Changing social mores among youngsters in India
Namrata Joshi in a story in Outlook magazine writes about why youngsters (older people too) in India prefer friends to family. She sums it up as -
Friends vs Family
Friends vs Family
- With families scattered in different cities and countries, sibling and parental ties weaken and reliance on friends grows
- Families can be judgemental, inhibiting. Friends respect your independence, individualism more.
- Family relationships can be hierarchical, weighed down by baggage of old feuds and quarrels. Friendships offer more liberating, guilt-free relationships.
- 21st-century lifestyles of young urbanites have widened the communication gap with parents. Friends can be more, understanding, supportive.
- Long hours at work, commuting, leave less time for family. It's easier to socialise with friends at workplace.
Comments
I believe this is one of the reasons that we get back to our HOME when we really need a break or solitude. Family is one such home, and I have strong feelings that each one of us will never feel the comfort zone of a family with friends.
Sir, I am open for discussions and criticisms.
Sure, maybe we would all go back to our families, mid-life. But then, marketeers are interested in figuring out what the 'source' of influence on a person, playing the role of a consumer would be, at a time when he/she is highly prone to using his/her disposable income to consume products and services.
I beleive, the way it is now, at that stage of a consumer's life, the way to his wallet would be, through using his friendship circle as the main source of influence.
Sure, from a philosophical perspective, when the strenght of a person's youth is spent, his/her rebellion quitens, he/she may well wind up back with his/her family. Maybe even then he/she is of ineterest to the marketeer, though his/her penchancy to spend may have diminished.