The Hindu Business Line : North saves more than South: study

Northerners contribute 15 per cent of their monthly expenditure to savings and investment as compared with 8 per cent contributed by Southerners, revealed a study titled `Emergence of Individualistic, Indulgence Happy, Confident Indian Consumer' by strategic marketing consultancy Henley Centre and market research agency, IMRB International.

The study focused on the spending patterns of 12,180 homes across 67 sample towns in four regions of the country — North, South, East and West — that were considered representative of the country's urban market. Interestingly, among the metros Delhi scores the highest in terms of expenditure on investment at 21 per cent.

The differences in the spending patterns of an average Indian household in the North and the South are varied in other categories as well. While people in the North spend as much as 5 per cent of their monthly outgoings on communication, they are ready to shell out much less on entertainment. The East comes a close 3 per cent. Households in the West splurge more on entertaining themselves and allocate 10 per cent of their monthly expenses for that. In particular, the high spenders are Mumbai and Bangalore consumers at 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.

Personal grooming seems to have come of age with consumers in the North and the West doling out as much as 9 per cent.

The study also reveals that travelling and commuting takes up a larger share of the expenses of the people in the North than elsewhere.

In terms of expenditure on groceries, the East leads the way with 35 per cent contribution to household expenditure.

The North and the West fare marginally lower at 31 per cent and 33 per cent.

Kolkata, specifically, tops the charts in terms of percentage of spending on groceries (37 per cent), while Bangalore spends the least (20 per cent).

The study concludes that, "this marks a clear shift from the traditional Indian mindset of collectivism, cautious spending and guilt associated with spending to being confident about spending on personal needs and entertainment."

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