MS-611 Rural Marketing Previous Exam Paper

MBA - Master of Business Administration

Note: This paper consists of two sections A and B. Attempt any three questions from Section A. Section B is compulsory. All questions carry equal marks.

1. What constitutes rural markets in India? Discuss the important dimensions of the rural market demographics and their implications for marketers of consumer durables

2. What are the major features in the problem recognition, information search and alternative evaluation process that as a marketer of utility products like cycles, you can expect in case of rural customers?

3. What are the factors that affect the product adoption process? How would these factors determine the rate of adoption in the rural market for products like:
(a) Easy-to-handle razors
(b) Battery operated TV sets

4. Explain the important communication concepts relevant to the rural markets. What is the significance of usage of symbols and pictures, colour and music in rural marketing communication? Discuss with suitable examples.

5. Write short notes on any three of the following:
(a) Hierarchy of markets for rural consumers
(b) Role of regulated markets or Mandis in rural distribution
(c) Place of purchase decision in the rural markets
(d) Thomson rural market index
(e) Impact of IT on the rural marketing practices

SECTION B

Read the case given below and answer the questions given at the end of the case.

In a study conducted by ICICI it was found that:

• Only 40 per cent of shops in small towns have electricity, while in feeder villages this figure was 11 per cent.
• Shops in towns were located on rented premises. while in interior villages in 88 per cent of the cases the shops were located on owned premises and lacked electricity
• In feeder villages, four fifths of the shops have one person working full time, while in interior villages 70 per cent have two or three persons working on a part–time basis.
• Over two-fifths of the retail outlets stocked eight to nine standard product categories.
• It was found that three –fourths of the outlets that stocked eight to nine product categories kept four items or less in each category, while one–fourth had five to six items in each category.
• The total number of items stocked in retail outlets was about 50 in interior villages and 115 in feeder villages.
• The stock turnover ratio in the study is the number of times the stock is sold in a month. This is obtained by dividing the stock level by monthly off-take. The ratio for toiletries in interior villages was close to unity, while in the feeder villages two thirds had a ratio in the range of two to three. The ratio of one indicates that on average interior village shops had stocks for one month, while shops in feeder villages maintained stocks for two or three months. The value of the stock turnover ratio in towns had a wider spread and higher values in the range of three or even. five because of the wide variety of products stocked.

Questions:

(a) Critically evaluate the above rural retail scenario for the marketer of consumer products.

(b) What implications does the above scenario have for the long – term distribution system design of a multi–product necessity Goods Company wanting to make a foray into the rural markets?