Insights into cosumption habits of young profrssionals in Mumbai

The Phenomenal GDP growth in India, seen in the last two decades (1991–2010) has largely been credited to dynamic growth of service sector, young demography and rapid urbanization. Experts in India and abroad have even gone to the extent of declaring India's economic growth to be more sustainable than the might China, on the basis of the so called “Domestic Consumption” component which has largely contributed to the Indian growth story. Traditionally Indians have been a frugal and “savings” oriented consumer society; but with the advent of technology, information exchange and changing values, this historical trait has seen a dramatic shift to “spend now” and “instant gratification”. This shift has altered the consumption pattern, habit and tendencies overnight and impacted businesses, marketers and policy makers. This research paper aims to study this shift in consumption amongst young, urban Indian consumers in terms of their altered preferences and inclination towards various old and new product/service categories like eat out, movie, furniture, mobile phone, investment in financial products, automobiles and other categories. Since Young Urban Indians working in manufacturing and service oriented companies form one of the most significant consuming class; they are the primary audience addressed/studied in this paper.