Extensiveness of farmers’ buying process of agri-inputs in India: implications for marketing

Purpose - Understanding of the farmers’ buying process is of great economic and strategic relevance for agri-business firms. The purpose of this paper is to explain the extensiveness of the buying process of Indian farmers in their purchase of agri-inputs and discusses its implications for agri-industries. Design/methodology/approach - Four different dimensions of the buying process, namely, buying decision time, number of information sources used, number of evaluated suppliers, and number of conversations with suppliers were used to study the extensiveness of the buying process of the farmers. Responses of 278 farmers were analyzed with the help of mean and frequency distribution, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings - Overall, the extensiveness of the buying process for the frequently purchased inputs was less in comparison to that of the infrequently purchased inputs. However, there were differences in the extensiveness of the buying process for the inputs within the same category. Farmers’ characteristics influenced their buying process and the impact was more evident in case of frequently purchased agri-inputs. All the four dimensions of the farmers’ buying process were found to be positively correlated for most of the agri-inputs. Research limitations/implications - The farmers’ buying process varies for different agri-inputs and is dependent on the farmers’ characteristics. Firms can use the findings of the study to develop appropriate marketing strategies to broaden their customers’ base and increase sales. Originality/value - The paper offers an insight into the farmers’ buying process in India and how the farmers behave in different dimensions of the buying process. There are very few studies on the subject carried out in the Indian context.