Content area
Full Text
Abstract
All marketing starts with the consumer. So consumer is a very important person to a marketer. Consumer decides what to purchase, for whom to purchase, why to purchase, from where to purchase, and how much to purchase. The most challenging concept in the marketing is to deal with understanding the consumer behaviour. The attitude of Indian consumers has undergone a major transformation over the last few years. The Indian consumer today wants to lead a life full of luxury and comfort. He wants to live in present and does not believe in savings for the future. An important and recent development in India's consumerism is the emergence of the rural market for several basic consumer goods. The Indian middle class has provided a big boost to the consumer culture during the recent past and it is hoped that their buying behaviour will continue to change in the coming future. Due to fast growth of the services sector per capita income of people of India is also increasing. The number of middle class is increasing due to another fact that people are fast shifting from agriculture to the services and industry sector where growth prospects are reasonably high as compared to the agriculture sector which is showing slow growth. This research paper explains the changes occurred in consumer behaviour of India.
Keywords : credit culture, consumerism, purchasing power
Introduction
The consumption pattern of a country depends on liberalization of economic policies, buying habits of the younger generation, financial independence at a young age, increase in number of nuclear families and increase in media exposure of the people. The tastes and preferences of the current generation are changing rapidly. The current generation does not mind paying extra for better facilities and ambience. Another major factor that has led to increased consumerism is the growth of credit culture in India. The Indian consumer does not feel shy to purchase products on credit and pay tomorrow for what they use or buy today.1 This tendency has led to a tremendous increase in purchase of homes, cars, two-wheelers and consumer goods. The market for luxury products in India is also climbing at an astonishing rate as compared to a decade ago when it was almost negligible. The reason...