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Our Bureau

Chennai, Sept. 24 What consumers look for in products hasn’t changed over the years: in consumer durables and financial services, they look for reliability and reputation; in telecom services, they look for voice clarity and value for money; in FMCG, they are creatures of habit; in retail, they look for a large variety of products and brands and the store’s proximity to their house or workplace. It’s on these parameters that the Most Preferred Brands would be chosen and awarded at the CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards event at Mumbai on September 26.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Neel Chowdhury, Vice-President (Marketing), CNBC TV 18 and CNBC Awaaz, said this year’s survey, the fourth consecutive one, was different in that there was a big focus on rural India, its tastes and preferences. “India lives beyond its metros, and we have had feedback from smaller towns and rural areas asking us why their opinion shouldn’t be considered,” he said.

CNBC has conducted the survey with the Nielsen Company. Over 17 product and service categories across 21 cities and 84 rural centres (with a population of 3,000 and above), with about 10,000 respondents forming a cross-section of Indian society have been included in the survey. The awards will highlight the brands preferred by rural consumers, Mr Chowdhury said. For instance, while 66 per cent of the respondents voted for reliability and trustworthiness as the key driver to purchase a certain brand of consumer durables, consumers in the rural areas gave higher weightage to easy availability.

Other key findings of the survey show that 48 per cent and 47 per cent valued voice clarity and value for money respectively when choosing a telecom service provider; better network coverage and low network congestion as well as promotional schemes and offers also mattered. In the FMCG category, 89 per cent went for “a brand I always use”. Apart from easy availability and VFM, premium brand and attractive advertising are the other drivers.

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