The Hindu Business Line : The seven pursuits of consumer India

The McKinsey Global Institute states in its recent report (The Bird of Gold – The Rise of India’s Consumer Market) that India has now entered a virtuous long-term cycle in which rising incomes lead to increasing consump tion, which, in turn, creates more business opportunities and employment. Its consumer demand model for India shows that India’s consumption share of GDP at 62 per cent is closer to Japan and the US than to China. The aggregate consumption in India will grow in real terms from Rs 17 trillion today to Rs 34 trillion by 2015 and Rs 70 trillion by 2025. The contribution to consumption growth from urban India is estimated to be 68 per cent and rural India to be 32 per cent.

While the numbers indicate the growth potential, a more relevant challenge for marketers is to identify the underlying drivers of consumption – those ideas, needs and values which are resonating through the socio-cultural system as a whole – and thus would find their manifestation in a whole range of product categories. The simple premise is that the brands and categories that are aligned with these drivers would benefit significantly. Ancient India had defined kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and dharma (virtue) as three important pursuits of life, three motivations behind a man’s behaviour. Being a religiously-oriented society, it was postulated that a rule founded by dharma has an authority superior to that founded on artha just as the latter has an authority superior to one founded by kama.

But all three points of view are equally legitimate and man is made in such a way that he is bound to consider all three as he functions in life. Manu, the ancient law giver, goes so far as to say that wisdom is to be found in a harmonious combination of the three prime motives of human nature. There are those who declare that the greatest good consists in virtue (dharma) and in wealth (artha); others say it consists in pleasure (kama) and wealth, or in virtue alone or wealth alone; but the true opinion is that it consists in the conjunction of all three.

Fast-forward 2,000 years to the complexity of modern society where kama, artha and dharma are still at play but this list has expanded considerably. An analysis of the socio-cultural context reveals a set of seven pursuits that drive consumption and seem likely to do so for some time. These are:

The pursuit of upward mobility

This pursuit encompasses image- and lifestyle-consciousness. Status expression and making ‘individual’ style statements are the key pursuits here.

The striving for expanding circles of influence in the social network

Indians have always lived in an extended family network and are well aware of the benefits of social networking. Today, middle-class Indians of all ages are engaged in creating a virtuous cycle of fame, influence, power and money. Technology is the great enabler here.

The quest for lifelong vitality

The link between vitality, productivity and being a valued member of society has now been well established. Hence the desire to look young, be young and retain youthful vitality even in old age. Modern capitalism has definitely replaced the ashrama dharma ideal of the past.

Pride in being Indian

Now that the middle-class has understood the link between heritage and capitalism, there is a huge resurgence of pride in being Indian, interest in our past and heritage at one level and a jingoistic pride almost bordering on parochialism on the other.

Pleasure in the now

Kama is alive and kicking in the modern avatar of consumerism. Indulging the senses through shopping, travelling, eating out and every other form of hedonism is a hallmark of consumer societies everywhere and the modern Indian middle-class is no exception.

A form of spirituality

It is spirituality that is suited to contemporary times. Prof Alan Roland, a noted American cultural psychoanalyst, postulates that every Indian has a spiritual side, whether latent or expressed.

Far from abandoning the spiritual quest, the modern middle-class is seeking new forms of spirituality suited to the times – witness the growth of Art of Living, Buddhism, Reiki, lectures on the Gita et al. This is in addition to practising religious rituals, following the family Guru and consulting astrologers.

Expressing (a negotiated) individuality

Finally, as modern lifestyles and values give rise to greater individualism, the expression of it is still more about standing out and expressing one’s individual talents and passions rather than a pursuit of independence or self actualisation as postulated in Maslow’s hierarchy.

Brands and products that are aligned to these need vectors will see growth in the coming decade. Those that are not will have to work much harder to achieve ambitious growth.

(Hamsini Shivakumar is Founding Partner, Leapfrog Strategy Consulting.)