Consumerism and the Indian youth

Does the youth make a good buyers market? Should companies adapt their marketing strategies to the changing consumption patterns and trends pertaining to the youth?

                Lets start with the changing trends among the youth. To keep it short I would say, now the new ‘roti, kapda and makan’ is the ‘Branded kapda, Cellphone and Ipod’ for this section of the Indian population. Gone are the days when the parents were the buying decision makers. The emerging increasing trends of consumerables that target the youth clearly suggests the rising demands in this sector. A study suggested that even the teenagers of otherwise middle class families are getting more and more prone to the luxury items available in today’s markets. Be it dining at the top notch places of holidaying or simple daily use items like, clothes, shoes, bags and watches. The use of mobiles and hi-tech electronics clearly shows the upward moving technology learning curve.So is it actually right at the marketers end to target this segment of the society?

                It is clear that the final purchasing power lies in the hands of the earning member of the family. In India, mostly it is either of the parents. Will a teenager be allowed to buy if the parents are not convinced. The trend that has been noticed is that on an average the Indian teenager spends around Rs 200/week as pocket money. So it might just be possible that this amount would at times be spent on luxury items but more often than not it is spent on the basic entertainment packages.

                In contrast as compared to the west, where there is a socio-cultural and socio-economic desire to become independent begins quite early, leading the teenagers to find part time jobs. Quite a many of which are pretty well paying. Considering the fact that they do not have any additional responsibilities and neither is there a ‘savings culture’ all of this money is treated as pocket money. Thus leading to the luxury prone purchasing decisions. On the other hand Indians usually depend on their parents for economic support atleast till the age of 20 – 22 years.

                The flipside of the coin suggests that even though the teenagers don’t have the buying/purchasing power, yet they play a major role in influencing the buying decision. So if the marketing activities are targeted to them, they would in a way express their bias towards a particular product or brand and thus increase the potential market. Also, the youth of today is the market for tomorrow. The value or the brand image that is formed in their minds today, will help in making a potential market for the future.