 respondents (89.8%) manage competition by producing quality
products. Whereas, 149 respondents (37.8%) and 118 respondents
(29.9%) manage competition in marketing by dropping the price of
the product and offering discount respectively. Very few respondents
manage competition by advertising because advertisement is costly as
stated by 12 respondents (3.0%).
Table 3: Distribution of the respondents based on packing of the made
product and reason for not packing

Packing of the product Number Percentage (%)

Yes 315 79.9
No 79 20.1
Total 394 100.0

As shown in the table 3, majority 315 respondents (79.9%) pack their

product. Whereas, 79 respondents (20.1%) do not pack their product.
When asked for the reason, all of the respondents who were not
packing their product reported that it was not required/ necessary to
pack the product.
Table 4: Distribution of the respondents based on number of packaging types
used for their product

Type of packaging Number Percentage (%)

1 type 128 40.6
2 types 162 51.5
3 types 25 7.9
Total 315 100.0
A Study on Marketing Strategy of the SHGS in Ranapur Block of Odisha 435

As the table 4 illustrates majority of the respondents were using two

types of packaging as stated by 162 respondents (51.5%). Similarly, 128
respondents (40.6%) reported that they used one type of packaging.
Very few respondents (7.9%) used three types of packaging.
Table 5: distribution of the respondents based on the type of packaging used
for their products

Yes No Total
Type of packaging
Number % Number % Number %
Polythene 282 89.5 33 10.5 315 100.0
Paper (bag/ wrap) 146 46.3 169 53.7 315 100.0
Bottle (glass/ plastic) 78 24.8 237 75.2 315 100.0
Jute bag 07 2.2 308 97.8 315 100.0

As depicted in the table 5, majority of the respondents i.e. 282

respondents (89.5%) used polythene to pack their product, as polythene
bags are cheap and easily available. Whereas, 146 respondents (46.3%)
pack their product by paper bag/ wrap. Likely, 78 respondents (24.8%)
pack their product using glass or plastic bottles. Very few respondents
i.e. 7 respondents (2.2%) used jute bag to pack their product.
Table 6: distribution of the respondents based on their product labelling and naming

Labelling of the product Number Percentage (%)

Yes 176 44.7
No 218 55.3
Total 394 100.0

Naming of the product Number Percentage (%)

Yes 186 47.2
No 208 52.8
Total 394 100.0

As the above table 6 illustrates, more than half of the respondents

i.e. 218 respondents (55.3%) were not labelling their product. Only
176 respondents (44.7%) were labelling their product. Majority of the
respondents were not aware of the benefit of labelling the product.
The similar trend was seen in naming the product as majority of the
respondents i.e. 208 respondent’s (52.8%) product were not named.
Only 186 respondents (47.2%) reported that they have named their
436 Swati Sucharita and Indira Bishnoi

product. Naming the product is beneficial as it provides uniqueness to

the product and helps in oral advertisement.
Table 7: distribution of the respondents based on advertisement given for their
product along with its types

Advertisement done Number Percentage (%)

Yes 12 3.0
No 382 97.0
Total 394 100.0

Type of advertisement Number Percentage (%)

News paper/ magazine - -
Radio - -
TV - -
Wall advertisement - -
Poster 07 58.3
Leaflet - -
Oral and wall advertisement 05 41.7
Total 12 100.0

As the above table 7 illustrates, majority of the respondents i.e. 382

respondents (97.0%) were not advertising their product. Very few
respondents i.e. 12 respondents (3.0%) were advertising their product.
The 12 respondents who were advertising their product, 7 of them
(58.3%) were using poster for advertisement and five respondents
(41.7%) were using oral and wall advertisements.
Table 8: Distribution of the respondent’s opinion on the demand of their
product and source of marketing aid

Increase in demand of the product Number Percentage (%)

Yes 382 97.0
No 12 3.0
Total 394 100.0

Source of aid for marketing of the product Number Percentage (%)

Govt - -
NGO 70 17.8
Self 324 82.2
Total 394 100.0
A Study on Marketing Strategy of the SHGS in Ranapur Block of Odisha 437

As the table 8 illustrates, majority 382 respondents (97%) reported that

the demand of their product has increased. Only 12 respondents (3%)
reported that the demand of their product has not increased. When
asked about the source of marketing aid, majority 324 respondents
(82.2%) reported that they were marketing their product by themselves
and were not getting help from anywhere. Whereas on case of 70
respondents (17.8%) NGO was helping in marketing their product.
Table 9: distribution of the SHGs based on their marketing strategy score

Marketing strategy Number Percentage (%)

Very good 4 6.0
Good 18 26.4
Average 32 47.0
Poor 14 20.6
Total 68 100.0

As shown in the table 9, the SHGs are classified according to their

marketing strategy score. The marketing strategy score was calculated
and accordingly the SHGs were classified from very good to poor
category. To calculate the marketing strategy score, an eight point
scale was developed each point containing one mark. The points were:
packing of the product, good quality product, branding (naming),
labelling, attractive offers and discounts, market research, flexibility in
production, use of advertisement. The score 7-8 means very good, 5-6
means good, 3-4 means average and 0-2 means poor marketing strategy.
It was found that the marketing strategy of majority (47%) of the SHG
was average, followed by good (26.4%) and poor (20.6%). Very few
SHGs (6%) had very good marketing strategy. This means that the
marketing strategy of the SHGs needs improvement.
Summary and Conclusion
The findings revealed that majority of the SHG members were
marketing their product in local shops and managing the competition
by maintaining the quality of the product. Majority were packing their
product using polythene bags but they were not branding and labelling
their product and were not doing much for promoting their product as
they add extra cost to the product. The marketing strategy of majority of
the SHGs was average, which clearly indicated that marketing strategy
of the SHGs needs improvement. Marketing the finished product is the
most challenging task to the members of the SHGs. In most cases, the
 438 Swati Sucharita and Indira Bishnoi

middlemen are involved to sell the products of the SHGs, as no such

facilities for marketing and guidance is available to the SHGs.
The marketing activities of the SHGs can meet the new standards if
they think of mass production and massive marketing at national level
instead of marketing their products only locally. The broader marketing
strategy will ultimately show a huge impact in their further production
capabilities which will help in enhancing the quality of the product.
The government should focus on providing a broader platform for
marketing the produce by the SHGs. This will not only help to curb
exploitation by the middle man but also help in improving the profit
and reach of the SHGs to a whole new level. Making use of e-platforms
and getting linkages with various institutes will create a greater demand
for their produce at global markets. Though there is no denying on the
positive impact of the SHGs, there is a long way to be covered in order
reap the maximum benefit of the SHGs for rural women.
REFERENCE
Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Koshy, A & Jha, M. (2009): Marketing Management: A
South Asian Perspective; Pearson Publications
***

Received on 2.1.2019 and accepted on 21.1.2019

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