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    7Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.

    Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan:

    An FMCG Perspective

    * Senior General Manager, Sales, PepsiCo Holdings India Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata 700107,West Bengal, India. E-mail: [email protected]

    ** Assistant Professor, Management Education Centre, Heritage Institute of Technology,Kolkata 700107, West Bengal, India. E-mail: [email protected]

    Dev Narayan Sarkar* and Gagan Pareek**

    Almost all large consumer goods companies operating in Bhutan actually operate

    through their Indian offices since India has a free trade agreement with Bhutan.

    Bhutan has a unique rural market structure, and the 4Ps (Product, Place, Price

    and Promotion) and 4As (Awareness, Availability, Affordability and Acceptability)

    of rural marketing are also governed by unique regulations formulated by theGovernment of Bhutan. Bhutan is 69.1% rural, and rural marketing becomes

    the most important subject for marketing in Bhutanin fact, if Indian census

    benchmarks were applied to the Bhutan demographics, the percentage of rural

    population would be beyond 90%. This present study is the most comprehensive

    ex post facto qualitative and quantitative study of the 4Ps/4As of rural marketing

    in Bhutan. The research tool used is a qualitative survey of the national distributors

    operating in Bhutan and of some wholesalers in each district of Bhutan, followed

    by a quantitative analysis of the associations between the factors. Absolutely

    no literature is available on rural marketing in Bhutan, and this paper aims to

    advance that body of knowledge from a practitioners point of view.

    Introduction

    Bhutan has an indigenous population of 634,982 (of which rural population is

    438,871) and is very sparsely populated with only 18 people per sq km (PHCB,

    2005). The population, including the non-Bhutanese, is 672,425. In contrast to

    this, the Indian census defines any area with less than 400 people per sq km as

    rural (also 70% of adult male population should be engaged in agriculture and

    there should not be any municipal board). As per PHCB (2005), 69.1% of population

    of Bhutan reside in rural areas. Though the percentage of rural population in Bhutan

    seems almost same as that of India, the point to note is that Bhutan Census

    board has a less stringent criterion for classifying a place as Urbanthe urban-

    rural classification used in the PHCB (2005) is according to the classification of the

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 20138

    Department of Urban Development and Engineering Services (DUDES) and is not

    based on any standard criterion. If we use the Indian standard criterion, Bhutan isconsiderably more rural. Hence, Bhutan can be termed as a predominantly rural

    country and rural marketing is very important for the country. The rural marketing

    tools and challenges are presented in Table 1.

    Rural marketing does not exist as a

    proper academic or research discipline

    in the western world. Though there are

    some Indian books and articles on rural

    marketing, there is almost nothing

    written on rural marketing in Bhutan, a

    seamless neighbor to India. Since there

    is no material on rural marketing mix of

    Bhutan, this paper aims to develop

    scholarly material on rural marketing

    mix.

    The scope of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) distribution in rural Bhutan

    is best represented by Figure 1 describing the domain of rural marketing in rural

    marketing theory presented by Jha (1988). Anything produced in rural and supplied

    to rural falls in the unorganized sector; anything produced in urban areas and

    supplied to rural areas falls under consumer goods distribution (which is the scope

    of this paper); anything produced in rural and supplied to urban areas falls under

    agricultural marketing, artisan products and cottage industry; and anything

    produced in urban areas and supplied to urban areas is outside the purview of

    rural marketing. FMCG marketing in the rural markets of Bhutan falls in the realm of

    urban to rural marketing quadrant as highlighted in Figure 1.

    Table 1: Rural Marketing Tools vs.Marketing Challenges

    Marketing MarketingTools Challenge

    Product Acceptability

    Price Affordability

    Place Availability

    Promotion Awareness

    Source: Kashyap (2005)

    Figure 1: Classification of Rural Marketing

    Rural

    Produced in

    Urban

    Unorganized Sector(Farm and Non-Farm)

    Supplied to

    Rural Urban

    Agricultural Marketing,Artisan Products,Cottage Industry

    Consumer GoodsDistribution (Scope of

    this paper)

    Not in the Realmof Rural Marketing

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    9Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Geography and Demography of Bhutan

    Bhutans geographical area is comparable to Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlandand Taiwan but it lags behind in terms of per capita income and Human Development

    Index (HDI) ranking. Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state

    in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the

    south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the Peoples

    Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby country of Nepal to the

    west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by the

    Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. The total area of the country has been

    reported as 38,394 sq km. Bhutan has a population of 634,982 as per its 2005

    census and is very sparsely populated with only 18 people per sq km and is

    predominantly rural (PHCB, 2005). The population, including the non-Bhutanese,

    is 672,425. Bhutan is divided into 20 dzongkhags (districts) (Figure 2), administeredby a body called the dzongkhag Tshogdu. In the vast majority of constituencies,

    rural gewogs (village blocks) are administered by bodies called the gewog Tshogde

    (Wikipedia, 2012).

    Objectives of the Study

    This paper is an ex post facto qualitative study of the 4Ps (Product, Place, Price and

    Promotion) and 4As (Awareness, Availability, Affordability and Acceptability) in rural

    marketing in Bhutan. The research tool used is a qualitative survey of the nationaldistributors operating in Bhutan and of some wholesalers in each district of Bhutan,

    followed by a quantitative survey of 100 wholesalers on the factors identified

    through the qualitative survey. The survey is followed by a correlation analysis of

    the association between the factors with calculation of Pearson correlation

    coefficient and two-tailed measure of significance. This research paper is the first

    of its kind on rural marketing in Bhutan and is supposed to make the reader aware

    of the nuances of rural marketing in Bhutan.

    Figure 2: Districts of Bhutan

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201310

    Qualitative Analysis

    Promotion/AwarenessMany of the conventional promotion methods followed in India are not even allowed

    by regulation in Bhutan. For example, the dealer boards and glow-sign-boards

    which are visible above almost every shop in India are not allowed in Bhutan.

    Rules there dictate that the dealer boards have to be green in color and sport only

    the details of the establishment and should not carry any promotional message.

    Hoardings, banners, posters, etc., which are the mainstay of Indian rural marketing,

    are not allowed in Bhutan to preserve the environment and the skyline. Hence,

    the major methods of localized rural promotions are out of consideration in Bhutan.

    One important method of promoting ones products is through a retailer and

    wholesaler meet which is fairly manageable in Bhutan owing to the low number ofwholesalers and retailers: around 190 wholesalers and 4,000 retailers (research

    estimate from a survey of national distributors in Bhutan). So, on an average,

    meetings could be held in each district with 210 invitees each (20 districts). Often,

    the department of trade holds product exposition fairs in Paro and Thimpu and

    invites companies to demonstrate or sample their products to the wholesalers

    and retailers. The government provides this support since it wants its citizens to

    use good world-class products.

    The media available in Bhutan is sparse and is mostly untapped by Indian

    companies operating in Bhutan or even by Bhutanese corporations. After a five-

    year spurt of dizzying growth, the question now is: What seems to be stifling the

    Bhutanese media? Ask around and you get one common response

    advertisements (Raj, 2011). Most media in Bhutan survive on government

    advertising. And 80 to 90% of the advertising comes from government. The private

    sector is not yet heavily into advertising and branding and is losing on a cheap

    advertising media. The government offices simply distribute ads unmindful of

    whether they reach the intended target. Sonam Pelden (2011) says that

    announcements meant for the yak herders come to the English newspapers that

    do not go to Merak, Sekteng, Laya and Lingzhi; and Radio, which is popular among

    illiterate rural population, is not used as a channel. The public fund, in the process,

    is misplaced, or rather misused.

    The print media in Bhutan includes: Kuensel, a newspaper of a government-

    owned corporation, circulating six days a week in dzongkha and English; Bhutan

    Times, Bhutan's first government-authorized privately-owned newspaper; Bhutan

    Observer, private newspaper; Bhutan Today, an English daily newspaper; Business

    Bhutan, the first financial newspaper of Bhutan; Drukpa, a monthly news magazine;

    and The Journalist, a weekly English newspaper.

    The broadcast media includes: the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, a radio service

    broadcasting in short wave nationally, and on the FM band in Thimphu (BBS SW and FM)

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    11Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    reaching all of Bhutan; BBST TV (the national TV channel), reaching almost all 20 districts;

    and Global TV programming reaching people in 46 towns and urban settlements.

    The online media includes: KuenselOnline, the first online newspaper; B-Mobile,

    Bhutans telephone service on phone; Facebook, YouTube and Hi5 are Internet

    sites with wide appeal in Bhutan; Kuzoo.net, website of a 24-hour radio station

    Kuzoo FM (Figure 3).

    The most popular media in rural Bhutan is the short wave radio channel of the

    Bhutan Broadcasting Service (Raj, 2011). This channel should be used by the Indian

    companies operating in Bhutan to reach the rural population. Since the population

    of Bhutan is low, demonstrations held in villages is also a good and cost-effective

    method. After all, only 4.38 lakh rural citizens have to be covered.

    In rural India, folk art forms are used as a means to promote products. The samecan be applied to rural Bhutan. The most dominant folk music forms in Bhutan are

    Zhungdra, Boedra, Zheyand Zhem, Tsangmo, Lozeyand Rigsar(Wikipedia, 2012). A

    popular performing art in rural Bhutan is the Cham dance. A short promotional

    message delivered by the artiste or by a promoter during the performance of these

    art forms in rural markets would be instrumental in spreading awareness about the

    products. This is something akin to promotional messages in rural India during

    performance of the various folk art forms like baul, kirtan, katha, nautanki, etc. (Table 2).

    Figure 3: Complete List of Media in Bhutan

    Media in Bhutan

    Print Media Broadcast Media

    Online Media Kuensel(Newspaper)

    Bhutan Times(Newspaper)

    Bhutan Observer(Newspaper)

    Bhutan Today(Newspaper)

    Business Bhutan(Business

    Newspaper)

    The Journalist(Newspaper)

    Drukpa (Magazine)

    Bhutan BroadcastingService (Radio - SWand FM)

    Bhutan BroadcastingService(TV channel)

    Cable TV

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    13Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Bhutan is a highly regulated market and every establishment has to acquire

    unique licenses for each kind of activity in the supply chain for rural markets

    (Bhutan Micro Retail, Wholesale Trade Regulations, 2006). Moreover, there are

    only three entities authorized by the government as National Wholesalers, to

    distribute goods into rural Bhutan: Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB), Tashi

    Commercial Corporation (TCC) and Damchen Agency (DA). All these entities have

    headquarters based in Phuentsholing (in Chhukha district) in Bhutan which is

    just across the border from Jaigaon in West Bengal. No other entity is available in

    Bhutan for official distribution of FMCG (or any other products) in the small country.

    Unlike in many other countries, the same entity cannot sell to wholesalers as

    well as retailers. The licenses for the two activities are kept separate by the

    government. An entity authorized to sell to licensed wholesalers can only do that

    while the licensed wholesalers further sell stocks to retailers. Many would feel

    that the rural distribution structure is very similar to the hub and spoke model

    which is operated by many FMCG companies in rural India. But the biggest

    difference is that some of the spoke depots (branches) in Bhutan are also owned

    by the national distributors and managed by their employees, often designated

    as branch managers. Other third party wholesalers are also used as spokes for

    intensive rural distribution and the most unique feature is that these spokes are

    common between all the three national distributors.

    In very rare occasions, a licensed wholesaler visits India (across the porous

    border) and buys stocks directly from a distributor or a CFA in India. An example

    of one such entity is Gelephu Grocery which is based in Gelephu, Bhutan (just

    across the border from Bongaigaon in Assam). For most practical purposes, Bhutan

    rural distribution has only one modality, the one shown in Figure 5. The total

    wholesale and retail trade in Bhutan is Nu 3,752.6 million (Statistical Yearbook of

    Bhutan, 2011).

    The officiating Director General of the Department of Trade (DoT), Dophu Tshering,

    said that DoT conducted a study which showed that the three main national

    distributors supply adequate essential items to retailers across the country, from

    Phuntsholing to all dzongkhags: Tashi Commercial Corporation (TCC), Damchen

    wholesale agencies and Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) (Dorji, 2012).

    Figure 4: Standard Rural Distribution Structure in India

    Factory CFA Superstockist/Hub

    ConsumerRural

    Retailer Substockist/Spoke

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201314

    The Tashi Commercial Corporation (TCC), part of the Tashi Group, Tashi Consumerdivision is the largest distributor of consumer products in Bhutan under the umbrella

    of Tashi Group of Companies with a turnover of more than Nu.1000 million (Ngultrum

    1 = 1) dealing with distributorship of more then 77 multinational companies. Initially,

    Tashi had a monopoly in the distribution business. TCC has a fleet of 44 vehicles

    for distribution of consumer goods. Van marketing is conducted regularly to reach

    the essential commodities to the remotest part of the country for the convenience

    and benefit of the consumers (Tashi website, 2012). TCC imports only from India

    and the supply has been consistent (Dorji, 2012). The imports are mainly done

    from the Indian multinational companies like: Hindustan Lever Limited, Amul, Nestle

    India Ltd., Henkle SPIC India Ltd., Eveready Industries (I) Ltd., Johnsons & Johnsons

    Ltd., Parle Products Ltd., Britannia Products, Colgate-Palmolive India Ltd., JoycoIndia Pvt. Ltd., Marico Industries Ltd., Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt. Ltd., Cadbury

    India Ltd., Godrej Consumers Products, Dabur India Ltd., Reckitt Benckiser India

    Ltd., Bisk Farm, Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare and United Breweries.

    The Damchen Agency (DA) is the second largest distribution entity in Bhutan owned

    by Yab Ugyen Dorji. Damchen distributes products from the following FMCG companies

    in Bhutan: Sula Vineyards, Nestle India Ltd., Britannia New Zealand, PepsiCo India,

    Shree Parag Edible Oil, S K Industries, Joyco India Ltd., Parakh Food Ltd., and Amul.

    Figure 5: Rural Distribution Structure in Bhutan

    Manufacturing Plantin India

    CFA in India(Mostly in Siliguri)

    Bhutan NationalDistributors Depot

    Co-Packing Plantin Bhutan

    Spoke DepotsOwned by National

    Distributors

    Other CommonAuthorized WholesalersActing as Spokes (B2B)

    Government Licensed Wholesale Shopsand Establishments

    Rural Retailers

    Rural Consumers

    Note: CFA: Carrying and Forwarding Agent; B2B: Business to Business; Bhutan NationalDistributor: Tashi Commercial, Damchen and Food Corporation of Bhutan (only3 exist).

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201316

    and prefer occasional use of a global brand rather than the more regular use of a

    watered-down brand or product.

    Another perspective of affordability is the Bhutan Consumer Price Index which

    reflects changes in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of

    goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals, such as

    yearly. This index shows rapidly rising prices in a 90% rural market and it is the

    responsibility of the consumer goods companies to introduce smaller priced packs

    which is lacking in Bhutan. Most companies are selling larger sized packs in Bhutan

    (as per qualitative survey) and need to introduce smaller packs to keep the products

    affordable (Figure 7).

    Figure 7: Bhutan Consumer Price Index

    131.6

    105.3

    78.9

    52.6

    26.3

    0.01980 1984 1989 1993 1997 2001 2006 2010

    Source: International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics and data files

    Figure 6: Factors Behind Price Parity with Indian Rural Markets

    Difficulty in Producing SmallQuantity of Differential Pack

    Price Parity in Bhutan Rural

    Threat of Infiltration from IndiaThrough Non-Official Channel

    Need toPenetrate

    Free TradeAgreement

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    17Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Product/Acceptability

    Not long ago, the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan was a simple nation suspended inmedieval ways of life and consumerism was an unknown word. Few tourists were

    permitted and television was not allowed. And then, a decade ago, Bhutans king

    allowed television and then the Internet, which introduced a passion among the

    people for a different way of life, and for new products. Consumerism was born in

    Bhutan and companies based in India rushed in to satiate the hunger for branded

    goods. Most products available today in rural Bhutan are exactly the same as those

    available in rural India. Moreover, the rural Bhutanese today aspire for global brands.

    The value of FMCG products sold by the three national distributors in Bhutan is

    kept confidential by Tashi and Damchen but FCB had declared the value and mix

    from 2006 to 2009 in its booklet published during the 16 th SAARC Summit (Food

    Corporation of Bhutan, 2010). That tabulation gives us a good idea of the kind of

    FMCG products which dominate the Bhutan rural markets (90% of Bhutan is rural).

    Packaged food appears to be the largest FMCG category and this fact has been

    supported by the qualitative survey (on-depth interviews) conducted by the

    researcher at Tashi and Damchen also. No wonder that Nestle and Amul products

    are being distributed in Bhutan by all three national distributors and Nestle is a

    more prestigious company to distribute than even HUL in Bhutan. This is also owing

    to the fact that Bhutan is still not self-sufficient in food products and the citizens

    need packaged food products to tide over food shortages.

    No FMCG company has yet focused on specific products for Bhutan and are

    probably not wanting to customize for a market comprising of only 0.67 million

    citizens (smaller than most small towns in India like Howrah). However, many

    Bhutanese companies are introducing homegrown products and appealing to the

    national pride of citizens to start using national products rather than imported

    ones e.g., Tai Industries Limited sells Druk 10000 beer, Druk squashes and other

    packaged food products.

    The government of Bhutan discourages tobacco products and hence, the second

    largest FMCG in India, ITC, is all but absent from Bhutan rural markets. Realizing

    the grave dangers and damaging effects of tobacco use on health, longevity and

    quality of life, Bhutan has actively promoted antitobacco campaigns at both the

    national and international levels. The country has won numerous commendations

    and awards for its efforts and was among the first to sign the global frameworkconvention on tobacco control. On December 17, 2004, Bhutan became the worlds

    first nation to national assembly. Smoking also is now restricted to private areas.

    Quantitative Analysis

    The research tool used is a qualitative survey of the national distributors operating

    in Bhutan (General managers of Damchen and Tashi were interviewed) and of

    some wholesalers in each district of Bhutan followed by a quantitative survey of

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201318

    100 wholesalers on the factors identified through the qualitative survey. The survey

    is followed by an analysis of the associations between the factors. Data on the

    4Ps/4As is given in Appendix (Tables A1 to A4) and an analysis of the correlations

    was requested from SPSS Statistics Desktop 20.0 software and the output has

    been analyzed for factors determining which districts have the highest potential

    for FMCG marketers. A ranking of potentials of the 20 districts have also been

    enumerated using the various factors (Appendix Table A5).

    Correlation Between Place and Price Factors and WithinThemselves

    Retail intensity is highly correlated with the total number of spokes in

    each district (total of national distributor branches and the wholesalers

    acting as spokes).

    Retail intensity is highly correlated with UNDP HDI (Table 3).

    Correlation Between Place and Product Factors and WithinThemselves

    Total spokes as well as the retail intensity is highly correlated to the per-household

    annual consumption. It is to be expected that the household consumption should

    influence the number of retailers since demand influences supply (Table 4).

    Correlation Between Place and Promotion Factors and WithinThemselves

    Total spokes as well as retail intensity is highly correlated with the circulation of

    Kuensel (the largest circulated newspaper by a wide margin). No doubt media is

    Table 3: Correlation Between Place and Price Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Total Retail Intensity Employed UNDP HumanSpokes (Retailers per 000 Development

    Households Indexin 000)

    Total Spokes Pearson 1 0.787** 0.216 0.394Correlation

    Sig. 0.000 0.361 0.085

    (2-tailed)

    N 20 20 20 20

    Retail Intensity Pearson 0.787** 1 0.293 0.606**(Retailers CorrelationHouseholds Sig.in 000) (2-tailed) 0.000 0.210 0.005

    N 20 20 20 20

    Note: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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    19Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    driving consumerism, and retail intensity is following consumerism in the districts

    of Bhutan. Folk art forms naturally have no correlation with anything else since

    there has never been any attempt to tap them for rural awareness activities. The

    researcher intends to try it out in Bhutan like numerous companies have successfully

    tapped Indian folk arts for rural awareness programs in India (Table 5).

    Correlation Between Product and Promotion Factors andWithin Themselves

    Per household consumption is highly correlated with newspaper circulation

    (represented by the circulation of Bhutans dominating newspaper, Kuensel). Media

    seems to drive consumerism (Table 6).

    Correlation Between Price and Promotion Factors and WithinThemselves

    No significant correlation found between price and promotion factors. But newspaper

    circulation and HDI seem to be correlated. Hence, both of these can be used to develop

    a factorial grid of which would indicate potential rankings of a district (Table 7).

    Correlation Between Price and Product Factors and WithinThemselves

    Household consumption is highly correlated to UNDP HDI. This is expected and simply

    means that a more developed district will have a higher consumption (Table 8).

    Table 4: Correlation Between Place and Product Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Total Retail Intensity Per HouseholdSpokes (Retailers Consumption

    Households (Nu)in 000)

    Total Spokes Pearson 1 0.787** 0.583**Correlation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.007

    N 20 20 20

    Retail Intensity Pearson 0.787** 1 0.722**(Retailers CorrelationHouseholdsin 000) Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000

    N 20 20 20

    Per Household Pearson 0.583** 0.722** 1Consumption Correlation

    (Nu)Sig. (2-tailed) 0.007 0.000

    N 20 20 20

    Note: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201320

    Table 6: Correlation Between Product and Promotion Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Kuensel No. of Art Per HouseholdNewspaper Forms ConsumptionCirculation (Nu)

    Kuensel Pearson 1 0.476* 0.675**Newspaper CorrelationCirculation Sig. (2-tailed) 0.034 0.001

    N 20 20 20

    No. of Art Pearson 0.476* 1 0.771**Forms Correlation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.034 0.000

    N 20 20 20

    Per Household Pearson 0.675** 0.771** 1Consumption Correlation(Nu) Sig. (2-tailed) 0.001 0.000

    N 20 20 20

    Note: * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); ** Correlation is significantat the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

    Table 5: Correlation Between Place and Promotion Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Total Retail Intensity Kuensel No. of ArtSpokes (Retailers Newspaper Forms

    Households Circulationin 000)

    Total Spokes Pearson 1 0.787** 0.935** 0.372Correlation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.107

    N 20 20 20 20

    Retail Intensity Pearson 0.787** 1 0.729** 0.438(Retailers CorrelationHouseholdsin 000) Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.054

    N 20 20 20 20

    Kuensel Pearson 0.935** 0.729** 1 0.476*Newspaper CorrelationCirculation Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.034

    N 20 20 20 20

    No. of Art Pearson 0.372 0.438 0.476* 1Forms Correlation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.107 0.054 0.034

    N 20 20 20 20

    Note: * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); ** Correlation is significantat the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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    21Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Conclusion

    A good potentiality hierarchy of districts can be obtained by assigning equal weights

    to the identified factors which appear to influence consumerism in the preceding

    analysis. The weights are applied after normalizing all measures between 0 and

    100. The factors used for ranking the districts are as follows:

    1. Retail intensity (Availability Factor)

    2. Spoke availability (Availability Factor)

    3. Newspaper circulation (Awareness Factor)

    4. Per capita household consumption (Acceptability Factor)

    5. UNDP HDI (Affordability Factor)

    Table 7: Correlation Between Price and Promotion Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Kuensel No. of Art Employed UNDP HumanNewspaper Forms per 000 DevelopmentCirculation Index

    Kuensel Pearson 1 0.476* 0.145 0.523*Newspaper CorrelationCirculation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.034 0.541 0.018

    N 20 20 20 20

    Note: * Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

    Table 8: Correlation Between Price and Product Factorsand Within Themselves

    Correlation Employed UNDP Human Per Householdper 000 Development Consumption

    Index (Nu)

    Employed Pearson 1 0.171 0.046Per 000 Correlation

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.470 0.846

    N 20 20 20

    UNDP Human Pearson 0.171 1 0.682**Development CorrelationIndex Sig. (2-tailed) 0.470 0.001

    N 20 20 20Per Household Pearson 0.046 0.682** 1Consumption Correlation(Nu)

    Sig. (2-tailed) 0.846 0.001

    N 20 20 20

    Note: ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201322

    Any marketer who wants to tap the rural markets of Bhutan should penetrate

    the district with higher ranking before going on to the next highest ranked district.

    This is owing to the potential for sales as well as the ease of reach, the ease of

    promotions and the latent consumption patterns in each district. @References

    1. Bhutan Living Standard Survey (2007), Bhutan National Statistics Bureau,

    Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB), December.

    2. Bhutan Micro Retail, Wholesale Trade Regulations (2006), available at

    www.trade.gov.bt, Last Updated July 30, 2010.

    3. Dorji M (2012), Shops Across Bhutan Say Consumer Goods are Running Out

    of Stock, The Bhutanese, May 19, available at http://www.thebhutanese.bt/

    shops-across-bhutan-say-consumer-goods-are-running-out-of-stock/

    4. Dorji P S S (2012), Opening the Gates in Bhutan: Media Gatekeepers and the

    Agenda of Change, in Towards Global Transformation: Proceedings of the Third

    International Conference on Gross National Happiness, The Centre for Bhutan

    Studies, Thimphu, pp. 88-109, available at http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/

    savifadok/1387/

    5. Food Corporation of Bhutan (2010), Domestic Marketing Sixteenth SAARC

    Summit, April 28-29, Thimpu, Bhutan.

    6. Jha M (1988), Rural Marketing: Some Conceptual Issues, Economic and Political

    Weekly, Vol. 23, No. 9, pp. 8-16.

    7. Kashyap P R S (2005), The Rural Marketing, 1st Edition, Dreamtech Press, New

    Delhi.

    8. Kuenselonline (2012), http://www.kuenselonline.com/circulation/. Accessed

    on July 24, 2012.

    9. PHCB (2005), Population & Housing Census of Bhutan, available at

    http://www.bhutancensus.gov.bt/. Accessed on July 9, 2012.

    10. Raj M (2011), Advertise This, Drukpa, January 1.

    11. Rapten P (2012), Mass Media: Its Consumption and Impact on Residents of

    Thimphu and Rural Areas, available at http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/

    pubFiles/6.media.pdf. Accessed on July 31.

    12. Sonam Pelden (2011), Where the Government Ad Money Goes, Bhutan

    Obserrver, March 25, available at http://bhutanobserver.bt/3907-bo-news-

    about-where_the_government_ad_money_goes_.aspx

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    23Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    13. Statistical Yearbook of Bhutan (2011), National Statistics Bureau, Royal

    Government of Bhutan.

    14. Tashi Website (2012), http://www.tashigroup.bt/?page_id=39, as viewed on

    July 11, 2012.

    15. UNDP (2011), Bhutan National Human Development Report, United Nations

    Development Program.

    16. Wangchuk DT (2011), Per Capita in Bhutan Grows But it has not Translated

    into Development, Business Bhutan, May 07, 2011.

    17. Wikipedia (2012), Kuensel, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuensel. Accessed on

    July 30, 2012.

    18. Wikipedia (2012), Music of Bhutan, available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

    Music_of_Bhutan. Accessed on July 24, 2012.

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201324

    Appendix

    Source: Statistical Yearbook of Bhutan (2011)

    Bumthang

    Chhukha

    Dagana

    Gasa

    Ha

    Lhuentse

    Monggar

    Paro

    Pemagatshel

    Punakha

    Samdrupjongkhar

    Samtse

    Sarpang

    Thimphu

    Trashigang

    Trashiyangtse

    Trongsa

    Tsirang

    Wangdue

    Zhemgang

    AllDzongkhags

    Table A1: Demographics and Place/Availability Factors

    16,116

    74,387

    18,222

    3,116

    11,648

    15,395

    37,069

    36,433

    13,864

    17,715

    39,961

    60,100

    41,549

    98,676

    51,134

    17,740

    13,419

    18,667

    31,135

    18,636

    634,982

    2,870

    14,482

    3,485

    727

    2,290

    3,001

    7,348

    7,118

    2,937

    3,387

    8,363

    11,634

    8,211

    19,689

    10,813

    3,764

    2,739

    3,651

    6,227

    3,379

    126,115

    1

    3

    0

    0

    0

    0

    0

    2

    0

    1

    3

    0

    1

    2

    0

    0

    0

    0

    1

    0

    14

    6

    25

    6

    1

    4

    3

    9

    17

    4

    7

    11

    10

    17

    40

    8

    2

    3

    4

    11

    3

    191

    7

    28

    6

    1

    4

    3

    9

    19

    4

    8

    14

    10

    18

    42

    8

    2

    3

    4

    12

    3

    205

    Some GuidingFactors

    Demographics

    Population

    Households

    Place/Availability Factors

    TotalNational

    Distributor

    Branches

    (Spokes)

    Dzongkhag

    (District)

    Common

    Wholesalers

    (actingas

    Spokes)

    TotalSpokes

    118

    481

    111

    14

    71

    56

    173

    339

    83

    90

    223

    204

    347

    1282

    164

    31

    62

    73

    225

    69

    4,216

    Retailers

    41.1

    33.2

    31.9

    19.3

    31.0

    18.7

    23.5

    47.6

    28.3

    26.6

    26.7

    17.5

    42.3

    65.1

    15.2

    8.2

    22.6

    20.0

    36.1

    20.4

    33.00

    Retail

    Intensity

    (Retailers

    Householdsin

    '000)

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    25Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Appendix (Cont.)

    Some GuidingFactors

    Table A2: Price/Affordability Factors

    Price/Affordability Factors

    Dzongkhag Employed Employed Per Household UNDP Human(District) Persons per 000 Annual Income Development

    (Nu) Index

    Bumthang 5300 329 176516 0.707

    Chhukha 41400 557 328741 0.668

    Dagana 11400 626 503638 0.589

    Gasa 1800 578 66396 0.631

    Ha 6000 515 213763 0.686

    Lhuentse 7200 468 696348 0.637

    Monggar 19200 518 719019 0.629

    Paro 19400 532 63157 0.681

    Pemagatshel 5600 404 424286 0.676

    Punakha 14200 802 252628 0.650

    Samdrupjongkhar 8100 203 615377 0.610

    Samtse 37200 619 757885 0.585

    Sarpang 16200 390 314166 0.626

    Thimphu 43500 441 38866 0.727

    Trashigang 27000 528 474488 0.649

    Trashiyangtse 9400 530 231576 0.616

    Trongsa 6700 499 359510 0.673

    Tsirang 13400 718 225098 0.658

    Wangdue 17100 549 255867 0.656

    Zhemgang 10900 585 856670 0.651

    All Dzongkhags 321,000 506 372465

    Source: UNDP (2011), Statistical Yearbook of Bhutan (2011)

    Note: Household incomes are as per Wikipedia (2012) and converted to Nu usingexchange rate 56Nu=$1

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201326

    Appendix (Cont.)

    Table A3: Products Sold by Food Corporation of Bhutan

    AGENCY 2006 2007 2008 2009 Total Contri- HighestBusiness of FCB bution Selling(in Million Nu) (%) Product

    of theCompany

    A S Herbal & Hygiene 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.1 3.5 0.5 Phenyl and

    Products Bleaching

    Powder

    Agro Tech Food Ltd. 2.4 3.1 4.3 2.7 12.4 1.9 Cooking Oil

    Aza Tea Packaging 5.1 6.0 7.1 9.4 27.5 4.3 TeaCompany

    Bhutan Diary and 3.3 3.8 1.2 4.7 13.0 2.0 Milk Products

    Agro Industries Ltd. and

    Packaged Food

    Colgate Palmolive 0.9 0.9 0.7 0.6 3.0 0.5 Dental Care

    India Ltd. Products

    Druk Agro Enterprise 1.8 0.6 0.4 0.8 3.7 0.6 Beer and Juices

    Glaxo SmithKline 5.2 4.2 4.3 4.8 18.4 2.9 Packaged Food

    Healthcare Ltd. and

    Supplements

    Gujarat Cooperative 20.5 29.8 24.8 24.5 99.6 15.5 Milk Products

    Marketing Federation and

    Ltd. Packaged Food

    Henkel SPIC India Ltd. 9.4 10.9 14.0 16.8 51.2 8.0 Personal Wash

    Products

    Hindustan Lever Ltd. 26.4 17.8 17.4 18.1 79.7 12.4 Personal Care

    Products

    Indo National Ltd. 1.1 1.1 0.6 1.2 4.0 0.6 Nippo Batteries

    Nestle India Ltd. 60.4 47.2 73.2 100.5 281.3 43.8 Packaged Food

    Products

    Parle Product Private 4.5 4.1 4.5 5.4 18.4 2.9 BiscuitsLtd.

    Reckitt Benckiser (I) 1.6 0.6 0.7 0.9 3.8 0.6 Homecare

    Ltd. Products

    Shubham Industries 6.7 5.3 6.1 4.8 22.9 3.6 Electrical and

    Ltd. Auto Parts

    Total 149.9 136.1 160.0 196.3 642.4 100.0

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    27Rural Marketing Mix in Bhutan: An FMCG Perspective

    Appendix (Cont.)

    Some GuidingFactors

    Table A4: Product/Acceptability Factors

    Product/Acceptability Factors

    Dzongkhag Per Per Per Per Capita(District) Household Household Household Consumption

    Consumption Food non-Food (Nu)(Nu) Consumption Consumption

    (Nu) (Nu)

    Bumthang 17814 7498 10316 3172

    Chhukha 14922 5398 9524 2905

    Dagana 11162 6147 5015 2135

    Gasa 18890 9242 9648 4407

    Ha 14375 5177 9198 2826

    Lhuentse 8539 4596 3943 1665

    Monggar 9633 4397 5236 1910

    Paro 20954 6096 14858 4094

    Pemagatshel 10013 5016 4997 2121

    Punakha 17019 6364 10655 3254

    Samdrupjongkhar 10662 4154 6508 2231

    Samtse 8407 3873 4534 1627

    Sarpang 11339 4797 6542 2241

    Thimphu 27271 7899 19372 5441

    Trashigang 9864 4739 5125 2086

    Trashiyangtse 12241 6207 6034 2597

    Trongsa 14138 6116 8022 2886

    Tsirang 14003 5521 8482 2739

    Wangdue 16264 7426 8838 3253

    Zhemgang 10298 4394 5904 1867

    All Dzongkhags 13,823 5,423 8,400 2745

    Source: Bhutan Living Standard Survey (2007)

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    The IUP Journal of Management Research, Vol. XII, No. 3, 201328

    Reference # 02J-2013-07-01-01

    Appendix (Cont.)

    Table A5: Ranking of District Potentials

    Weight20 20 20 20 20 100

    (out of 100)

    Dzongkhag Total Retail Kuensel Per UNDP Rating(District) Spokes Intensity Newspaper Household Human of

    (Retailers Circulation Consum- Develop- DistrictHouseholds ption ment

    in 000) (Nu) Index

    Thimphu 25.6 13.9 48.0 11.7 6.6 21.2

    Chhukha 17.1 7.1 21.9 6.4 6.1 11.7

    Paro 11.6 10.2 15.0 9.0 6.2 10.4

    Sarpang 11.0 9.0 5.8 4.8 5.7 7.3

    Bumthang 4.3 8.8 5.0 7.6 6.4 6.4

    Samdrup-jongkhar 8.5 5.7 5.8 4.6 5.5 6.0

    Punakha 4.9 5.7 4.8 7.3 5.9 5.7

    Wangdue 7.3 7.7 0.0 7.0 5.9 5.6

    Trashigang 4.9 3.2 6.5 4.2 5.9 4.9

    Monggar 5.5 5.0 3.6 4.1 5.7 4.8

    Samtse 6.1 3.7 4.6 3.6 5.3 4.7

    Ha 2.4 6.6 0.0 6.1 6.2 4.3

    Tsirang 2.4 4.3 2.4 6.0 6.0 4.2

    Dagana 3.7 6.8 0.0 4.8 5.3 4.1

    Pemagatshel 2.4 6.0 0.8 4.3 6.1 3.9

    Trongsa 1.8 4.8 0.0 6.0 6.1 3.8

    Gasa 0.6 4.1 0.0 8.1 5.7 3.7

    Zhemgang 1.8 4.4 1.3 4.4 5.9 3.5

    Lhuentse 1.8 4.0 1.6 3.7 5.8 3.4

    Trashiyangtse 1.2 1.8 0.0 5.2 5.6 2.8

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    C o p y r i g h t o f I U P J o u r n a l o f M a n a g e m e n t R e s e a r c h i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f I U P P u b l i c a t i o n s a n d i t s

    c o n t e n t m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e

    c o p y r i g h t h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r e m a i l

    a r t i c l e s f o r i n d i v i d u a l u s e .