Developmental marketing as a strategy for rural market: An exploratory analysis

Marketers in India have not been able to tap the existing opportunities in rural market which is well reflected in the penetration figures across the various product categories.

One of the key reasons can be attributed to their failure to address the issue of affordability in Indian Hinterland. Affordability, in turn, is related to larger issue of development on socio-economic front which will result in wealth generation. This in turn will kindle the latent need for various products and services in the Rural Market. Still this aspect has been largely ignored by most of the Marketers, barring a select few, who have even taken the support of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to cater to this phenomenon with significant results. This study attempts to analyse this phenomenon in order to evolve a successful Marketing Strategy for Organisations targeting Rural Markets.