Information Communication Technology in Rural Marketing - A Game Changer

Abstract

Since the beginning of 21st century, India's economic success story has been a subject of intense scrutiny and discussion. Its booming middle class has attracted many multinational and national companies alike. If early 2000s witnessed explosion in urban consumerism, later part of the decade has seen the focus shift to the vast rural population which by and large remains largely untapped. In last few years, there has been a significant growth in the size of rural markets and along with many other factors, modern day Information Communication Technology has played a vital role in their growth. Deployment of modern ICT has resolved two key hurdles for rural marketing - Promotions and last-mile-distribution. This paper focuses only on the role played by ICT and presents a fact-based analysis.