ارزیابی رضایت کشاورزان و وفاداری برند به مارک های کود هندی با استفاده از DEA Measuring farmer’s satisfaction and brand loyalty toward Indian fertilizer brands using DEA

Introduction India’s land area constitutes around 2.3% of the total global land mass. It supports one-sixth of the global population. Its population is expanding rapidly, with an annual growth rate of 1.4%. To meet the need of an additional 18 million people every year, India has to focus more on agricultural production (GoI 2014).1 In the follow-up process of Indian policy developments, India has initiated major structural policy changes from the first five-year plan. Examples include the white and green revolutions; the green revolution aimed toward an increase in crop production. Fertilizer played one of the crucial roles in the success of India’s green revolution (Bruinsma 2003; Hopper 1993; Pinstrup-Andersen and Hazell 1985). Agricultural labor is one of the major components of the fertilizer industry, being the end user. Hence, the socioeconomic characteristics of agricultural laborers in general and farmers in particular need to be considered to meet their aspirations. Being connected with farmers as the end users through marketing would be critical for better performance in agriculture.2 Today’s farmers, apart from the easy availability of fertilizers, prefer to receive a better service from suppliers. Their purchasing behavior is also influenced by the value and brand image of the product. The measurement of farmers’ satisfaction and loyalty toward a product is given more significance in marketing research today. At the same time, agricultural input suppliers are very keen on increasing their loyal customer bases, due to tough competition in the market, through different marketing strategies. The present paper focuses on Indian fertilizer brands and measures farmers’ satisfaction and loyalty toward them. In India, the fertilizer industry is very well established, due to favorable and flexible government policy. There is an exclusive ministry functioning under the government of India to look after the production and distribution (allocation) of fertilizer across all districts of India. The supply of fertilizer is placed under the category of an ‘‘essential commodity,’’ and the maximum retail price (MRP) is fixed in consultation with the government of India because fertilizer is largely subsidized for farming but not for industrial consumption.3 The present paper focuses on Indian fertilizer brands, particularly those in the state of Odisha (India), where nearly 60% of people earn their livelihoods through agriculture and allied activities.4 Factors like good rainfall, easy availability of fertilizer, net cropped area, labor make Odisha a pro-agrarian state.5 There are two major fertilizer manufacturers with an annual capacity of more than 3 million MT (metric tons) located in the state, which assures the availability of complex fertilizer to farmers. The consumption of fertilizer in this state is quite low (around 4 Lakh MT, 57 KG of NPK/hectare)6 as compared to other states (Appendices 1, 2). This indicates that there exists huge market potential and competition among the suppliers, as the consumption is low and the supply is high.