EXPLORING HIDDEN CONSUMER NEEDS FOR A SAMBALPURI NEWSPAPER: ANALYTICAL STUDY IN WESTERN ODISHA

News is drawn from the life experiences of people who make up a society and between people and the world they experience; there exist systems of signs, which are the products of society. These signs acquire meaning through being structured into codes, the principal code being language. In this context, this study makes a humble attempt to explore the hidden consumer needs for a newspaper in Sambalpuri language in Western Odisha and identify the factors influencing the customers for making purchase decisions. This is how study into hidden consumer needs for a Sambalpuri newspaper becomes relevant. A total of 335 in-depth face-to-face quantitative interviews were conducted in ten different districts of Western Odisha for the purpose and factor analysis which is a robust statistical tool of data reduction has been employed to evaluate and identify the factors influencing the consumption or buying behaviour of people for newspaper. Through simple but comprehensive methodologies, this study provides a unique strategic framework to the Odia newspaper industry with high degree of policy implications.