The rural consumers in India account for about 73 percent of the total consumers. In recent years, the lifestyle of a large number of rural consumers in India has changed dramatically and the process of change is on. The buying behaviour of the rural consumers is influenced by several factors such as socio-economic conditions, cultural environment, literacy level, occupation, geographical location, efforts on the part of sellers, exposure to media etc. The consumer movement in India till now has been confined to the middle class citizens in urban areas. It has yet to spread among the masses in rural areas. This book is an effort to understand buying behaviour of rural masses which is influenced by a host of diverse factors. The work is useful to understand the Indian rural consumer psyche in order to formulate an appropriate marketing strategy.
Dr. Meenu Agrawal is Principal, Ginni Devi Modi Girls (Post-graduate) College, Modinagar and also Associate Professor and Head, Department of Economics in the same college. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut in 1991. She specialises in the areas of consumer behaviour, rural development and women empowerment. With more than 32 years of teaching experience and 24 years of research experience, she has authored 21 books and co-authored 6 books in areas of her specialisation. Dr. Agrawal has published 70 research papers in journals and magazines of repute. She has also contributed and presented papers at national and international seminars. She has also organized 8 national seminars, sponsored by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.