Brand Preferences of Rural Customers - An Empirical Approach

Objectives: The current study focuses on the brand preferences of rural consumers towards FMCG goods. The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is an essential element of human life. All the FMCG companies are penetrating towards rural markets in India, because of the lifestyle and purchase behavior of Indian rural customers are predominant and changing. The market share of FMCG is influenced by the middle and lower income group of people. The current study focuses on the brand preferences of rural consumers towards FMCG goods. Methods/Analysis: The data have been collected with the help of structured questionnaires from 200 rural customers. The simple random sampling method was followed by the researcher and the data was collected from Papanasam, Budalur, Orattanadu, Reddipalayam and Thiruvaiaru. The two hundred data collected from rural customers of Thanjavur have been analyzed by using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and regression analysis were carried out. Findings: The major findings are out of the six factors of brand preference – Relationship, Consistent, Usage, Availability, Reliable, Efficiency, Value towards purchase intention of rural customers towards FMCG goods explained in the model, Reliable (B = 14.6%), Value (B = 27.2%) are statistically significant in predicting the purchase Intention. Applications/Improvements: The current study analyzes the factors influencing the purchase intention of the rural consumers from the perspective of branding which helps the marketers in formulating various promoting strategies.