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Dr. Vinod Joshi *

bstract

he purpose of

his study is toxamine therandwareness inural area and totudy thenterest ofonsumers in branded products of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). The brand awareness ishowing increasing tendency everywhere particularly in rural area and Raipur district is not anxception to it. Toxamine the validity

f this generaltatement that iseing discussed day in and day out by the economists , researcher, market managers, producers,onsumers, advertisers,etc., a case study of brand awareness in rural area of Fast Movingonsumer Goods in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh is taken up.

eywords: Brand Awareness, Rural Area, Consumer Goods

Brand Awareness of F M C GProducts in Rural Area of

Chhattisgarh

Professor , Economics , DR. R.B.Govt. New Girls College

,Raipur -492001, [email protected]


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ntroduction

The Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector is a corner stone of the Indian economy. This sectorouches every aspect of human life. The FMCG popularly known as consumer packagedoods(CPG) producers have realized that there is ample opportunity for them to enter into the rural market.oday we notice this shift towards branded FMCGs in rural areas as a result of Socio Economic &olitical changes in the last 5 years. This has made rural areas more viable markets evenompared to urban areas.

The Socio Economic and Political changes contributed to a great extent for changes in the

fe styles of countryside people who patronized branded FMCG products. In Chhattisgarh theapid growth of Engineering & Degree colleges and Polytechnic colleges are bringing education tohe doorsteps of rural people,reatly contributing to a shift towards branded FMCG products. The Government policies toromote education in rural areas enhanced their brand awareness due to the presence of at leastne higher education pursuing student in their family or neighboring family.

The populist schemes introduced by Government like NREGA 100 days assured work in aear for rural people contributed in enhancingpeoples income followed by a change in their lifestylesesulted in patronizing the branded products.

The residential pattern in Chhattisgarh has witnessed a change due to the construction ofeinforced concrete houses, in place of thatched (huts) or houses

onstructed with country material. The moment they started living in Pacca (permanent) housesith amenities like kitchen and bedrooms, their lifestyle has changed. And this has paved way forranded products invading in the rural areas.

The introduction of sachets made rural people who are traditionally not accustomed for bulkurchase, to buy branded FMCG products like Rs1/- shampoo, oils, beverages, readily available inhe ready availability of instant foods, beverages, cosmetic products, edible oils, bath soaps,etergents, cleaning powders & liquids, tooth pastes, etc. in rural shops. This changed the patternf buying from traditional products to branded products.


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According to the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), with about 74 per cent ofopulation living in villages, India has perhaps the largest potential rural market in the world. Itas as many as 47,000 haats (congregation markets), compared to 35,000 supermarkets in theS. And of the total FMCGsemand in India, nearly 53 per cent comes from the rural market.he Educative, Effective, Informative and Repetitive advertisements through electronic media can increase the potentialustomers for such products The advertisements are telecasting especially during the daily serials,ompetitive programs like Little Champs, Sa RE Ga Ma Pa.., Anthyaksharies, Women programs likeratigya, Diya aur Bati Balika Vadhu etc. being watched by housewives and such advertisements

ill definitely influence this section of people who in turn will influence their better halves andmake them to buy a particular brand Product justifying the reason for going in for such brandedroduct bringing in the salient features in that particular advertisement quoting the names ofrands by reputed and well known personalities.

At present the same products in different brands are availableand this makes people to know about different brands. This definitelycreates brand awareness among the people and provides differentalternatives for a single product. This is the situation where theadvertisements place a decisive role in shifting the opinion of people

in favour of a particular brand. Brand Awareness and Rural ConsumerBrandawareness refers to a consumer knowing of a brand's existence; ataggregate (brand) level it refers to the proportion of consumers whoknow of the brand.Extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers, and is correctlyassociated with a particular product, Expressed usually as apercentage of target market, brand awareness is the primary goal ofadvertising in the early months or years of a

product's introduction.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), are products that are sold quickly at

relatively low cost. Though the absolute profit made on FMCGproducts is relatively small, they generally sell in large quantities, sothe cumulative profit on such products can be large. Examples ofFMCG generally include a wide range of frequently urchasedconsumer products such as toiletries, soap, cosmetics, teeth cleaningproducts, shaving products and detergents.


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hem on the basis of literacy with the help of structured & unstructured interviews & discussionsith these respondents the information for this survey is gathered. In all the villages chosen forurvey four categories of FMCGs namely, Health and Beauty care products, subdivided into1) Bath Products

(a) Bathsoaps(2) Hair CareProducts(a) Hair

Shampoos (b)Hair Oils(3) Oral CareProducts(a) ToothPaste (b)Tooth Brush(4) EssentialOils

(a) Edible Oils

SamplingTechniquePurposivesamplingtechnique isadapted tocollect primardata. Theconsumers are

divided intotwocategories onthe basis ofLiteracy andAge, namelyLiterates andIlliterates, andpersons belothe age of 30years and 30years &above.Data Analysisand FindingsNullHypothesis 1:

here would be no significant difference between Low & Middle Income groups and Above Middle& HighIncome LevelGroups to

have a BrandAwareness.

Nondurable goods or soft goods are the opposite of durable goods.They may be defined either as goods that are used up when usedonce, or that have a lifespan of less than 3 years. Examples ofnondurable goods include cosmetics, food, cleaning products, fuel,office supplies, packaging and containers, paper and paper products,personal products, rubber, plastics, textiles, clothing and footwear.Health & BeautyExporters India contains a large list of categories like: ayurvedicproducts, beauty equipments, dental equipments, health equipments,herbal products, medical equipments, surgical instruments etc. underthe main category Health & eauty. The health and beauty market is asegment displaying high growth. According to the report, sales ofgoods used as part of health and beauty regimes (HBRs) substantiallyoutperformed the level of growth seen in the markets in which theywere found including skincare, hair care and nutraceuticals.7

The fourth largest sector in the Indian economy is all set for 16%growth during 2008-09, from a base of Rs. 85470 crores, as predicted

by FICCI. Going forward, as anticipated by CRISIL, FMCG sector willtouch around Rs. 140000 crores by 2015.Rural India clocked 19.1%growth for hair oils in April-September against 11.4% in urbanmarkets by volume. Similarly, among toothpaste, the all-India ruralvolume growth was a healthy 17% compared with just 6% in all-Indiaurban markets. The gap in growth rates was even wider amongcandies. In the April-September period, rural markets registered26.5% growth against a minuscule 3.6% growth in urban India. It wasthe same story with value growth. Industry watchers say theincreased consumption is also the result ofa growing middle class base in these markets. The total number of

rural household is expected to rise to 153 million in 2009-10 from 135million in 2001-02, suggesting a huge market.

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Scope and Need for the StudyFMCG products are substantially used to enhance and protect the

health and physical appearance and also the dignity of the peopleamong their counterparts. The spending on FMCG products especiallyin the rural areas is showing an increasing tendency in the last 5years. This is due to increase in income levels, fascinationtowards urban culture, good connectivity to near by towns & cities,improvement in sanitary conditions, beauty awareness amongteenagers of rural areas emulating their counterparts in the urbanareas led to the increased usage of FMCG products particularly

beauty & health care products in this region. With this backdrop thebrand awareness in rural areas with reference to FMCG products isthought of.The study is confined only to Raipur District. It is believed thatthe findings in this region are fairly representative of the other partsof the district. Since the lifestyle and other parameters are not muchdifferent from what exist in the area of survey.

MethodologyIn Raipur District about 69 percentage of population living in

villages. The district comprises of 5 sub Divisions namely 1) Raipur

Revenue Division2) Baloda Bazar Revenue Division, 3) BhataparaRevenue Division ,4)Bilaigarh Revenue Divisionand 5) Gariyabandh Revenue division. Outof these 5 revenue divisions,Raipur revenue division is selected forthe purpose of conducting survey to study the Brand Awarenessamong rural people Due to paucity of time and financial constraints10 villages are chosen for survey adapting purposive samplingtechnique. In all 240 respondents are chosen from different agegroups classifying


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nding: 1The survey data reveals that the income effect is almost nil on awareness of FMCG products.

ll income groups namely Higher, Above Mid, Middle and Lower income groups have not shownny significant difference on aware of these products. If not words they have symbols to expressbout a particular product brand. Package is playing a vital role in choosing and recalling and tond a product by a customer.

Test 1: Significant test on brand awareness between Low &Middle Income groups and Above Middle & High Income groups

Income Groups\ Tests Mean S.D. T test

Low & Mid 66 1.72

0.49Above Mid & High income 54 4.52


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ull Hypothesis 2: There would be no significant difference between below the age of 30 yearsnd 30 years & above to have a Brand Awareness.

- Test 2: Significant test on brand awareness between below theage of 30 years and 30 years & above

Age Groups\ Tests Mean S.D. T test

below the age of 30 68.9 9.2974.782

30 years & above 60.5 9.848nding: 2The survey data reveals that the age effect is high on aware of FMCG products. Below 30

ears age group is showing a significant difference on aware of these products. Most of themeing educators and having trust on branded products influenced to shift towards brandedroducts. And it is also influencing the 30 years & above age group.ull Hypothesis 3: There would be no significant difference between below the age of 30 yearsnd 30 years & above to have a Preference for a Branded Product.Test 3: Significant test on Preference for branded product between below the age of 30 years and

30 years & abovege Groups\ Tests

elow the age of 300 years & aboveean0.17.02test.232nding: 3

The survey data reveals that the age effect is high on preference for a branded product.elow 30 years age group is showing a significant difference on branded products. Readilyvailability of a branded product in expected form and price is

making this segment to shift to branded products.

StandardDeviation7.6


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g: 1stogram showing relationship between income groups

and preference for branded productw Incomed Income

92 13

0 0o Brand

0

ugmentedBrand

86

0 049Above Mid IncomeHigh Income201510

Cheap /egional Brandpecific Brand Premium Brandfferent Income groups with their selective brand

nding: 4Through Histogram (1) we can see that most of the respondents are moving towards

ugmented brand (which is above to expectation of a customer and satisfying a commonustomer). And it is proving that all levels of income group people are concentrating on one aboveo expected product for the same price. (Vide to Fig: 1)g: 2ifferent Income Level Groups and their dependance on to

have a Brand Awareness and Brand UsageV.

6520

w Income

endsucated Childrenopkeeper

ove Mid Income

gh Incomed Income

fferent Income Level Groups

nding: 5The survey data reveals that the countryside consumers of FMCG products were influenced by

dvertisements in Television,

Numberofrespondents

NumerofRespo

ndents


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influenced by friends and relatives particularly their children gettingeducation in near by Engineering and Degree colleges. As alreadystated in this paper the influence of own children getting education inrural based colleges has changed the consumption pattern of ruralfolk. (Vide Fig:2)

However, the influence of local shopkeepers on these FMCG

consumers is also quite noticeable since the local shopkeepersinvariably happen to be friends and relatives of end consumers whomthe shopkeepers can very easily educate and influence to use aparticular brand.

The shift from one brand to the other is evident with a change inincome level. For example; it is noticed that people using popularbrands of soaps which are moderately priced like Hamam & Luxshifted to premier brand like Dove. Even though there is noticeablechange in its price just to show that they are using such soaps as astatus symbol rather than a necessity.

Illiterate people who are in the age group of 30 & above are alsochanging over to branded products on the advice of friends andrelatives or educated children in the house in preference to traditionalproducts. The time taken for preparation for traditional products, theavailability of branded products with the same ingredients at acomparatively cheaper prices, influenced people to shift towardsbranded products. Further these branded products are testedclinically and found to be not harmful to health, motivated people toshift their consumption pattern from the traditional products tobranded products.The promotional activities undertaken on a massive scale by theproducers of FMCG products like soaps, detergents, shampoos, oilsinfluenced the people to a great extent in buying these products. Forexample: Vivel soaps advertisement showing as 125 grams instead of100gms for the same price.

Conclusions & SuggestionsThe brand awareness in rural areas particularly in respect of

beauty care and health care products is showing an increasingtendency. (85% of the people in the age group of below 40 years bothfrom illiterate & literate groups prefer branded products with thebelief that quality is assured as the manufacturers are reputedcompanies. For Ex: Colgate Tooth Paste, Head & Shoulder shampoo).

People are not worried about the price of the product. They areshowing willingness to spend higher price when they realize that theycan afford to spend. Since the usage of branded products of reputedcompanies will elevate their status as well as stature in thatvillage.

The marketing agencies are advised to conduct healthawareness programs by educating the people about the need to usethe health care products to arrest tooth decay, hair fall, dry skin, etc.These products can be made more popular and acceptable amongthe rural people.

References1. John Mano Raj S (2007), Social Changes and the Growth of

Indian Rural Market: An Invitation To FMCG, InternationalMarketing Conference on Marketing & Society, 8-10 April,2007, IIMK, pp 01- 08.

2. http://www.prpundit.com/knowledge/workshop8pdf/Rural%20PR.pdf

3. D.Aaker and E.Joachimstahler, 2000, Brand leadership,Chapter 2, The Brand Identitythe cornerstone of brandstrategy, Free Press, pp 6264.

4. Jean noel kapferer, 1992, Strategic Brand Management, FreePress, pp 31 -54

5. Moorthi Y.L.R., September 2004 , Branding Principles Application to b2b branding, Journal of Business-to-Business

Marketing, Volume 11, Issue 3 pp 79 - 1026. Moorthi Y.L.R., 2002, An approach to branding services,

Journal of services Marketing, Vol 16, No. 3, pp 259-274,

7. http://health-beauty.exportersindia.com/.8. FICCI and technopark, 2009, FMCG sector the road ahead,Market Report,

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