1. RURAL RURAL MARKETING REQUIRES A SEPARATE AREA OF STUDY WE TREAT URBAN AND RURAL AS SEPARATE BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCES IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE RURAL AND URBAN CONSUMERS THEREFORE THE DEFINITION OF RURAL MARKETING IS BASED ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

2. THE SUBJECT OF RURAL MARKETING HAS RELEVANCE BECAUSE OF THE NEED TO HAVE A DIFFERENT MARKETING APPROACH NECESSITATED BY VARIATIONS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR AND INCOME LEVELS AS ALSO DIFFERENCES IN THE MACRO- AND MICRO- ENVIRONMENT OF CONSUMERS LOCATED IN RURAL AREAS

3. IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE MICRO-ENVIRONMENT ARE THE TYPE OF CHANNELS AVAILABLE IN SERVING RURAL MARKETS ALSO THE TYPE OF MEDIA AVAILABLE TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS IN RURAL MARKETS THE TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL AREAS HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR MARKETERS

4. THE GEOGRAPHICALLY SPREAD-OUT NATURE OF MARKETS ALSO REQUIRES DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THESE MARKETS A SIMPLE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIATING URBAN AND RURAL AREAS IS TO EXAMINE THE NOTIFICATION OF THE SETTLEMENT MADE BY THE CONCERNED STATE GOVERNMENT

5. HOMEWORK CHECK-OUT ON NOTIFICATIONS SUCH AS ‘TOWN PANCHAYATS’, ‘TOWN COMMITTEES’, AND ‘MUNCIPAL BODIES’ THE CRITERION WE WILL THUS USE IS THAT OF THE INDIAN CENSUS – RURAL IS DEFINED AS ‘THAT WHICH IS NOT URBAN’, BASED ON FOLL. CRITERIA :

6. URBAN A MINIMUM POPULATION OF 5,000 POPULATION DENSITY OF AT LEAST 400 PER SQ. KM. 75 % OR MORE OF MALE WORKING POPULATION ENGAGED IN NON-AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT THESE ARE TERMED AS ‘CENSUS TOWNS’

7. DEFINITION RURAL MARKET IS ,THEREFORE, THE SET OF CONSUMERS WHO ARE LOCATED IN RURAL AREA AND WHO EXHIBIT BEHAVIOUR THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM BEHAVIOUR OF CONSUMERS IN URBAN AREAS THE MARKETING ISSUES AND, THEREFORE, THE MARKETING DECISIONS IN SERVING THE RURAL MARKETS VARY CONSIDERABLY COMPARED TO MARKETING FOR THE URBAN CONSUMER

8. THE USE OF GEOGRAPHY TO DEFINE RURAL MARKETS IS RELEVANT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE MARKETING MANAGER THE GEOGRAPHICALLY SPREAD OUT MARKETS ALSO REQUIRES DIFFERENT APPROACH TO THESE MARKETS THAN THE ONES SUITABLE FOR THE URBAN MARKETS

9. DECISION IMPLICATIONS THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS RURAL MARKETS SHOULD BE THAT OF AN INVESTOR THE GROWING MARKET PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY AND APPROACH SHOULD BE ONE OF ‘MARKET SEEDING’ THE MARKETER HAS TO INVEST TO DEVELOP A SEPARATE MARKETING PROGRAMME TO MEET RURAL CONSUMER NEEDS