Epsilon has come out with its latest study revealing some interesting findings about Indian consumer behaviour. These findings are part of a study done by Epsilon, which happens to be a multi-channel marketing services company regarding consumer expectations and Loyalty in different parts of the globe. The report titled ‘No Single Solution: Multiple Opportunities’ covers the latest data as the survey was carried out in third quarter of 2012 in Asia Pacific region. The countries covered as part of the study include, India, China, Japan and Australia in Asia Pacific region and Germany, UK and France in Europe.
The agency which conducted this study on behalf of Epsilon, Ipsos did face to face interviews with 400 respondents in India giving equal weightage to age and gender distributions. The interview was carried out by Ipsos covering 60 per cent respondents from SEC A and SEC C constituted 40 per cent of respondents.
Janet Low, Client Services Director, Asia, Epsilon International commented on the findings of the report that “Indian consumers are highly value-sensitive, value drivers are defined differently depending on the industry. These differences should be accounted for when developing value propositions and messaging strategies,”
The major findings of the report relevant to the Indian context are:
a) The most preferred medium by Indians across SECs to learn about company information is from Television. This has been observed mainly among middle and lower income class customers in India and it comes next only to e-mail communication as the most preferred medium among the affluent class. Radio is the next most preferred mode of communication among SEC C customers.
b) Word of mouth communication is considered as the most powerful medium of communication which influences purchase decision in India. Among the middle class customers word of mouth communication among co workers (29 per cent) is found to be dominant while making purchase decisions whereas it is 36 per cent among affluent colleagues.
c) Loyalty among Indian consumers except for travel services is recorded at an all time high when compared to a similar study carried out in 2011. It has been observed that it is up from 45 per cent to 57 per cent in clothing, up from 47 per cent to 64 per cent in financial services and up from 47 per cent to 65 per cent when it comes to grocery category.
d) Perceived value of purchase is what drives loyalty among Indian consumers but in sharp contrast what drives loyalty in China and Australia is after sales service and preferential customer service.
The study also observes that Indians are among the largest users of Social Media and since the report suggests that Word of Mouth Communication is one of the powerful medium which influences purchase decision in India, marketers should be careful in identifying the target group and develop an appropriate communication strategy so as to leverage the growth of social media.
