Title: Perception and switch intention of rural customers towards organised retail

Authors: Sunit Sharma; Tejinder Sharma; Purnendu Mandal

Addresses: Department of Commerce, I.B. College, Panipat, India ' Department of Commerce, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India ' College of Business, Lamar University, USA

Abstract: With the opening of retail sector for corporate investment, Indian markets saw the emergence of organised retail formats. While urban customers exhibited immediate interest in this newer shopping experience, their rural counterparts were slower in switching over to the organised retail. In addition to the economic considerations, the reasons behind slower adaptation of the organised retail entailed cognitive and perceptual aspects as well. The paper identifies the perceptual aspects of the rural customers on switching towards the organised retail. Data has collected from 537 rural customers to study their perceptions and switch intentions towards organised retail. The study finds that the rural customers are showing preference to go to organised retail outlets to purchase products and services that offer higher value. Findings of the survey show that 'core value delivery' is the most significant predictor of purchase intention in rural market. Pre-purchase inducement and value enhancement are also other significant predictors of purchase intention.

Keywords: value perception; switching intention; rural customers; organised retail; core value delivery.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBFMI.2018.088626

International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, 2018 Vol.4 No.1, pp.13 - 29

Received: 18 May 2017
Accepted: 27 Jun 2017
Published online: 13 Dec 2017 *

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