Shift in tastes and preferences of Indian consumers

Rajesh Sud, writing in The Hindu, attributes the reasons behind the shift in tastes and preferences of Indian consumers from traditional and conservative looking product lines to more varied, modern and liberal assortment of commodities to -

• Joint households making way for nuclear families.
• Increased mobility, especially for career advancement.
• Increase in the number of working women and a growing awareness among women to carve a career while managing a family.
• Increasing tendency to spend on fashion, health, fitness, education and more importantly ’self’, attributed to increased incomes, societal factors and independence from parental pressures.

It is also interesting to note the 'financial behaviour' within Indian societies. It is seen that 82 per cent of the households save for emergencies and 69 per cent for old age. At the same time, an increasing trend is seen in literacy and education levels. There is a growing inclination to provide quality education for children. The Max New York Life-NCAER survey also revealed that 81 per cent of Indian households save for children’s education, a priority second only to emergencies. Seventy-nine per cent of rural households also save for children’s education.

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