I wish to provide you a complete picture of my research interests, job profiles and academic background. I come from a family where the pursuit for academic excellence is given utmost priority. My parents have instilled in me a never-say-die attitude and have always been extremely supportive in my endeavors towards academic growth. After completing my masters in Sociology from Loyola College, Trivandrum, there was a self-driven motivation to join a premier institution of excellence in our country. Hence, I took the competitive entrance examination – MET 1993 and enrolled with scholarship in Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay for M.Phil in Planning & Development. I had qualified the MET test with a percentile score of 82.5 conducted by IIT Bombay. The curriculum at IIT with its emphasis on analytical thought and independent research has given me good exposure to contemporary development studies and this has helped me immensely in appreciating the need for highly specialized skills for the present and the future.

 

I have always had an excessive enthusiasm for statistics and have maintained an approach that digs into the physical significance of all stastical models. My initial exposure to this field was through the Research Methodology course taught by Dr. E.J Thomas towards the end of Post Graduate Program.  After completing my M.Phil. from IIT Bombay in 1995, I had worked at the level of Project officer at Popular Environment Management Services, Cochin. I gained an insight into the various fields of project management, data collections, international agencies like World Bank and ODA. After one year, I felt a compelling desire to participate in research activities pertaining to the field of marketing. Having comprehensively learnt the various aspects of research methodology along with some self-study on marketing, I was looking for an opportunity to work in the areas of marketing and advertising research. In pursuit of these objectives, I joined Drshti Strategic Research Services, Bombay as a Research Executive from April 1996. At Drshti, I realized the importance of professional approach in Proposal Writing, Questionnaire designing, Analysis of Data, Report Writing and Client Servicing. I was engaged in the projects on Brand Differentiation, Brand Awareness, Advertisement tracking, Rural Customer Profiling, concept testing, etc.

 

My two years work experience at this Market Research firm has exposed me to a competitive and stimulating environment where research work goes hand in hand with the learning process. Moreover, this was an eye-opener in realizing the extent to which there is lack of awareness about rural population in existing research framework, which calls for new methodologies to plan, manage and predict systems for the future. It was during this period that I presented a paper titled – “Facets & Implications of Sociology as an Optional discipline for Career building”, where I was able to develop a good understanding of the sociological issues in market research. A career in academics and research has been my foremost ambition and I consider a strong Ph.D. an essential stepping-stone in fulfilling it.

 

The experience with market research aggrandized my interest in the fields of Rural Marketing and Rural Communication. I chose a related topic – “Sociological aspects of Rural Marketing in India” for my PhD Thesis. I feel that interdisciplinary work will be the forerunner in research and development in the years to come. Keeping this approach, I joined IIT Bombay in 1998 for my doctoral research with a scholarship. Under the guidance of Dr. D. Parthasarthy, I studied specific courses on the related area and I have therefore, tried to make optimal use of my stay in the campus.  

 

My endeavor had been to conduct exhaustive research – ranging from qualitative to quantitative methodology. The focus was on the factors influencing rural consumers and reasons for differential, purchasing aspirations of rural population for different consumer electronic products. Attempt was made to analyze the understanding of rural social structure that underlies rural marketing strategies and the ways in which social systems and hierarchies are reinforced/changed by these strategies with particular reference to social values. The study explored the underlying factors of media influence, which determines the material interests of the rural community. I constantly yearn to make my own contributions in this area. Already I have published three papers in major journals and presented five relevant papers in national conferences. I personally feel intrigued by concepts such as social capital, popular culture, Mcdonalisation and their impact on rural community. These are the issues I wish to address in the near future. My long-term objective is to pursue a career in what I like most.

Omkumar Krsihnan