Chapter – 2

Review of Literature

2.1 Introduction
Every research is based upon the foundation of past studies. The
present study is related with two subjects. On the one hand it is related with
marketing strategy as a part of marketing management. On the other hand
the study is also related with behavioral aspects of rural consumers. The
researcher has presented in this chapter review of various studies related with
marketing management, consumer behavior and rural market.
2.2 Review of Literature
The researcher has presented the review of various past studies related
with marketing management, consumer behavior and rural market in
chronological form in this section.
Venkatesan1 (1973) found that the result of satisfaction to the consumer from
the purchase of a product or service was that more favorable post purchase
attitudes, higher purchase intentions and brand loyalty are likely to be
exhibited that is, the same behavior was likely to be exhibited in a similar
purchasing situation. Thus, as long as positive reinforcement takes place, the
consumer will tend to continue to purchase the same brand.
N. Rajan Nair and Sanjith R. Nair2 (1993), in their book entitled,
“Marketing”, have stated that: “This part views the marketing as a process of
exchange in a macro context. A number of mutually exclusive but com-,
plementary functions are to be performed in order to provide an initial
momentum for the process of exchange to begin. Once the momentum is
acquired, the functions are to be further enlarged and continued to smoothen
the process of exchange. Thus, effectiveness and efficiency of the exchange
function depends primarily on performing a number of marketing functions.
These individual functions and their inter-relationships are discussed in this
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part. To a large extent the macro environment is shaped by policies adopted
by the Government and a firm's activities are ofen subjected to a number of
limitations imposed by such public policies.”

Narayan Krishnamurthy3 (1999), in his article he has pointed out that

semiotics primarily works best for products that have low -involvement at the
time of purchase, and had very frequent usage. Fast moving consumer goods
(FMCG) such as soaps, shampoo, types goods and tea were the one that fit the
bill best Mnemonics also became crucial to nurture and retain place in mind
space. The shelf - life of FMCG products was short enough for most to
remember those products by their symbols, colors and names, or a
combination of those elements. The low level of literacy in rural India acts
positively for signs and symbols along with visual looks, to succeed.
Matin Khan (2001)4, in his study entitled, “Consumer Behavior”
presented a comprehensive coverage of the subject with examples from the
Indian scenario. The book stresses on consumer decision making and clearly
explains the five stages of problem recognition, information search, evaluation
of alternatives, purchase and post-purchase behavior. It also explains outlet
selection and purchase. The external environment and its influence on
decision making is highlighted. These are demographical, political, cultural and
technological factors. Along with these, the internal determinants of beliefs,
attitudes, personality, memory and values have also been discussed in this
book.
S. Balchandran & Diwan M. G. 5 (2001), in their research, “Marketing
and Public Relations”, has studied the various issues related with marketing
and public relations in insurance sector. Rural agents must find ways to
improve the ratio of effort to result. One way is to do the sales at places
where people congregate for some reason or other. Another is to combine the
insurance activity along with some other, so that with one effort, more than
one business is done. Bancassurance is an example. With every bank loan,

30
there can be some insurance, both life and general. Composite insurance
agents, selling both life and general, have better options. Dealers in pump
sets, bicycles, motorcycles, tractors, etc. Cooperative societies providing seeds
and manure and helping in marketing are also centres from which lot of
insurance can be influenced. Teachers, who meet heads of households in the
normal course, save on the effort.
David L. Loudon & Albert J. Della Bitta6 (2002), in their book entitled,
“Consumer Behavior – Concepts and Applications”, has presented theoretical
concepts of consumer behavior but also stresses the application of this
conceptual material to marketing strategies and decision making in the
private, public, and nonprofit sectors. At the conceptual level, it seeks to
present an integrated framework around which the major areas of consumer-
behavior knowledge can be discussed. The book is thoroughly documented
and provides ample opportunity for the reader to pursue a particular area of
interest in greater detail.
S. Ramesh Kumar7, (2002), in his book entitled, “Managing Indian
Brands – Marketing Concepts and Strategies”, has pointed out some
important issues related with marketing concepts and strategies. Increased
buying power, western influences, the information explosion and flow of new
technologies are some factors responsible for the product and brand
proliferation in the Indian market. The rural market which did not have any
significance in yesteryears has opened up new vistas for companies selling
consumer products. Tetra-packs, sachets and synthetic bottles have had a
revolutionary impact on packaging aspects.

Keshav Sharma & others8 (2002) The study showed that rural customer
in the urban analogous villages wants to acquire the urban life style but when
it comes to buying, decision making is entirely different from its urban counter
part. Culture has a great influence on their buying decisions. The Rural
customer is simple and virgin. Upholding the dictum that customer is the king,

31
if marketers try to approach him through his culture, he will feel respected
and honored and will be forever yours.
Gerald L. Manning & Barry L. Reece9 (2002), in their valued book
entitled, “Selling Today – Building Quality Partnerships”, have stated that, The
need-satisfaction theory encompasses the concept that salespeople should
conduct a systematic assessment of the prospect's situation. This usually
involves collecting as much information as possible prior to the sales call and
using a series of Qarefully worded questions to obtain the customer's point of
view during the sales call. These questions lead the customer to,talk more
freely and help the salesperson pinpoint the customer's needs. Each customer
should be thought of as a separate target market, with the salesperson trying
to adapt to each one's needs.

Michael R. Solomon10 (2003), in his book entitled, “Consumer Behavior

– Buying, Having and Being”, has stated that, Both Eastern and Western
cultures see the self as divided into an inner, private self and an outer, public
self. But where they differ is in terms of which part is seen as the "real you"—
the West tends to subscribe to an independent construal of the self, which
emphasizes the inherent separateness of each individual. Non-Western
cultures, in contrast, tend to focus on an interdependent self in which one's
identity is largely defined by the relationships one has with others. Marketing
communications can influence a consumer's level of self-esteem. Exposure to
ads like the ones Lisa was checking out can trigger a process of social
comparison in which the person tries to evaluate his or her self by comparing
it to I the people depicted in these artificial images. This form of comparison
appears to be a basic human motive, and many marketers have tapped into
this need by supplying idealized images of happy, attractive people who just
happen to be using their products.

32
 Verma and Munjal11 (2003) identified the major factors in making a
brand choice decision namely quality, price, availability, packaging and
advertisement The brand loyalty is a function of behavioural and cognitive
patterns of a customer. The age and demographic variables affect significantly
the behaviour and cognitive patterns of the customers while other
demographic characteristics such as gender and marital status are not
significantly associated with these behaviour and cognitive patterns of the
consumers.
Ganeshmoorthy, Radhakrishnan and Bhuneshwari12 (2003). In their
aim do analyze the brand loyalty of the products and the influence of mass
media in rural markets. The study revealed that mass media had a significant
role in the sales promotion of the select products. In mass media it adds that
consumers wanted to buy good quality products, that too at a reasonable
price; consumers give more preference to quality. The next preference was
given to factors such as price and availability.
G. Prakash13 (2004), “A Study on Consumer Buying Behaviour on
Britannia Marie Gold Biscuits” has made some notable observations regarding
consumer buying behavior. Every organization envisioned at maximizing the
productivity and the profit never fails to show immense interest on knowing
their customer requirements. Fulfilling the needs and satisfying the customers
becomes very much essential, since a satisfied customer becomes an unpaid
advertisement for the company. It is equally important to satisfy the dealers
and retailers if the company is in the business of Fast Moving Consumer
Goods.
Krishna Mohan Naidu14 (2004). In his study an attempt had been made
to analyze the awareness level of rural consumers. It was found from the
study that awareness of the rural consumers about the consumer movements
were qualitative in character and cannot be measured directly in quantitative
terms. There is no fixed value or scale which will help to measure the

33
awareness. But the awareness had been studied with the help of their
responses to various questionnaires relating to consumer movements,
cosmetics, banking services, drugs, food products, tooth pastes and hair oil.
Awareness levels were higher in the above said segments in Ranga Reddy of
Andhra Pradesh.

Madhavi and Arulkumar15 (2006) In their study pointed out that most
of the rural consumers are influenced by quality of the product. So the FMCG
Companies should strictly adhere to the quality standards. Price is the second
factor that influences the purchase of the product in most cases and hence
the product should be reasonably priced. They concluded that FMCG
companies could significantly increase the market share by extending
attention of rural areas. More generic product with different advertisement
campaigns surely attracts non-users.

Mano Raj16 (2007). This paper covers the attractions for the FMCG
marketers to go to rural and the urban markets and uses a suitable marketing
strategy with the suitable example of companies and their experience in going
rural. Thus the rural marketing has been growing steadily over the years and is
now bigger than the urban market for FMCG. Globally, the FMCG sector has
been successful in selling products to the lower and middle income groups
and the same is true in India. Over 70% of sales is made to middle class
households today and over 50% of the middle class is in rural India. But the
rural penetration rates are low.
Bhatia Tej K. 17 (2007), in his study entitled, “Advertising & Marketing in
Rural India”, has various issues related with advertising and marketing in rural
India. He stated that, the main purpose of this book is to investigate question
such as: 1) what makes a rural advertisement Indian in character? 2) What
assumptions on the part of advertisers went into the creation of an

34
advertisement? 3) How are desired effects and appeals achieved? In
particular, how are identities (regional, global, gender, religious etc.)
marketed? 4) What makes for an effective advertisement? 5) How is the
multilingual context / communication manifested in ads? An attempt is made
to answer these questions by providing an in-depth analysis of language and
its interface with rural culture along with social and political factors.
Mary Lou Roberts18 (2007), in her book entitled, “Internet Marketing”,
have focused on internet marketing and related aspects. She says that:
Consumers and business users alike have accepted the Internet as an
indispensable part of their daily lives. Consumers use the Web for
communications, information, shopping, and many other daily tasks.
Traditional consumer packaged goods marketers have moved onto the Web
because their customers are there. Marketers of services who were early
entrants are expanding their offerings. Businesses make use of both the
communications and transactional capabil-ities of the Web. In addition, they
have found that the efficiency of virtual value chains is essential to compete in
the Internet age. Nonprofit organizations and government agencies have
found the Web an effective way to reach and serve their constituencies.

S Sumathi & P. Saravanavel19 (2007), in their book entitled, “Marketing

Research & Consumer Behaviour”, have give some important observation
regarding marketing research and consumer behavior. The authors says that:
Customer/Buyer behaviour is that subset of human behaviour that is
concerned with decision and acts of individuals in purchasing and using
products. Consumer behaviour is a sub-set of customer/buyer behaviour, is
concerned with decisions that lead up to the act of purchase.

Diwan Parag & L. N. Aggarwal20 (2007), in their book entitled,

“Marketing Management”, have discussed various issues related with
marketing management in detail. According to the authors: Consumer

35
behaviour encompasses all the actions involved in selecting, purchasing, using,
and disposing of goods and services. Whenever you watch a commercial on
television, buy a new pair of shoes, read a book, or recycle soft drink cans, you
are engaging in consumer behaviour. Consumer buying behaviour refers
specifically to the actions consumers take when deciding what to buy and
when making the actual purchase.

Lopamudra Ghosh21 (2007) identified key challenges for FMCG

companies who are penetrating the rural markets, which include
infrastructure issues like poor distribution system, improper logistics and the
fragmented rural market, given the heterogeneity of the Indian population.
The companies who understand these challenges and tune their strategies
accordingly will surely be the winners in the years to come, taking advantage
of this economic boom in the rural sector of India.

Selvaraj22 (2007) identified that the rural market is blooming, with

increase in the disposable incomes of the households. By nature rural
marketing is complex oriented and study of perception of rural consumers is
always a difficult task unlike urban consumers. Rural consumers vary not only
in their behavior, practices but also in conviction and belief, yet, the general
tendency has not changed widely between rural and urban consumers as
regards to aiming on superior quality products, and branded products etc. it is
essential that an effective communication is information about products but
also educating them regarding the use of products, though , rural consumers'
behavior remains constant at least for a particular period, it cannot be taken
for granted that they will not change when better opportunities are given to
them, thus, rural consumers may resort to change and hence their behavior
will not remain inactive in the changing market environment therefore it is
necessary, that rural consumers have to be thoroughly studied so as to have

36
better knowledge on rural marketing and work out appropriate marketing
strategies for the success not only in the short run but also in the long run.

Prakash Tripathi23 (2008) noticed that the Indian rural market has a
tremendous potential that is yet to be tapped. A small increase in rural
income results in an exponential increase in buying power. However, the
marketing strategy for rural market has to be different from that adopted for
the urban market, because of different social environment. Appropriate
advertising and personal selling to meet the demand and integrated outlets
have become the essential elements of the marketing strategy for the rural
market, the success of marketing in rural areas depends on how effectively
the marketing skills are applied in the number of complex activities of
marketing, beginning with the assessment of the need of the rural consumers,
organizing the production to match the demand, pricing, advertising and
publicity, culminating in the sale of the product at a profit.
William M. Pride, O. C. Ferrell24 (2008), in their Research article,
entitled, “Marketing” (Concepts and Strategies), have make some notable
observations regarding marketing concepts and strategies. Rural marketing is
a fashionable subject today courtesy a dramatic change that is in progress.
Villagers who used to crack open peanut candies, eat the nut and throw away
the shell are now demanding chocolate candies that will melt in their mouths,
not in their hands. Charcoal-cleaned teeth are a rare sight; so is the case with
twigs of neem and babul tree.
Renuka Hirekenchanagoudar25, (2008), in her research work entitled,
“Consumer Behaviour Towards Ready-to-Eat Food Products” has presented
investigation made an attempt to analyze the buying behaviour of ready-to-
eat food products by consumers of Hubli and Dharwad. A total sample of 200
respondents was selected for the study.

37
Majority of the respondents were aware of Parle-G, Lays, Frooti and Amul
brands in case of biscuits, chips fruit juice and ice creams accordingly.
Television was the major source for getting information about various brands
in all the four products.
Agrawal Meenu26 (2009) in her study entitled, “Consumer Behavior
and Rural Marketing in India” has stated that, consumer behavior has changed
in recent years owing to enhanced awareness, information technology and
more importantly governmental intervention through legislations. Thus, the
manufacturers are more cautious in dealing with consumers of their
respective products.

William M. Pride & O. C. Ferrell27 (2009), in their work entitled,

“Marketing Concepts and Strategies”, have concluded that, There has been
always a vast difference between the urban and rural markets for a long time
now. The difference is not only between urban and rural but also within the
rural areas between regions, states and districts. There is a difference in the
media reach, the education levels, the attitude, the culture and the type of
products that the two markets are exposed to and this leads to a difference in
the two markets.

Bhat K. Govinda28 (2009), in his book entitled, “Customer Relationship

Management”, has stated that, CRM is about acquiring, developing and
retaining satisfied loyal customer; achieving profitable growth; and creating
economic value in a company's brand. CRM is not a new concept but an age-
old practice, which is on the rise because of the benefit it offers, especially in
the present market scenario. CRM today is a discipline as well as a set of
discrete software and technologies, which focuses on automating and
improving the business processes associated with managing customer
relationships in the areas on sales, marketing, customer service and support.

38
CRM helps companies understand, establish and nurture long-term
relationships with clients as well as help in retaining current customers.

Jyothsna Priyadarsini K29 (2009). It is understood from the study many

rural men feel delicate to use cosmetics. Rural males have a feeling that
cosmetics are mainly meant for females. The social stigmas against male
grooming products persist a lot. These male respondents consider their use as
feminine. Now it is the job of marketers to create a cosmetic sense among the
masculine breed. The present empirical study shows that a majority of the
customers are unaware of the importance of male grooming and exclusive
male grooming brands. Henceforth, marketers should attempt to create
product awareness and drive the customers through brand awareness.
30
Davar R. S. (2010), in his study, “Consumer (Buyer) Behaviour and
Motivation”, has made a important conclusion that, "A motive is an inner urge
that moves or prompts a person to action." Customer is the central point and
all the marketing activities revolve around him. Manufacturer produces what
the customer wants. As the customers' behaviour differs from person to
person the producer must understand it. Customer purchases an article as a
consequence of certain mental and economic forces creating desires or wants
which he understands can be satisfied by the articles offered for purchase.
Thus producer should identify the motives which prompt them to purchase so
that he can offer a complete article satisfying their needs.
S. Ramesh Kumar31 (2010), in his study, “Brands and Consumer
Decision Making”, has given some important conclusions regarding brands
and consumer non-durable products. He says: Consumers in today's context
"look up" at brands to guide them through several stages of their decision
making process. This effort on the part of consumers may take place a number
of times in the consumer's mind and may even range over a period of time if
the product under consideration is an expensive durable. The actual process
and the time spent on each stage of the process would depend on a host of

39
factors like the target segment, intensity of the need, perceived importance of
the need, affordability, etc.
J. Paul Peter and Jerry C. Olson32 (2010), in their book entitled,
“Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy”, have discussed various
strategies of marketing according to consumer behavior. Consumer behavior
is dynamic because the thinking, feelings, and actions of individual consumers,
targeted consumer groups, and society at large are constantly changing. For
example, the Internet has change the way people search for information
about products and services. The fact that consumers their environments are
constantly changing highlights the importance of ongoing consumer research
analysis by marketers to keep abreast of important trends. The dynamic
nature of consumer behavior makes development of marketing strategies an
exciting yet difficult task. Strategies that work at one time or in one market
may fail miserably at other times or in other markets. Because product life
cycles are shorter than ever before, many companies have to innovate
constantly to create superior value for customers and stay profitable.

33
Beri G. C. (2010), in his book entitled, “Marketing Research” has
given focus on some important aspects of market. According to Beri: The
success of marketing research management depends to a large extent on the
quality of leadership. A research manager must have some special qualities if
he is to do justice to his assignment. To begin with, he must be innovative and
always be prepared to look at any problem from a fresh perspective. He must
be confident of his skill and knowledge and prepared not only to accept new
ideas but also to try them out. He should be well-informed and up-to-date in
his own area of specialisation.

Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk & S. Ramesh Kumar34 (2010), in

their book entitled, “Consumer Behaviour”, has elaborated some important
issues regarding consumer behavior. The authors says: With respect to

40
satisfying consumers, a widely quoted study that linked levels of customer
satisfaction with customer behavior identified several types of customers.13
On the positive side, there are completely satisfied customers who are either
loyalists who keep purchasing, or apostles whose experiences exceed their
expectations and who provide very positive word-of-mouth about the
company to others. In contrast, on the negative side there are defectors who
feel neutral or merely satisfied and are just as likely to stop doing business
with the company; consumer terrorists who have had negative experiences
with the company and who spread negative word of mouth; and hostages
who are unhappy custoniers who stay with the company because of a
monopolistic environment or low prices and who are difficult and costly to
deal with because of their frequent complaints.

Valarie A Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne D Gremler and Ajay

Pandit35 (2011), in their book entitled, “Services Marketing”, have focused on
some important facts related with services marketing. As a customer
continues to make purchases from a firm and to receive value in the exchange
relationship, the firm begins to acquire specific knowledge of the customer’s
needs, allowing it to create an offering that directly addresses the customer’s
situation. The provision of a unique offering, and thus differential value,
transforms the relationship from acquaintance to friendship. This transition,
particularly in service exchange relationships, requires the development of
trust.

Gupta Garima36 (2011), in her study entitled, “Marketing of Services –

Quality Dimensions” has stated that, in the wake of liberalization and
openness policies of the Government, the marketing of services has become
highly competitive. The focus of service providers has shifted from internal
performance to external factors such as customers satisfaction. Resultantly,
quality of service provided has become the key source of differentiation in the

41
market for various services. Quality is usually a slippery concept, easy to
visualize yet difficult to define.
Arif Sheikh & Kaneez Fatima37 (2011), in their study entitled, “Retail
Management”, has presented the subject of retailing from both academic and
pragmatic points of view. They have made an attempt to discuss retail
concepts and practices through contemporary examples to provide practical
insights to students and managers. Discover, SAQ’s and Review Questions will
set a path for brain storming.
Srivastava Satya Prakash and Manish Kumar38 (2011), in their research
article entitled “Consumer Behaviour in Rural Marketing – A New Paradigm”,
have studied the consumer behavior in the rural market. The study of
consumer behavior implies how and why a particular consumer reacts to the
decision of producers. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how
individual make decision to spend their available resources (time, money,
effort) on consumption related items. They concluded that: there are three
challenges that rural marketers must overcome. The first of this is the
challenges of reach-markets in the rural India that are small and scattered
making them inaccessible and unreliable or both. But this problem is not new
and many companies let it hamper them unduly even as others overcome it
with innovation. The next challenge is to ensure that the consumers are aware
of your brand and want it.
Kurtz & Boone39 (2011), in their book entitled, “Principles of
Marketing”, have discussed in detail about principles of marketing. Coming to
the customers behavior, authors says that: Customer behavior includes both
individual consumers who buy goods and services for their own use and
organizational buyers who purchase business products. A variety of influences
after both individuals buying items for themselves and personnel purchasing
products for their firms. This book focuses on individual purchasing behavior,
which applies to all. Consumer behavior is the process through which the

42
ultimate buyer makes purchase decisions from toothbrushes to autos to
vacations. The study of consumer behavior builds on an understanding of
human behavior in general.

Bahuguna Pallavi40 (2011), in her study entitled, “International

Marketing”, has stated that, Markets and marketing are becoming ever more
international in their nature and managers around the world ignore this fact
at their peril. To achieve sustainable growth in markets that are becoming
increasingly global, and merely to survive in domestic markets that are
increasingly attacked by international players, it is essential that organizations
understanding the complexity and diversity of international marketing and
that managers develop the skills, aptitudes and knowledge necessary to
compare effectively around the globe.

Vinod V. Sople41 (2011), in his book entitled, “E-Marketing Text &

Cases”, has stated that, The marketer should understand that, when a
customer purchases a product, it is not an act but it is a process. A consumer
undergoes through number of buying phases. He/she undertakes a number of
steps when deciding on a purchase. However, consumer's buying behaviours
differ when they buy different types of products. For example, when he/she
purchases low-cost, daily consumed items, most consumers carry out a
routine response involving very little research or decision-making effort.

42
Kolur Anil, Et. Al. (2012), in their research paper, “Study on the
Market Integration Between the Major Markets of Wheat in Karnataka”, have
studied the integration between the major markets of wheat in Karnataka.
Integration of markets with respect to prices in the major market was
analyzed and the results revealed that a very high degree of association
between Belgaum and Dharwad markets (0.95) and it was found to be highly
significant at 1 per cent level of significance. This would be due to the fact that
Belgaum was a major market for wheat and a low degree of association of

43
prices (0.79) was found between Gadag and Bagalkot markets, which may be
attributed to the reason that there might be imperfection of market
information and intelligence flow between the two markets.
IPARAG KR. DEKA AND DINESH SARMAH43 (2012), in their research
article entitled, “Constraints and prospects of agricultural marketing in North-
east India” has studied, Agricultural marketing has a pivotal role to play in the
socio-economic transformation of the predominantly agrarian economy like
India. This is now a well-recognized fact that our nation cannot march ahead
on the road of economic growth without ensuring a remunerative price to the
farmers for their produce. Development experiences have demonstrated that
efforts to increase agricultural production have generally been frustrating
unless there were parallel developments in marketing.
A. VINAYAGAMOORTHY AND K. SENTHILKUMAR44 (2012), in their
research article entitled, “Brand preferences and rural consumers in Salem
district (T.N.)” has made some important observations. India's FMCG sector is
the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for more
than three million people in downstream activities. Its principal constituents
are household care, personal care and food and beverages. The total FMCG
market is in excess of Rs. 85,000 cores. It is currently growing at double digit
growth rate and is expected to maintain a high growth rate. FMCG industry is
characterized by a well established distribution network, low penetration
levels, low operating cost, lower per capital consumption and intense
competition between the organized and unorganized segments.
Sunil Bahusaheb IT and Sunitkumar Patil45 (2012), in their research
article entitled, “Study of different factors of promotion of service marketing”
have made some notable observations. Service sector is expanding rapidly in
India. Services play important role in the economy and in individual
organization. Education," Insurance, Banking are examples of service sector.
Service marketing is different from product marketing due to intangibility of

44
services. Education Service marketing involves basically promotion through
different media. Also service marketing is becoming influencer marketing. So
study of effectiveness of promotion and influencer was the topic of research.
A questionnaire was prepared according to the objective of the study. A
targeted respondents of admitted students were given questionnaire to
record their responses.
G THAMIZHCHELVAJN46 (2012), in his research entitled, “Consumers'
attitude towards tele-marketing”, has discussed various issues related with
consumers’ attitude towards telemarketing. Telemarketing is a double edged
weapon. It has the power of immediacy and personalization in the world
which is hi-tech and depersonalized. It is a great way of building prospect lists,
boosting customer loyalty and clinching sales. Telemarketing is seen as a vital
means to reach a prospective customer.
Dr. S. Mahalingam, P. Nandha Kumar47 (2012), in his research article
entitled, “A Study on Consumer Behaviour Towards Selected Fast Moving
Consumer Goods in Coimbatore City” has studied consumer behavior towards
selected FMCG products in Coimbatore city. He concluded that: the consumer
bahaviour plays an important role in marketing. This influenced by various
factors. In the changing global scenario we find that consumers needs and
wants to buy a product also changes with it. In this study titled "A Study on
Consumer Behaviour towards Selected Fast Moving Consumer Goods in
Coimbatore City" the researcher has assessed the socio-economic profile
,shopping pattern consumer and found out the factors influencing the
consumer to purchase the selected FMCG products. The primary data
required for the study for collected through questionnaire which was
distributed to 400samples chosen from Coimbatore city.
Gerald L. Manning, Barry L. Reece48 (2012), in their study,
“Understanding Buyer Behavior, Selling Today”, has studied issues related to
the buyer behavior. They stated that: we know that new products must satisfy

45
the customer’s needs, but identifying these needs can be very challenging. No
one understands this challenge better then Kim Fernandez, director of natural
food sales for Alta Dena Certified Dairy. She sells a wide range of natural dairy
foods to wholesalers and retailers. Almost all her products are displayed in the
dairy department. In a typical supermarket, the dairy department accounts for
about 9 percent of sales.
Ed. Peelen49 (2012), in his book entitled, “Customer Relationship
Management”, has elaborated some important issues regarding customer
relationship management. He states that: The popularity of relationship
marketing has not been the same in all European countries through the years.
Some have started slowly or late; for others the interest in it was directly
related to the economic climate; and some have shown continuous com-
mitment. But everyone who became involved with relationship marketing
discovered that the field was more difficult than at first expected. The
necessary data were lacking as most organisations were still more product-
and market- than customer-oriented.

Vinita Kaura, Saroj Kumar Datta50 (2012), Effect of Service Quality

Factors on a Special Category of Customers' Satisfaction in Indian Railways,
have concluded that, “This study attempts to identify the factors which
explain maximum variance in service quality and measure the effect of these
factors on a special category of customers' satisfaction in Indian railways. For
the current study responses were gathered from the respondents residing in
the state of Rajasthan and traveled from Delhi to various other locations of
India by train. Facilities on train, Reliability, Convenience, Tangibility on
platform and Food facility factors have emerged from factor analysis. Only
three factors facilities on train, reliability and tangibility have contribution in
explaining customers' satisfaction. Service quality is an important factor in
achieving customer satisfaction.

46
 Karishma Gulati & Neeru Mundra51 (2012), Factors Affecting Customer
Perception of Vodafone: An Empirical Study in Pune, have concluded that,
“Customer satisfaction is the key for every industry and specifically for service
sector. Telecom sector is also focusing on this fact. After the in depth study of
the perception of Vodafone and current market trend, it can, be concluded
that the Indian market is very open and vast for the telecom service. There is a
great opportunity for the telecom industry for the service providers. It is
concluded that of the prepaid and postpaid connections, prepaid connections
are ruling over the postpaid connections.
Ganesh Tannu, B. N. Shivale & S. U. Gawade52 (2012), Rural Retailing in
India Challenges and Opportunities : Critical Analysis,have concluded that,
“Small towns are fuelling India's economic growth and leading the group for
marketers. Rural markets are known for their durable growth and at the time
of recession when global market was down, only rural markets were
marginally affected. Well! That is the most important reason that every big
player of retail sector is keen to invest in rural market. Be it electronics or
FMCG. Rural consumers' purchasing power has also been increased in recent
days and several factors have led to an increase in rural purchasing power.
C. Muthuvelayutham53 (2012) in his study titled “The Study of
Consumer Brand Loyalty on FMCG- Cosmetic Products with Special Reference
to Madurai" analyzes the relationship between demographic variables on the
brand loyalty of the consumers and tries to identify the consumer's switching
factors in respected selected product category. This study is essentially a
correlation study.Arandomly selected sample of 600 fromTamil Nadu State,
South India, particularly Madurai,Tuticorin, Kanyakumari districts were
selected to analyze.
V.N.G. Chandrasekhar54 (2012) in his study "Consumer Buying
Behaviour and Brand Loyalty in Rural Markets: FMCG", aims to study brand
loyalty of various brands in rural markets and identify the presence and the

47
importance of local brands. The pri- mary data was collected through a
questionnaire. This study was conducted on a sample of 60 respondents in the
village's satanapalli, tadipattri and mallapur.
Gihan Wijesundera55 (2010) in this article "Factors influencing the
demand of beauty soap among female consumers in the greater Colombo
region", Purpose of this study is to explore how the marketing mix &
demographical factors influence the brand preference & purchasing behavior
of beauty soap among the female consumers in the greater Colombo region.
The results indicated that there were statistical relationships between price,
product, education, occupation and band preference and there was no
statistical relationship between place, promotion, age, income level, marital
status, skin type, social factors, and substitute product with the brand
preference.
Bansal Nitin Kumar Et. Al56 (2013), in their research paper entitled,
“Study on Consumer Behaviour of the Farmers and Market Potential of Hybrid
Castor Seeds in Banaskantha District of Gujrat State”, have observed some
notable observations in the field of consumer behavior of the farmers. The
study was conducted in the Banaskantha district of Gujrat. It was observed
that while seeds, the farmers consider various factors like yield, price,
promotion, water requirement etc. and 50 per cent of the farmers preferred
high yielding variety seeds.
M. Abdul Jamal & H. Yasmeen Sultana57 (2013), in their research
article entitled, “Brand Image for Marketing : A Critical Analysis”, have
observed that people pay more for brand-name products than they do for
essentially identical products lacking brand identity. Sometimes this pertains
to brand as a signal of quality. However, brand-name markups are particularly
pronounced in the fashion industry where functionality is less important than
the brands signal of style and exclusivity. The American Marketing Association
defines a brand as a “Name, Term, Design, Symbol, or any other feature that

48
identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.
The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family
of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the
preferred term is trade name. A brand is a product or service made distinctive
by its positioning relative to the competition and by its personality in the
context of the target market.”
Mallika Shetty and S. V. Satyanarayana58 (2015), in their research
article entitled, “Influencers and Consequences of Brand Loyalty – A Study
based on Select Newspapers in Hyderabad”, have concluded that, The
business model of the newspaper companies is majorly (more than 75%)
advertiser-dependent. Having a strong core product that is linked closely to
the lif ecycle of the reader is the only option for the publisher to ensure the
longevity of the newspaper both in terms of credibility and profitability. Also
important, is the need to secure the loyalty of the youth of the country.
Parimal H. Vyas and Madhusudan N. Pandya59 (2015), in their research
entitled, “Discriminating Factors and Structural Equation Model for Rural and
Urban Consumers' for Buying Mobile Phone in Vadodara District” has focused
on the issues related with buying the mobile phones in Vadodara district.
According to the authors: The key reason behind manifold growth of usage of
mobile phone in India can be attributed to the reduction in service charges
and the cost of handsets.
M. Singh, Shantanu Saurabh and Smriti Srivastava60 (2015), Organised
Retailing in India: A Socio Economic Study of Customers’ Perception of
Allahabad District, have concluded that, “India is at the crossroads with
respect to the retail sector. Both modern and traditional retailers' will co-exist
in India for some time to come, as both of them have their own competitive
advantages. The kirana has a low- cost structure, convenient location, and
customer intimacy whereas modern retail offers product width and depth and
a better shopping experience. One of the prime objectives of this study was to

49
find the consumers' perception towards organized and unorganized retailers
across demographic profiles.
Taywade Baban B. 61 (2015), in his research paper entitled, “Product
Branding Preference in Internet Shopping: A Study of Emerging Trend” has
discussed and concluded on emerging trend of product branding preference in
internet shopping. This paper has investigated the ability of brand names to
convey product information to potential buyers as a substitute for consumer's
own information-gathering activities. The study finds evidence that states that
consumers with more years of experience are more efficient at collecting
information themselves and they tend to believe less on brand names while
purchasing.

Thus, in this chapter the researcher has presented a review of literature

of various books, journals and the studies related with the marketing and
consumer behavior.

References :

1. Venkatesan. M (1973), —"Cognitive Consistency and Novelty Seeking",

in Scott Ward and Thomas S. Robertson (eds), Consumer Behavior:
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Sons, New Delhi.
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Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai.

50
6. David L. Loudon & Albert J. Della Bitta (2002), Consumer Behavior-
Concepts & Applications, Tata McGraw Hill, Publishing Company
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in Rural Markets', Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol XXXIV, PP.21-23.
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16. Manoj Raj (2007), —'Social Changes and the Growth of Indian Rural
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Conference on Marketing &Society, 8-10 ,IIMK.

51
17. Bhatia Tej K. (2007), Advertising & Marketing in Rural India, MacMillan
India Limited, New Delhi.
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Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
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Books, New Delhi.
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Advertising Express, Vol. VII, (3), pplO-13.
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Goods: 'A Study in Erode District of Tamil Nadu', Indian Journal of
Marketing, Vol.XXXVII, No. 12, pp35-42.
23. Tripathi Prakash (2008), FMCG Markets to contribute in Indian rural
Economy perspective in global era. Half yearly Vision research review
research journal vol. I, issue. I, June 2011 to Nov. 2011, ISSN 2250-169.
24. William M. Pride, O. C. Ferrell, (2008), “Marketing” (Concepts and
Strategies), Biztantra, Drayaganj, New Delhi, Pg. 634.
25. Renuka Hirekenchanagoudar, (2008), “Consumer Behaviour Towards
Ready-to-Eat Food Products”, Unpublished thesis submitted to Dept. of
Agribusiness Management, College of Agriculture, Dharwad, University
of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
26. Agrawal Meenu (2009), Consumer Behavior and Rural Marketing in
India, New Century Publications, New Delhi.
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Strategies, Biztantra, New Delhi.
28. Bhat K. Govinda (2009), Customer Relationship Management, Himalaya
Publishing House, New Delhi.

52
29. Jyothsna Priyadarsini K (2009), in her research article entitled,
“Cosmetic Touch for Guy's Market: 'An Empirical Study on the
Penetration of Male Grooming Brands into Rural Area of East Godavari
District, AP”, The Icfai Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol IV, No. 1,
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30. Davar R. S. (2010), Consumer (Buyer) Behaviour and Motivation , Kings
Books, Nai Sarak, Delhi, Pg. 152.
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Marketing Strategy, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, New
Delhi.
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Ltd., New Delhi.
34. Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lazar Kanuk & S. Ramesh Kumar (2010),
Consumer Behaviour, Pearson Education, Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi.
35. Valarie A Zeithaml, Mary Jo Bitner, Dwayne D Gremler and Ajay Pandit
(2011), Services Marketing, Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited,
New Delhi.
36. Gupta Garima (2011), Marketing of Services – Quality Dimensions, New
Century Publications, New Delhi, India.
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Publishing House, Mumbai.
38. Srivastava Satya Prakash and Manish Kumar (2011), “Consumer
Behaviour in Rural Marketing – A New Paradigm”, Asian Journal of
Technology & Management Research, Vol. 01, Issue 01.
39. Kurtz & Boone (2011), Principles of Marketing, Cengage Learning India
Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Pg. 158.

53
40. Bahuguna Pallavi (2011), International Marketing, Centrum Press, New
Delhi.
41. Vinod V. Sople (2011), E-Marketing Text & Cases, Biztantra, New Delhi.
42. Kolur Anil, Et. Al. (2012), Study on the Market Integration Between the
Major Markets of Wheat in Karnataka, Published in: International
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Issue 2, Pg. 152.
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Muzaffarnagar, Vol. 5 Issue 2, Pg. 145.
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factors of promotion of service marketing, Published in: International
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marketing, Published in: International Journal of Commerce and
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Behaviour Towards Selected Fast Moving Consumer Goods in
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54
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Kindersley (India), Pearson Education in South Asia, New Delhi.
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55
58. Mallika Shetty and S. V. Satyanarayana (2015), Influencers and
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Commerce, Vol 68, No. 1, Pg. 14
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