These posts are then viewed by millions of followers everyday. Marketing communications, consumer behaviour, opinion leadership, consumer influence, rural consumers suggested citation. A course material on sasurie college of engineering. As the rural marketing is a two way process, this article attempts to highlight issues and challenges associated with the rural marketing strategies.
Effects of brand endorsements by opinion leaders on rural consumer buying behavior dr. Measuring opinion leadership and network links 277 characteristics of opinion leaders 281 external communication 282 accessibility 2s2 socioeconomic status 2s2 innovativeness 284 innovativeness, opinion leadership, and system norms 284 monomorphic and polymorphic opinion leadership 288 diffusion networks 293 communication network analysis 294. The importance of opinion leaders in agricultural extension. Coming to the frame work of rural marketing, rural marketing broadly. Research gap though the currently available literature on influencing factors seemingly appears. The rural markets are growing at above two times faster pace than urban markets. Word of mouth holds a lot of validity in the rural areas. In 2008, we ran a fourpart series on leadership in the center for rural affairs newsletter.
They usually have deeper expertise in a certain area, and are. The authors categorize close to 200 studies that have studied or used opinion leaders to promote behavior change. Promotion strategies in rural marketing management paradise. In villages, the degree of interaction between the leader and villagers is high. Opinion receivers perceive the opinion leader as a highly credible, objective source of product information who can help reduce their search and analysis time and. Innovative strategy in rural marketing career point university. Suggested citation saha, debanjan, usage of opinion leaders as a marketing tool in rural markets of india october 1, 20. Jun 09, 2017 these include online advertising and streaming, social media, chatroom forums, video and blog posts and the use of kols, or key opinion leaders. Identifying opinion leaders in social media during brand.
Opinion leaders have become such a common marketing strategy that in a recent study conducted in europe, 7000 consumers were polled and 60% proclaimed that were influenced by friends and family members. In the process, retailers have emerged as key influencers of rural purchase of fmcg ying zhao, 1994. Effects of brand endorsements by opinion leaders on rural. A course material on ba 7016 rural marketing by mr. Aug 29, 20 amity business school motivations behind opinion leadership the needs of opinion leaders the needs of opinion receivers purchase pals surrogate buyers versus opinion leaders surrogate buyers may replace opinion leaders an example is a wardrobe consultant who helps in the purchase of business clothes issues 11. Outside of specific communities, celebrities are often defined as opinion leaders. Nandini btech, mba, jntuhceh abstract rural markets have become integral part of global market. As discussed earlier, opinion leader concept, tightly connected with wordofmouth of products, can be further applied in marketing practices. Higie,1986 opinion leaders were found to use higher quality sources of information and rely on interpersonal discussions. With the recent rapid development of online social networks, wom has become an attractive marketing tool.
A kol, also known as an influencer, is defined as someone who not only has considerable influence over others in their purchasing decisions but is also able to draw attention and create awareness. Mar 17, 2006 the results of the study found a high degree of association between monomorphic and polymorphic opinion leadership within a relatively closed communication system in a modern society. In some cases, a reference group can be what is called an opinion leader, such as a rock star or famous politician, who attracts devotees. Nov 05, 2010 demographic characteristics of opinion leaders opinion leaders tend to be younger, often with more education, higher income and higher occupational status opinion leaders for movies tend to be young and single opinion leaders for food purchase have been found to be predominantly married in contrast, those for giving information and advise on. Especially in rural areas opinion leaders are held in high esteem by those who accept their opinions. Find opinion articles and opinion news on bs online. Indian economy is predominantly rural with a contribution of about 29 percent to indias gross domestic product gdp. Factors influencing purchase of fmcg by rural consumers in. Usage of opinion leaders as a marketing tool in rural markets of. Rural marketing can be define as a function that manages all activities involved in assessing, stimulating and converting the purchasing power of rural consumers into an effective demand for specific products and services and moving these products and services to the people in rural areas to create satisfaction and a better standard of living and thereby achieving. They offer informal advice about the product or service.
In the years since this work, opinion leaders have been the subject of many studies in marketing science and other social sciences. However, usually is very difficult to identify them and even. Targeting opinion leaders recent marketing thinking sees ols as the most powerful tools for advertising. Rm7203020 the influence of opinion leaders in the rural. Typically the opinion leader is held in high esteem by those who accept their opinions. The rural marketing refers to the activities undertaken by the marketers to encourage the people, living in rural areas to convert their purchasing power into an effective demand for the goods and services and making these available in the rural areas, with the intention to improve their standard of living and achieving the companys objective, as a whole. Infect the opinion leaders are the most influencing part of promotion strategy of rural promotion efforts.
Companies like hindustan lever, colgate palmolive, britannia and even multinational companies mncs like pepsi, coca cola, l. Pdf opinion leadership in indian villages and diffusion of e. Nowadays, educated youth of rural area can also influence decisionmaking of the rural. Supplementary findings indicated moderately high association between both innovativeness and communication apprehension and polymorphic opinion leadership. Leadership in rural areas requires particular traits.
Rural marketing has become the latest mantra of most corporate. Leaders are the lifeblood of small towns and rural communities. Acropdf a quality pdf writer and pdf converter to create pdf files. Pdf opinion leaders for increasing the market for nonlife. Influential members of a community, group, or society to whom others turn for advice, opinions, and views.
This implies that rural marketing consists of marketing of inputs. Doc rural leadership in extension work hudu zakaria. The concept of rural marketing is seen to have originated in agricultural marketing mcfall, 1930. Opinion leadership is the process by which the opinion leader informally influences the actions or attitudes of others, who may be opinion seekers or merely opinion recipients. Nov 23, 2019 a key distinction is between formal and informal reference groups, the former consisting of clubs, organizations, and religious fellowships, while the latter often is comprised of friends or colleagues. Rural marketing can be define as a function that manages all activities involved in assessing, stimulating and converting the purchasing power of rural consumers into an effective demand for specific products and services and moving these products and services to the people in rural areas to create satisfaction and a better standard.
The role of traditional leaders in community development. Opinion leaders are often trusted and unbiased and have the social network of friends, family, and coworkers necessary to disperse information. Get expert opinion, expert views, editorial columns, top columnist news, political opinion, editorial comment at business standard. Leadership for rural communities center for rural affairs. Social influences on the consumer decision process. Rural marketing, on the other hand, would be any strategy that best reaches a rural population, such as those people who reside in.
The role of opinion leaders in influencing consumer behaviors. Introduction of rural marketing 46 consumer research, thus, is indispensable for entering the rural segment of the market. If a marketer can identify key opinion leaders for a certain group, she can then direct her efforts towards attracting. Organizations are shifting their focus towards this huge and largely untapped market. Meaning and definition of rural marketing the term rural marketing. The authors describe the development and validation of multipleitem selfreport scales to measure opinion leadership and opinion seeking for specific product or service domains. Whether its a product or a politician, opinion leaders can often sway other community members toward their own views. A comparative study of rural, semiurban and urban areas in and around chandigarh inderjeet sethi1 and as chawla2 abstract peoples behavior makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives thomas mann. Chapter 1 introduction of rural marketing marketing is the business activity that explores unfulfilled needs and wants, defines and measures their magnitude, determines which target market can be best and optimally served, decides on the basis of appropriate products, pricing, promotion and distribution.
Nowadays, educated youth of rural area can also influence decisionmaking of the rural consumers. Oct 28, 2019 opinion leaders have established authority in a given area, market, or industry. Usage of opinion leaders as a marketing tool in rural. With a saga of vision and enterprise, we have launched indias first and only portal ralmarketing. To its speakers the industry gives training, talks, platforms, audiences and sometimes authorship opportunities, which is exactly the prominence they need to shape opinions and speak in an authoritative. Opinion leadership meaning definition characteristics. The message relays from one group of opinion leaders to another group of opinion seekers, and this transforms the seekers into leaders. Influence of cultural, social and marketing factors on the. Feb 22, 2015 using key opinion leaders kols to influence demand and expand communication reach is not a new concept, but in the informationsaturated digital world people increasingly rely on the endorsement.
The rationale behind the importance of opinion leaders in marketing communications can be explained by the. Introduction there has been change in the role of traditional rulers in nigeria as it applies to community development, since the introduction of local government reforms of 1976 in the said reforms, leadership roles were clearly expressed, which states that it is not the intention of government to destroy the organic unity of the traditional institutions. The findings included the fact that opinion leaders actually played a major role in. For purposes of this study, the theory was used to explain how product information flowed from the mass media to opinion leaders, and ultimately to a wider community. Rural marketing includes rural tourban flows of artisan products aithal, 2008. Monomorphic and polymorphic opinion leadership within a. Business standard opinion, bs opinion, bs columns, bs letters. Various groups in villages determine the pattern of leadership in villages.
Usage of opinion leaders as a marketing tool in rural markets of india. Rural marketing is a process of developing, pricing, promoting, and distributing rural specific goods and services leading to desired exchange with rural customers to satisfy their needs and wants, and also to achieve organizational objectives. The selection of opinion leaders to promote evidencebased care does not imply the use of sophisticated technology or processes, and it should be possible to implement the intervention even in the most underresourced settings. Rural marketing represented the emergent distinct activity of attracting and serving rural markets to fulfil the needs and wants of persons, households and occupations of rural people. The importance of opinion leaders in agricultural extension article pdf available in the scientific world journal 761. Rural india is the buzzword and eldorado for marketers. The process by which one person opinion leader informally influences the action or attitudes of others who may be opinion seekers or merely opinion recipients. This is the reason why opinion leaders are thriving among rural consumers. But often, rural marketing is confused with agricultural marketing the latter denotes marketing of produce of the rural areas to the urban consumers or.
Opinion leaders have established authority in a given area, market, or industry. The role of opinion leaders in influencing consumer. In addition, the industry use of kols makes individual wouldbe opinion leaders stand out, which heightens their career trajectory and success. The concepts of opinion leadership and opinion seeking are defined, previous attempts to measure them are critiqued, and the scale development process is described. Mbah4010 rural marketing 2 composed of two main sub sectors i. Impact of opinion leaders in information dissemination in rural corresponding author 45. Opinion leaders are generally people who have the ability to influence others. In rural marketing, a greater time lag is involved between the introduction of a product and its economic size sale, because the rural buyers adoption process is more time consuming. The size and potential market of the rural sector could be measured in terms of the.
Mbah4010 rural marketing 1 rural marketing rural marketing is real marketing. The importance of information from articles, books and television programmes is significantly associated with opinion leadership status. Opinion leaders for increasing the market for nonlife insurance products in india article pdf available in international journal of business innovation and research 99 2. At the same time, as the fragmentation of media made traditional advertising less effective, marketers. The effectiveness of marketing communications can be greatly impacted by opinion formers and leaders.
Who are opinion leaders and why do they matter cleverism. The rural marketing mix as a marketing mix of company includes 4 p. Identifying opinion leaders to promote behavior change. The general purpose of itcs echoupal initiative was to reform the.
Key opinion leaders and content marketing thomas webster. Taobao leverages live streaming to boost rural development. Opinion leadership comes from the theory of twostep flow of communication propounded by paul lazarsfeld and elihu katz. But often, rural marketing is confused with agricultural marketing the latter denotes marketing of produce of the rural areas to the urban consumers or industrial consumers, whereas rural marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural produc. Opinion leaders can act as gatekeepers for interventions, help change social norms, and accelerate behavior change. To explore and understand rural market is crucial for any marketers today. Considers their relevance to the marketing of wine by assessing whether they are a reachable segment with respect to their demography and information needs. Few studies document the manner in which opinion leaders are identified, recruited, and trained to promote health. In addition, it also includes the marketing in the rural areas. Opinion leaders are particularly useful in marketing.
This study proposes a framework for the identification of opinion leaders in online blogs. First and only knowledge portal covering rural india. The success or failure of community development efforts often rests with the degree of leadership local citizens are willing to provide. The emergence of rural markets as highly untapped potential emphasizes the need to explore them. Opinion leadership is leadership by an active media user who interprets the meaning of media messages or content for lowerend media users.
Rural marketing project marketing project topics, mba base paper, advertising thesis ideas, dissertation, synopsis, abstract, report, full pdf, working details for marketing management mba, diploma in business, btech, be, mtech and msc college students for the year 20152016. Others may simply be active and trusted in a given community, whether that is a physical area. Laughey 2007 argues that information flows from the mass media to opinion leaders and in turn flows from the opinion leaders to a wider population. As a result of the above analysis, we are in a position to define rural marketing rural marketing can be seen as a function which manages all those activities. Opinion leadership is defined as the process in which one person influences the attitudes or actions of other person informally, who may be identified as opinion leader.
Opinion leaders are commonly targeted by marketers because of the influence they wield over other consumers. Some may make a career out of influencing their audience, impacting their feeling about industry trends and current events, as well as affecting their consumer behavior. Opinion leaders are important disseminators of information. In a world where wordofmouth is challenging media effectiveness, more and more companies are targeting ols in their marketing campaigns. Pdf the importance of opinion leaders in agricultural.
South african journal of agricultural extension, 342. Introduction of rural marketing marketing can be defined as the process of identifying, anticipating and knowing customer needs, and organizing all the resources of the company to satisfy them. Influence of cultural, social and marketing factors on the buying behavior of telecom users. Rural marketing is defined as any marketing activity in which the one dominant participant is from a rural area. Pratyush tripathi professor, faculty of management studies vns group of institutions, bhopal m. Amity business school opinion leadership the process by which one person the opinion leader informally influences the consumption actions or attitudes of others who may be opinion seekers or opinion recipients. However, to use this tool efficiently, it is important to identify the opinion leaders in such networks. The concept of opinion leadership has played an important role in marketing research as well because leaders can help increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns weimann et al. Twostep flow model of communication, theory of communication that proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets the twostep flow model was formulated in 1948 by paul lazarsfeld, bernard berelson, and hazel gaudet in the book the peoples choice, after research into voters decisionmaking. H1 network position is associated with opinion leader role. Though a rural consumer gets information on products or services through. Opinion leaders can successfully promote the adoption of evidencebased practices.