Volume XXXIX • Number  5  • May 2009

Exploration of Connection Between Culture,Corporate Communication and Consumption With The Help of Focus Groups: An Empirical Study

The field of consumer behaviour studies deals with how individuals, groups and organisations select, buy, use and dispose off products and experiences to satisfy their needs and desires. In the process, consumers process brands and marketing promotions for meaning as well as for information. Interpretation of brands and marketing promotions is a problematic issue for both consumers and marketers. First, consumers construct different meanings than what brand sponsors may have intended. Furthermore, different types of consumers construct multiple meanings, depending on personal background, contexts of consumption and multiple frames of reference. This issue of brands, ads, and promotions possessing several potential meanings has significant implications for marketing theory and practice. The present study aims at understanding the purchase decision-making pattern among various communities in India and the effect of various cultural profiles in terms of language or religion or both. For the survey, the respondents were chosen from three linguistic groups viz. Bengalis, Marwaris and Gujarati and three religious groups viz. Hindus, Muslims and Jains and focus group technique was used. Focus groups are discussions in which the moderator supplies the topics and monitors the discussion. The purpose is to gather information about a specific or focused topic in a group environment, allowing for discussion and interaction by the participants.

Home Foods - Food For Thought

Everything in the room conveyed fumes, sweat and mopping brows. Yet toiling away tenaciously on the floor was a frail woman with her pallu wrapped demurely on her head and the end clutched in her mouth like a life saving anchor. Adding to this visage were huge gunny bags filled to the brim with jowar grains adorning to the perimeter of the room like artifacts in a museum. It all seemed like some every day scene of an obedient house wife fulfilling her core responsibility of ‘Cooking for the family.’ More than that, the scene conveyed a sense of positive exuberance just like the woman herself. Meet Alka in Ameerpet, an average, uneducated homemaker who used to cringe subserviently at the very sight of her in laws or husband. But right now, it is her nervous strength and the advantage of making Jowar rotis from her child hood that is paying rich dividends for the family. Making about 100-150 rotis a day is a cakewalk for her. A delivery boy collects them and transports them to the various hostels, curry points and eateries in the vicinity of Ameerpet and SR Nagar in Hyderabad. She averages a profit of Rs.4/- per roti and her monthly income of Rs.12000/- to Rs.15000/- would clearly give an MBA fresher a serious complex. Even as the age old debate about the role of women in modern society continues, she has quietly donned a new avtaar to augment the household income.

With a billion plus population and appalling illiteracy levels in India, can there be any better device than condoms for the government to enforce the small family norm? In fact, it helps to kill two birds with one stone, that is, both family planning and the controlling of sexually transmitted diseases. Demographic explosion poses a major challenge to India’s rapid economic development. The realization on the fallouts of rampant growth in population prompted the government to initiate a simple, non-clinical family planning programme. On the other hand—equally important—condom manufacturers are beginning to appreciate that in a frankly competitive market, future sales depend on new, more candid, consumer- centered approach. Paradoxically, India, a country which is craving for women’s liberalization, needs to pay new attention to the role of men as the responsible parent.

Rural Marketing of Select Fast Moving Consumer Goods in Punjab

This research paper based on primary data examines the domain of Rural Marketing for the select FMCGs for the state of Punjab with an objective to develop an insight into the buying behaviour of rural consumers.Instead of smaller packages, medium packages were reported to be the most preferred with only exception of shampoo. The quality of goods stocked by the rural retailer was reported to be average and majority of respondents reported lack of trust in the matter of the advertisement with significant variations across the different districts. From testing of hypothesis relationship was observed to be existing: between consumer’s purchase decisions on the basis of price and the select FMCG product categories; consumer opinion about inferior quality of loose products and district of respondents; consumer’s opinion about the quality of products stocked by rural retailer and district to which they belong; rural consumer’s trust on the matter of the advertisements and the different districts. It is recommended that neither rural Punjab should be treated as single homogeneous market nor different FMCG products categories be planned in a similar manner. Specific marketing strategies based on the different elements of Marketing Mix have also been developed in the paper.

Tourism has an international market, but marketing strategies need to be build up from the basic marketing inputs used in domestic tourism. Cultural differences (language and social usages), political differences (Income and its distribution and currency regulation), and geographical differences (topography and demography) are of supreme importance in the tourism and travel market. These environmental influences and their relationship to parallel influences in a particular region facilitate relocation of promising tourist markets. Marketing strategy inputs need to be adjusted to foreign markets. The tourist products (attractions) require simplification and adjustment to local differences in taste, price and quality levels. The long distance to an overseas market requires a concern with transportation and distribution; Differences in wholesaling and retailing require the use of different marketing channels. Prices must reflect the additional Costs of transportation, customers and other controls. Promotion needs adjustment to variation in travel media, availability of sales personnel and other promotional inputs. As the level of international tourism increases, the entire organization is directed towards the tourist and travel market.

Advertising Practices and Promotion In The Islamic World Under The Shariah Observation : A Case Study on Bank Islam in Malaysia

This study is to identify and asses the existing advertising practices in the Islamic Bank under the shariah observation and also promotional strength which is needed to acquire by Islamic banks to compete with the conventional banking as well. Descriptive observation carried out to measure the gap and distance to reach in terms of promotional tool with the prominent conventional bank to Islamic bank. While Islamic institutions particularly the banks are in competitive advantaged compared to their rival that they are providing the banking procedure under the shariah observation. It is still needed to properly revise and adequately research to upgrade the real scenario under the light of Quran and sunnah. In case of product and special offerings of the Islamic banks, majority of customers who have the potentiality are in deep ignorance. Analyzing the most effective communication through promotion, this study also make the clear way to state the Islamic banking promotion on the right track. Such a way to make the business more profitable as well as acknowledged to the customer promotion is the most strongest tool for the business regardless product or services industry. Most latest advertising in Islamic institutions and its appropriate guideline under shariah observation needed to observe which resultant the concrete solution of lot of query inside the mind of the potential customer; who are still deciding up about the institution to which they would be loyal.

More than 70 % of the Indian population lives in the rural segment and depends on agriculture and its allied sectors for their livelihood- either directly or indirectly. The effect of green revolution in India has resulted in India becoming self-sufficient in food production. Present stress is to encourage the industry- mainly agro-based; which can fetch more and more foreign exchange to improve the balance of payment scenario of India. The change in the agricultural scene, viz., the scarcity of water and consequent difficult in cultivating water intensive crops like paddy and sugarcane, have led to marginalization of farm lands and subsequent decline in income from agricultural operation. Consequent to these changes, the social, economic and occupational scenes in the rural areas are changing from bad to worse. These circumstances become essential to explore viable alternatives for generating additional employment and supplementing the scanty income of the farm families. Sericulture is one among the several options that can be considered for rendering economic support to such facilities.

  Dr.A.Selvaraj
Reader in Commerce
Gobi Arts and Science College
Gobichettipalayam,Tamil Nadu

dras2005@rediffmail.com

Globally, Micro Finance (MF) has been recognized as a powerful instrument to address poverty. Beyond the direct link with poverty reduction, it is an indirect link to address the issues of health, education, gender. The task force would like to emphasis in its definition that MF will cover not only consumption & production loans, but will also include other credit needs such as housing & shelter improvement; while other financial services like savings and insurance are also included under it. It may be left to the MFIs (Micro Finance Institutions) to identify the poor. Thus, MFI is an organization that provides financial services to the poor. “Provision of thrift, credit & other financial services & products of very small amounts to the poor in rural, semi- urban or urban areas for enabling them to raise their income levels & improving living standards”.

  A.Saraswathy
Lecturer
Government Art College
Chennai
sss_saraswathy@yahoo.com  

Although the multinational corporation took birth in the early 1860’s, it was after the Second World War that the multinational has grown rapidly. In the early days, the United States was the home of majority of the MNC’s. Now there are a large number of Japanese MNCs and European MNCs are the largest in number. Multinationals have been emerging from the developing countries too. South Korea has, for example, well known MNC’s like Samsung, Hyundai and Daewoo. The growth of MNC’s has been the result of foreign direct investment. The global liberalization has paved the way for the fast expansion and growth of the MNCs. Multinational corporations have various factors or reasons responsible for the growth.