*Author Correspondence First Author: Professor of Marketing, Dean-Research and International Relations, Institute of Management and Information Science, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Online published on 20 April, 2017.
India is notnew to the concept of luxury, given its rich heritage of luxury in perfumes and textiles. As it is rightly expressed "luxury is more about experience (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie, 2010), rather than financial value". Luxury brands are those whose ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high. The luxury market India has the potential to grow from $18.5 billion currently to $50 billion by 2020 and to $180 billion by 2025 (Amitabh Kant, chief executive officer of NITI Aayog). A rising middle class, youth demographic profile (65% of the Indian population is below 35 years age), rapid urbanization process (700 million people will be in its ambit), lifestyle and aspiration promotion and high internet promotion will certainly going to change the landscape of luxury brand choice behavior among Indian youth. India's consumption story will also be fuelled by the growing middle class. By 2022-2 3, almost 48% of India's GDP will come from the urban middle class, which will comprise 50% of the population. As such, a faster GDP growth means more money in the hands of the people, which will lead to more disposable income. India's per capita income is currently $1, 580 per annum, and at a 7% GDP growth rate this will grow to $4, 000 by 2032. The size of the High Income group (HIG) consumers continues to grow and they spend over 40% of their monthly income on some of the world's largest luxury brands whereas the middle income group (MIG) consumers spend 8–10% of income on luxury products, reveals the Assocham survey. Globally too, consumer spending is on the rise, expected to reach $ 40 trillion by 2020 with an unprecedented growth of $ 12 trillion in a decade, added the Assocham report. Amidst all these the researcher has tried to establish a link between Indian youth's attitude vis-à-vis its brand choice in Luxury brand segment. This is of tremendous importance in India as 65% of its population will be young till 2040 and it might be the fuel luxury industry requires.
Output, Indian Youth, Attitude, Luxury, Brand Choice
