Paper Details

Name: Seema H. M. & Sarala K. S.
Country: India

Year: 2025
Volume: Volume-12, Issue-2 (July-December)
Page Number: 178-189
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17639737

ABSTRACT
Rural sector of Indian economy had a slow growth in business activities as it was heavily
dependent on traditional technology especially in agro-based enterprises. The conception of
Liberalisation, Privatization and Globalisation in India has transformed rural business
enterprises into dynamic and challenging with gradually raising their business income which
has improved the life quality of rural population of India. But, rural entrepreneurs still are
using traditional ways of marketing strategies while few are embracing modern technological
and digital marketing tools through innovative marketing practices. In this backdrop, the
current study is intended to analyse the influence of marketing practices on the growth and
sustainability of rural MSMEs in Shivamogga District, Karnataka State. For the study
purpose, four most important marketing practices were considered viz., opportunity focus,
pro-activeness, risk taking and innovativeness from the total of 90 sample rural enterprises by
using simple random sampling method. Rural entrepreneurs undertaking manufacturing and
service activities for 10 years were considered and trading activities were kept outside the
purview of the study. A well-structured questionnaire was used with the expertise for
quantitative information. Structural Equation Model (SEM) approach is applied for analysis
of the data. The study results indicate that pro-activeness, innovativeness, risk taking and
opportunity focus have moderate and significant impact on MSME Growth and Sustainability
in the selected sample.
Key Terms: Influence, Marketing Practices, MSMEs, Rural Entrepreneurship,