Consumer Behaviour

Kaustubh Kirti - 139278054

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Unlocking the Wealth in The Rural Market
Main Theme The main theme in the article Unlocking the Wealth in The Rural Market is to
elaborate of the growth potential of the rural economies as compared to their urban counterparts.
Urban areas are facing stagnated growth while rural areas are growing at 1.5 times that The case
discuss issues which companies face which entering the rural space and how big firms like TATA
Motors, ITC, Idea have tackled it through research and analyzing consumer behavior.

Methodology and research in the article- In order to analyze the challenges in rural India based on
real examples a survey was conducted from 70 businesses and more than 40 executives were
reviews and interviewed from nine different industry segments. Following the data accumulated
enormous amount of secondary research was also carried out to get to know the innovative
methods companies incorporate to establish in rural India. They clearly state what all can be done to
go forward by these companies to tap into the rural market. The author has clearly given examples
from various companies like ITC, Idea, and TATA Motors which have been using these rural based
strategies which are unique in their own form. These are unique because they counter the
constraints of poor infrastructure in the rural areas and counter the problem poor connectivity.
TATA Motors is able to reach out in distant rural areas only because the strong performance based
network it has established same goes for Idea because they have leveraged the value of opinion
leaders which are a key deciding criterion in those areas.

The argument, idea or framework proposed- The author has succinctly propped a methodology to
tap into the rural market. He clearly states the growth potential is huge however the companies are
not able to tap into the rural market only because of the infrastructural constraints present. The
author however established clear cut ideas in going into the rural market strategy:
1) Creating durable ties with customers and building that connect with them. This was visible in
the campaign led by Novartis wherein they tried to make the customers base their decisions
on personal bonding and connect
2) Engaging influences is another strategy because it is pretty much evident in the rural space
word of mouth from an influences goes a long way for brand equity development
3) Retaining customers- is another important point that has to be considered. Leading firms like
ITC have installed mobile based facility for digital ordering of goods/ products. Idea cellular
has been able to retain customers and build up on stronger relationship by the reach
program that it carries out. It typically uses a van which has all kind of facility which can help
the rural people to get a SIM card. Therefore a target strategy towards them will help the
consumers.
4) Building trust through an ecosystem of stakeholders is another strategy in which an
ecosystem is developed

The main objective and the driving force behind introducing a rural based strategy were two. One
was that the growth in the urban areas is getting stagnated and the other was there is a huge
potential in rural segment. Building up a strategy which will counter the problem that exist in rural
regions and are successful in delivering value to the consumers will go a long way in becoming
successful

Your opinion - Rural Economy is largely untapped market. Even we take the case of FMCG products
or FMCD the reach is very low and the variants that are available is less. However the problem are
definitely there. The infrastructure is poor and the reach is not available. There are a few hindrances
due to which the companies are not able to take proper decision. Many companies are not exploring
the rural segment. However some companies as mentioned in the case have changed their approach
specifically for rural consumers. They are using the power of bonding through building up an
Consumer Behaviour
Kaustubh Kirti - 139278054
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ecosystem which is favourable and using the power of opinion leaders to drive growth. It will not
only benefit the customers in the long run but help in nation building too.

Advertisings New Medium: Human Experience
Main Theme The article talks about how the effect of advertising has radically evolved from
providing just a mere normal experience to a clearly defined human experience. The target of
current advertisements is not just how to perceive what is happening but also understand the
importance of this integration of advertisement is affecting humans in general. Humans are getting
affected as mentioned in the case on four different levels which basically defines the outcome or the
behaviors of the humans. Today effective advertising can only provide value in each sphere
otherwise it would not be a much effective or helpful resource.

Methodology and research in the article- The research methodology to analyze this effect is to
clearly identify each and every reason how it provides relevance to each sphere in the human being.
Every ad that has been mentioned has been characterized into one sphere or the other and how it
was affecting consumer behavior. Right from the public sphere when a Duracell ad provides a public
approach of responding to problem of low battery to the social sphere advertisements of Nintendo
Wii ads for featuring a youthful product. The ads have clearly mentioned the clear context in which
they are aligned and how they address the social context to which they need to provide the solution.

The argument, idea or framework proposed- The author has succinctly defined the various
segments in which the ads integrate today to everyday life. The author talks about how effective
advertising in each of the four mentions sphere of human experience was providing some for
relevance for the people. The starts by discussing the following spheres in consumer everyday life:
1) Public sphere- this is the public sphere where we are present and we move around. In this
consumer look at goal alignment and engaging and compelling act. The try to relate to real life
and how it could have helped them directly. Examples of such cases include Duracell ads which
have the responding trucks which pop up whenever there is a requirement.
2) Social sphere is the social level at which human being interact or relate with each other. This
sphere responds and addresses a social need and facilitates how people interact with each other.
It tells us how people behave in a much more social space. How people relate an ad to their
youth or their age and how social quotient could be looked at.
3) Tribal sphere- is the integration which tells us about how we affiliate ourselves with groups for
relations and introspection. It is also pretty relevant in the social context. It addresses a social
need to solve a problem but provides us the reason of affiliation. It targets our conscience on the
basis of why we should align with one group and not the other.
4) Psychological sphere- this is the sphere which talks about how we connect ourselves with the
ads. Advertisements like Just Di It they make people think about themselves. These ads help
people in introspecting in how should be their behavior and attitude in doing things. They help
people in association with the brand with an emotion. They help people in linking a pattern of
thought with what was supposed to be a ground reality.

Your opinion In my opinion the transition from the traditional form of ads to this much more
realistic format is good and would help in companies which consider them champions of innovation.
Without innovative ads which are channelled to proper sphere it would be very difficult for the
companies to survive in the world and would definitely be not possible for them to compete.
Effective advertising in each sphere of human experience depends on the new kind of ads which are
coming up and this integration should be an important point which companies should now take into
consideration.


Consumer Behaviour
Kaustubh Kirti - 139278054
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Unlocking the Mysteries of Your Customer Relationship
Main Theme The main theme in the article Unlocking the Mysteries of Your Customer
Relationship is to understand the phenomenon of relationship intelligence which the current
organizations lack. Today most organization are interested in setting up CRM however they do not
tend to look whether it is actually helping or not. Today 11billion $ is spent annually in installing
relationship management software however companies are still at a complex juncture. They are not
able to understand why a customer is behaving in a particular way. The key is to the issue is that we
can segregate the customer relationship in to separate six quadrants wherein we can define our
relationship with the customer and accordingly target out promotions so that we work on improving
that relationship.

Methodology and research in the article- The research in the article was carried out by analyzing
how the companies were viewing the huge amount of data it has accumulated and accordingly what
kind of promotions it was giving based on it. The trend was visible in the retail market online
wherein there is a huge scope of giving promotions. The authors have cited examples where in the
organizations have lost high value customers even after successfully interpreting the data that was
available because the approach of the companies was wrong or the promotion that the company has
designed was not correct.

The argument, idea or framework proposed- The author has succinctly defined the various kinds of
relationship that can exist with the customers. It can range of a basic exchange to business partners.
The rationale behind all these different relationship is pure and simple every customers sees value in
separate terms therefore expectations are also different. Thus it becomes important to segregate
the customers in to different segments:
1) Basic Exchange the customer expects a good product or service in exchange of the price
that it has paid and henceforth it will only be a basic exchange
2) Business Partners- the customer considers the brand as a business partner that was
providing it terms based on specific deals
3) Fling- the customer wasted to try a product just for the sake of change or trying something
different
4) Best Friends- the customer is looking for intimacy and emotional support. The customer has
started to rely on the product while considering of goods that deliver value.
5) Buddies- the customer is looking at a very long term relationship and expects the brand will
always provide what is demanded within the limits defined by customer
6) Master- Slave- Customer considers itself a king and the brand working for it as a slave and
provide all the goods at the time and specification as per the consumers demands and
whims

The point of putting forward relationship management definitely is the objective of big data. If we
have loads of data and we are not able to take proper value out of it, it becomes absolutely useless.
IT is important that relationship should be dealt with proper understanding of what the consumer
wants and what the consumer does not wants.

Your opinion The article definitely talk about an important part of STP that we overlook now a
days. Today due to the CRM data we have so much data available that it becomes very difficult to
interpret the results. Most of the companies today base their decision on the CRM data. However
we should understand that every industry is different and therefore without applying an innovative
Consumer Behaviour
Kaustubh Kirti - 139278054
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methodology on how to push the right kind of promotion to the right kind of customer we will not
be able to make a proper meaning out of doing data analysis at all. As given in the examples that if
we do not understand if the customer wants us to treat like buddies or best friends we can end up
damaging our relationship. Therefore it is important the relationship is understood pretty well in
advance before any promotion/ pushing strategy is put forth so that maximum benefit can be
derived under such circumstances.