Sustainability Perspectives: Empirical Insights into Manufacturers' Intentions in Rural Marketing

The present investigation seeks to accomplish two primary goals: firstly, to unveil the factors that drive manufacturers' behavioral inclination pertaining about rural marketing; and secondly, to explore the intermediary function of trust linking these factors with manufacturers' behavioral inclination. A quantitative approach has been employed to collect data from 513 manufacturers (owners and managerial class) situated in the five districts of Himachal Pradesh, India. The data collection method involved employing a 5-point Likert scale, by using both online and offline means. Moreover, PLS-SEM software facilitated the examination of data for 27 items, with trust being the mediator of the scenario. The study’s findings indicate the significant influence of attitude, situational responsibility, ability, and sustainability actions on manufacturers’ behavioural intentions towards rural marketing. The framed hypotheses about subjective norms, awareness of need and beliefs about environment have been rejected in the study. It means they do impact the dependent variable but their influence is not as significant as compared to other independent variables. Moreover, the mediating impact of trust has been found out accordingly. The uniqueness of the study is in its novel approach to examining sustainability perspectives and empirical insights in the field of rural marketing, which has important ramifications for both academic scrutiny and real-world utilization. Therefore, leveraging the outcomes of this work can open the doors to inclusive and equitable development, ensuring that rural areas thrive in a sustainable manner while also contributing to broader national and global sustainability goals.