Since I haven’t posted for the past two weeks, I have accumulated some India entries. These would be my last India entries as I am actually back in China. In this post I would like to focus on consumer buying patterns in the rural areas.
As most are familiar, Diwali is the biggest event in the Hindu calendar. Known as the Festival of Lights, it celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Diwali preparations begin months before, with family members booking tickets to go home; wives planning on the food menu and decorations; and men deciding on major purchases and the arsenal of fireworks that accompany the celebration. The pictures in this posting shows the mad shopping on Diwali as well as celebrations at Dussehra, which is marked by Dandiya, a social dance form that features the use of paired lacquered sticks. Dandiya events occur before Diwali, and is itself preceded by nine days of fasting for the devout.
Similar to any other major festivals in the world, families would save up throughout the year to make major purchases during Diwali. In the rural families, this usually means new clothes, candles and flowers for the festivities, crackers, gifts and major purchases (such as electronic equipment). One thing I’ve learnt from visiting towns and villages in India – the men do the important shopping. This is especially the case for villagers where men are the ones travelling into towns to make major purchases. The trading areas in towns are populated with men. It is not socially acceptable for women to be seen by themselves in such an area, unless it is an area of town where the womenfolk go.
Hence, the pattern of purchase would be the men viewing the item at the shop – going back to ask their wives and relatives for opinions – and then taking permission from the eldest person in their family to make the major purchase. If the wives do view or hear of a certain product, she still would tell her husband, and the person making the purchase is invariably the father of the family. Additionally, men speak with other men in the village through daily social settings and word of mouth travels powerfully. Relational communication plays a large part within the village, as well as across to towns and cities.
These basic observations also mean that a different kind of brand building for the world’s other 90% is possible. The good news is, you don’t have to spend anywhere near as much money on above-the-line and you can still get good products to people who benefit from it the most. The bad news is, it’s really time and manpower intensive. But that also means you’re creating more jobs, training more people, connecting across social divides and ultimately, redistributing wealth.
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