Determinants of Marketing Channel Choice Among Handloom Micro-entrepreneurs: Evidence From Rural Assam, India

Using primary data collected from 230 handloom micro-entrepreneurs of rural Assam, present study made an attempt to understand the marketing efficiency across different marketing channels of handloom products, and identify the factors determining handloom micro-entrepreneurs’ decision to select a marketing channel. Marketing efficiency was examined using standardised indices. A multinomial logistic regression model was estimated for identifying the factors determining marketing channel choice decision of handloom micro-entrepreneurs. Analysis of data reveals that though the retailer channel was economically most efficient among the three identified marketing channels in the study area, majority of handloom micro-entrepreneurs have chosen the least efficient channel of travelling traders for selling their produce. Using travelling traders as reference category, the results of regression estimate suggest that education of the entrepreneurs, firm size, access to market information, collective action through weavers’ groups, access to credits, and transaction cost-related factors significantly influenced the decision of handloom micro-entrepreneurs in the choice of marketing channels.