Impact o Information and Communication Technology on Rural Consumption pattern in Haryana

Abstract

This research thesis is developed as a study on the interventionist solutions tried in the past and ongoing to increase the application of information and communication technologies in rural markets and explore the benefits these technologies can generate for the people living in these areas. newlineThe present research study is descriptive in nature and aims to offer clues towards inferences regarding presumed causal outcomes of Agricultural income and consumption of consumer durables. This study is largely based on field based survey conducted in rural Haryana. The information is specifically collected from geographically scattered two districts namely Karnal and Sonipat of Haryana. The selection of these districts out of the total 21 districts of Haryana is based on the level of ICT infrastructure, Agricultural development and literacy rate criterion. The farmers expectedly feel the importance of ICT for agriculture and can take greater interest in using the ICT technologies in improving their agricultural incomes and thereby lead to increase in incomes. Thus, the dimensions of ICT application need to be understood across the rural market as it represent a huge market segment for today marketers. newlineThe basic idea of selecting rural farmers was that the author was interested to analyze the impact of ICT usage and benefit on rural market consumption covering consumers which are dependent on agriculture for their living. Technology Acceptance model developed by Davis has been used, which is considered the most popular model in understanding adoption of technology among individuals. TAM model is built on a strong theoretical base in the field of Information Technology and is a well researched, empirically tested model with validated inventory of measurement scales across different contexts. The model predicts intentions to use technology elaborately. This model also been used in studies related to agriculture and rural market so it was considered fit to use this model in the context of the present research. newline newline