COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF MARKETING OF BRANDED AND UNBRANDED LOCAL RICE IN BIDA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

The profit accruing to local rice especially through a well branded package generally depends on the market share of the marketers as it connotes the fastness of the time to sell off the product. The study examined the marketing of branded and unbranded local rice in Niger State, considering a data set obtained through a three stage sampling technique from 150 local rice marketers. Several analyses were conducted on the data using the descriptive statistics, marketing margin and efficiency and the binary logistic regression. A figure of N25, 795.40 and N15, 778.80 were estimated as the returns to branding and unbranded local marketing respectively. Apparently, the branded marketers are more efficient in the marketing of local rice as they have a higher marketing efficiency of 190.61 %. The enterprise is therefore concluded to be profitable and economically efficient. Educational level, marketing experience, access to grant, and cooperative society involvement were the determining factors that significantly influence branding among the local rice marketers. The recommends branding be encouraged among local rice marketers, as they stand to make more profit that their counterparts. Consequently, financial institutions such as agricultural banks should provide access to funds and facilities that would help local marketers cover for their marketing cost.