A Study on Rural Consumer Behaviour Towards Selected Fast Moving Consumer Goods in Salem District

The liberalization of the Indian economy had far reaching consequences, which led to entry of global brands in the Indian markets. Earlier companies focused their marketing efforts towards the urban markets targeting the educated consumer. However with the saturation of markets in the urban sector, many companies focused their attention towards the fast growing rural sector. Hence the buying behavior of rural consumers has become a hot topic for discussion because rural India, in recent days, is enthusiastically consuming everything from shampoo to motor cycles and this "rural predilection" is being consid- ered as one of the significant topics of market analysis. The study focuses mainly on the rural consumer behavior towards selected Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), but with the prevailing trend, it is necessary to focus on the essence and emergence of vibrant rural marketing efforts from the FMCG companies. Thus with more number of companies entering into the rural market, with a variety of products, it is a must for the companies to study the rural consumer behavior, on FMCG. This study will highlight the rural consumer behavior before purchase, at the time of purchase and post- purchase. The commodities chosen for the research are shampoo, bathing soap, toothpaste, biscuits and mosquito coil/liquid. The commodities selected for the research has been done on the basis of products available for hair care, skin care, oral care, food and beverages care and mosquito repellants.