The Purchase Pattern of Poor for Fast Moving Consumer Goods: An Empirical Study of Poor in India

Despite possessing the adequate purchase potential for the fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), the poor are not reckoned as a viable market by the FMCG marketers and as a result, the purchase preferences of poor are largely unexplored for the concerned products. The present paper bridges the gap subsisting in the pertinent literature by exploring the purchase behavior of poor consumers in the realm of FMCGs. In-home interviews of 360 below poverty line (BPL) families of Delhi, India unveils poor as price conscious, quality conscious, brand conscious and brand loyal consumers. The price consciousness, brand consciousness, quality consciousness, and brand loyalty for the FMCGs do not vary across different age groups, family sizes, genders, and occupations of the poor. Poor prefer to purchase the FMCGs from local retail shops and pay in cash. They purchase well known national brands in FMCGs and their main information sources of these brands are TV advertising and family members. As far as the post purchase behavior aspect is concerned, poor not only repurchase the FMCG brands they are satisfied with, but also revisit the store they purchased the FMCG brand from.