Abstract

India has been acknowledged as one of the most promising and fastest growing economy of the world. Besides urban and semi-urban areas, rural India has a huge potential. Many foreign brands are dominating particularly in consumer durable category. The purpose of the study is to understand the comparative attitudes of rural and urban Indian consumers towards the foreign products against Indian products. Both rural and urban consumers have rated foreign products very high as compared to domestic products. Rural consumers were found more impressed than their urban counterparts with foreign products in terms of maintenance services, technical advancement, prestige, durability, quality/performance, and wide choice of size and model. No significant differences were observed between rural and urban consumers in terms of ‘good style and appearance’. Indian producers in the coming times are going to face a very strong threat from foreign brands, particularly in consumer durable category.

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