Indian consumers: are they the same across regions?

Abstract

Purpose -The purposes of this study are to empirically test the differences among three major cities in India by their affluence level, selected factors related to consumer purchase behaviors, and to examine the regional differences in purchase behaviors. Design/methodology/approach -A total of 652 usable data were collected from consumers of age 18 years or older residing in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore, India via mall intercept surveys. Findings -Overall, the findings confirmed that affluence level in each region explains the variances in region's values, attitudes, lifestyles, and consumption patterns of foreign branded goods. That is, Mumbai (i.e. the highest GDP among the three cities) showed individualistic characteristics (i.e. lower levels of face saving and group conformity). Attitude toward economizing was found to be inversely related to a city's affluence level with Bangalore (least affluent) having the highest attitude toward economizing and Mumbai (most affluent) having the lowest attitude toward economizing. Mumbai and New Delhi consumers purchased significantly more foreign jeans than Bangalore consumers. In purchasing foreign brand goods, social attributes (i.e. brand name and latest fashion) were more prominent in Bangalore consumers who are the most collectivistic in this study. Practical implications -The findings of this study convey a clear message: assuming Indian consumers are the same across regions is a mistake and a localization approach should be considered to market to each region. Originality/value -This study is one of the first attempts to examine regional differences in the Indian market. This study adds empirical evidence that differing economic affluence levels are critical in estimating consumption differences by region.

Predicting Indian consumers' purchase intention from Western apparel brands

“…There is an increasing focus on Indian consumers in studies related to acculturation, ethnocentrism, cosmopolitanism and consumption behavior in the context of foreign and domestic brands/products (Batra and Niehm, 2009;Chattaraman and Lennon, 2008;Deb and Roy Chaudhuri, 2012;Deb and Roy Chaudhuri, 2014;Deb and Sinha, 2016;Gupta, 2011;Jin and Son, 2013;Khare and Rakesh, 2010;Khare, 2014;Kumar et al, 2011;Mukherjee et al, 2012;Singh, 2018;Pandey et al, 2014;Presley and Campassi, 2013;Rajagopalan and Heitmeyer, 2005;Sarkar and Sarkar, 2015;Schultz and Jain, 2015). Therefore, Indian consumers have been identified as an ideal target population by many researchers for conducting research on these aforementioned variables.…”

“…Therefore, Indian consumers have been identified as an ideal target population by many researchers for conducting research on these aforementioned variables. India is also repeatedly mentioned as an emerging economy and lucrative market for foreign brands due to Indians' growing buying power (Deb and Roy Chaudhuri, 2012;Deb and Roy Chaudhuri, 2014;Gupta, 2011;Jin and Son, 2013;Kim and Heere, 2012). Therefore, Indian consumers form an important consumer segment for foreign brands.…”

The rise of the BRICS and their challenge to the G7

“…This shift in economic dominance could have some implications for policy makers, political and economic decision-takers as well as for business organizations (Aggarwal, 2013;Drysdale, 2011;Romani et al, 2012;Sharma, 2012a, b;Waheeduzzaman, 2011). First, the increased GDP of BRICS countries will generate more savings, will develop and expand domestic markets for consumer and industrial goods and services, and will create more business and investment opportunities in the coming decades ( Jin and Son, 2013). Second, as of 2010, the US stocks comprise 45 per cent of the world's total market capitalization whereas the combined share of the BRICS countries was only 5 per cent.…”

“…4.2 Markets and consumption: the BRICS at the center Economic and financial globalization has left a remarkable and discernible impact on the global economy through the creation of a large middle-class, and an expanding stable consumer base in emerging economies (Craig and Douglas, 2011;Das, 2009;Jin and Son, 2013;Yamakawa et al, 2009a). (Das, 2009).…”

Interacting with Muslim customers for new service development in a non-Muslim majority country

“…Recently, the marketing of services to the Muslim customers has become an important managerial issue in the emerging market of India because the country's central bank known as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hinted towards the possibility of offering various interestfree banking services to its Muslim customers (Bose and Yedukumar, 2013). The need for the financial services designed specifically for the Muslim customers is driven by the fact that the consumption behavior of the Muslims in India is different from the consumption behavior of the majority Hindu community because of the differences in religious beliefs and values (Deb and Sinha, 2016;Jin and Son, 2013). Because of these phenomena, many firms are interested to cash on the increasing openness of the Indian capital market by developing new services (Jamaluddin, 2013).…”