Influence of Economic Benefits and Social Interaction on Buyer Participation in a Rural Retail Institution: Study of an Indian Periodic Market

Abstract

Retail institutions offer economic and social benefits to the participants in a market. It is expected that in a less developed economy the social factors influence economic behaviour much more than in developed economies. The rural markets offer increased opportunities for the influence of social factors on economic transactions. This study examined the case of a rural periodic market. To ensure reliability the case study protocol questions reflected propositions developed on the research questions. It was expected that the participants would exhibit the influence of social relations in their market transactions. The results indicated that the economic benefits than social considerations influenced participant behaviour in the rural periodic market. Contrary to expectations not all consumers in a less developed economy exhibit social embeddedness in economic behaviour. Implications are for policymakers involved in planning and regulating rural markets. They need to take into consideration the differing behaviour of consumer groups in designing or regulating retail markets. This study examining the social embeddedness of buyer behaviour in the rural retail context of a less developed economy is presumably the first.

Resilience of an evolved retail agglomeration: case of rural periodic markets in emerging economies

“…They must not be treated merely as economic centres. They have a far greater role in enhancing the community's well-being (Velayudhan, 2021). They serve as focal points for exchanging commodities, avenues for social functions, centres for communications, and entertainment (Kashyap, 2016).…”

“…First, there are around 47,000 periodic markets in India (Kashyap, 2016). Second, periodic markets are especially relevant in the context of the rural population, and about 12% of the world resides in rural India (Velayudhan, 2021). In this study, we operationalise the periodic market by adopting the following definition by Velayudhan (2014):A periodic market is an informal marketplace which consists of small unincorporated businesses primarily started by individuals or households primarily to generate survival income and simultaneously cater to the need of the poor for whom institutional support is absent or scarcely available.…”

“…Periodic markets are the dominant retail form in many emerging economies (Velayudhan, 2021). These markets provide employment opportunities for unorganised sector workers and mobile traders who converge upon periodic markets to resell agricultural produce procured from multiple sources (Satyam and Aithal, 2018).…”

“…, 2012, 2018) and are resilient to the changes in the external environment. Some scholars assert that periodic markets will continue to remain an important channel of distribution for rural markets in emerging economies (Kashyap, 2012; Velayudhan, 2021).…”

“…, 2015) and in informal retail markets (Renko and Petlak, 2018. There is a paucity of research from the perspective of participating retailers to identify the reasons for the resilience of traditional retail markets, such as periodic markets (Satyam and Aithal, 2018; Velayudhan, 2021). This research aims to address these gaps.…”