The Indian market is a collection of unique little markets, each with its own values. The forces acting on these little India's trigger different changes for each. There is a rural India in Urban India and rural India in urban India. A rural district in state of Maharashtra is a big market for luxurious cars.
Better connectivity and communication, and the literacy leap, are together increasing the aspiration of the Indian consumers at every level. The reason why these changes drive aspiration is lucidly explained by the well-known anthropologist, Arjun Appadurai, of Yale University: "Imagination is not about individual escape. It is a collective social activity. Informational resources are needed for people to even imagine a possible life, weave a story and a script around themselves, and place products in emerging sequences. Imagination may not always lead to action, but it is a prelude to action."
Most Indian consumers, whether rich or poor, want to get ahead in a hurry. From being destiny-driven and resigned, they are now destination-driven and striving to grasp opportunities to earn more in order to construct a better life for themselves and their children. If one were to segment the country into the Arriving, the Striving and the Resigned, the proportion of Resigned has definitely decreased and become geographically concentrated, rather than well-dispersed, as it was earlier.
That's why, the size and opportunity of the Indian market is not a simple find. Therefore, the question that businesses need to answer is: "What is my target India?" Understanding the target segment is very important while doing business in India so that the product offering is made suitable for the consumer. Changing markets needs new basis of segmentation rather than usual income segmentation or rural/ urban segmentation. For example there is huge market of well being, youthfulness and strivers ready to be exploited. The focus should be on utility of the products to the consumer, usage pattern, drivers of buying behavior needs to made basis of segmentation and then the products to be developed accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment