Impediments to larger acceptability of Jute Geotextiles

Efficacy of Jute Geotextiles (JGT) is well established through more than 150 trial applications conducted by,  12 Govt. of India organizations  15 Sate Govt. departments  4 Municipality and Private Organizations in different geographic locations at 22 States

The obvious question that arises: Why the use of Jute Geotextiles is not as prevalent as it should be?

Two important areas to be addressed Building awareness and acceptability Policy frame work

To work out a successful strategy for building awareness and acceptability for Jute Geotextiles we need to learn from the success story of synthetic geotextiles and asses their appropriateness for Jute Geotextiles.

The most important factor would be the extent of success in convincing the Principal Commissioning Authority / Engineering Communities on the advantages of Jute Geotextiles through research / application findings on the efficacy of the new product.

One of the primary process of promoting this product would be to educate ourselves. The Jute Industry need to educate their own members about this technical product. In addition to in-house education, there should be increasing number of short courses and conferences in which use of Jute Geotextiles to solve various geotechnical problems need to be discussed. Let us educate ourselves

Identification of target audience Target audiences are the potential clients who order construction work. The principal category of institutions in these target groups are: 1) Road construction administrations at national, regional and local levels; 2) Local government bodies concerned with landscaping and minor refurbishment works, coastal protection and other public works; 3) Railway administrations; 4) Waterways authorities; 5) Central government departments dealing with energy, environment, transport, etc.

For target groups, three different types of literature need to be produced. a.Technical literature and design manual Technical literature is meant for consultants and experts. It may be accompanied by a design manual illustrating how geojute can be designed into civil engineering and geotechnical end-uses. b. Sales Iiterature This is for the contractor. In addition to technical specifications and illustrated installation procedures (the contractor is the buyer and user of the product), it should contain information on prices and on packaging options (if any). c. General promotional literature This should be written in a popular style for the information of the general public.

Technical literature and design manual

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Technical literature and design manual Contd…

Sales Iiterature

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Sales Iiterature Contd….

General promotional literature

Technical presentations on the efficacy of geojute are essential to promotional activities at conferences seminars and workshops attended by public authority / consultant engineers / academicians and experts. Participation in specialised Exhibitions / Technical Conferences / Seminars

Direct mailing A mailing list of consultants, experts and important client organisations is being prepared for despatching technical and sales literature.

Jute Geotextiles: channels for information, decision-making and physical movement SPECIALIST CONSULTING ENGINEER FOR PREPARATION OF DPR CLIENT Public authority or private enterprise MAIN CONTRACTOR AGENT FOR JGT SALES AND DISTRIBUTION TRADER / IMPORTER SUBCONTRACTOR JGT MANUFACTURER Straight lines indicate channel of distribution for Domestic Market. Broken lines indicate channel of distribution for International Market.

People do not know what they want, they only want what they know The end-users product knowledge sequence for JGT

S (Show feature) E (Explain advantage) L (Lead to benefit) L (Let user object) Acceptability and Selling sequence of JGT

An user without objection is an user without intention

Type of objections commonly raised by JGT users Need Objection Product/ Technology Objection Price Objection Supply Objection Time Objection Source Objection

Venturesome (2 ½ %) – Newness is obsession /off-beat Early adopters (13 ½ %) – Opinion leaders. Market begin to accept Early Majority (34%) – acceptance becomes widespread Late Majority (34%) – Purchase only on economic reasons Laggards (16%) – Reluctant adopters or traditionalists. By this time the product is beginning to be superseded by something else Non adopters - never buy / use the product

Desired Policy Framework  Usage policies do not cite use of JGT specifically and have left its use up to the discretion of contractors  Incentive to lower road maintenance / river bank / hill slope protection cost  Inclusion in Schedule of Rates in different states  Some application may not be significantly financially beneficial but have environmental benefits and hence can’t be left to the discretion of the users