Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet

Book description

A richly insightful account of one of the most significant transformations in the world today. Dheeraj Sinha's intelligence vividly illuminates the intersection of culture and commerce in New India.

Adam Morgan

Founder

eatbigfish

Among the many books I have read on the cultural evolution taking place in India, this is perhaps the most insightful. It does not just map mindset changes; it does so with the certainty of a person who has lived the changes as much as he has witnessed them. Every marketeer should keep this book on his office desk as a ready reckoner.

Ranjan Kapur

Country Manager - India

WPP

India in many ways is a "Nation of Nations." So much heterogeneity and hence complexity in understanding consumers and consumerism. Dheeraj has done a commendable job in peeling off the layers from the onion—creating frameworks and providing very relatable examples to understand the culture. For instance, Dheeraj has used Bollywood as an effective mirror to portray societal changes. Consumer India is a must-read for those who want to understand the cultural evolution of India with its nuances.

Rajesh Jejurikar

Chief Executive - Automotive Division

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

A labor of love. For years, I have marveled at how Dheeraj's inquisitive brain continuously churns away to make meaning of everything he observes. His writing simultaneously reflects him as a "sutradaar" telling the captivating story of a changing India, even as it does so with the unbiased and expert credentials of the "computerji" he describes here. Dheeraj insightfully marries the rapid changes he chronicles with the assimilative fabric of India; where "and" trumps "or." Against the cliché "change is the only constant," he underlines that in India, change works with the constant. Enjoy the ride on Dheeraj's time machine!

Prasad Narasimhan

Managing Partner, Asia

Brandgym

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Foreword
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. Introduction
  9. Chapter 1: Transforming the Karma
    1. A Changing India
    2. Karmic Transformation: The New Diving Force
    3. The Criticality of the Last Lap
    4. The New Order of Culture and Business
  10. Chapter 2: The Currency of Emotion
    1. The Carrier of Emotions
    2. Played Down in Importance
    3. Out of the Closet
    4. A Life Less Ordinary
    5. Amplifying the Sounds of Celebration
    6. A Newfound Access
    7. Making the Everyday Special
    8. Recalibrating the Ticket Size of Dreams
    9. Living with Credit
    10. Selling Motivation, Not Money
  11. Chapter 3: Beauty in Action
    1. Skin Deep
    2. Defined by the Face
    3. From Art to Action
    4. From Two-Dimensional to Three-Dimensional
    5. From Held Back to Vibrant
    6. Attitude, Accessibility, and Universality
    7. Highlighting Natural Appeal
    8. Engaging through the Body
    9. The Connection between Health and Good Looks
    10. Driven by a Larger Cultural Change
    11. Flipping the Beauty Equation
    12. The Indian Beauty Market
    13. An Instrument for Life Fulfillment
  12. Chapter 4: Masala Media
    1. Rationed Entertainment
    2. The Changing Conscience of the Nation
    3. Nothing Nutritional About It
    4. Reel Life Meets Real Life
    5. The Reality of Television
    6. Pleasure, Purpose, and Platform
    7. From Broadcast to Narrowcast
    8. Media in Different SKUs
    9. Reflecting Change, Driving Change
  13. Chapter 5: Meaningful Technology
    1. It’s Not about Efficiency
    2. Social Leapfrogging
    3. Enabling the New
    4. Vehicles of Social Significance
    5. Early Upgrades
    6. Techno Sheen
    7. Marking a Discontinuity
    8. High Tech, High Connection
  14. Chapter 6: Branding the Bazaar
    1. The Effect, Not the Cause
    2. The Changing Shape of the Indian Market
    3. Credible Stretch
    4. Access Brands
    5. The Indigenous Instinct
    6. Following the Market Logic
    7. Linking the Haves and the Have-Nots
  15. Chapter 7: Youth versus Youthful
    1. Squeezed Out
    2. Not a Different Species
    3. Bridging the Gap
    4. Participation Labs
    5. Key Drivers of Change
    6. A New Framework for Youth Brands
    7. Thinking of Youth Brands as Life Links
    8. True Blue Youth Brands
    9. Being on Youth’s Side, Looking Up
  16. Chapter 8: Seamless Savitris
    1. Breaking the Internal Glass Ceiling
    2. Dependently Independent
    3. The Cultural Middle Point
    4. Finding Herself
    5. Money Is a Facilitator
    6. A Sense of “Complementality”
    7. Seamless but Stretched
    8. Marketing to Stereotypes
    9. New Woman, New Opportunities
  17. Chapter 9: Small is Big
    1. Charged with Potential
    2. The New Small-Town India
    3. The Power Shift: From India Shining to Bharat Nirman
    4. Urban versus Small Town versus Rural
    5. Achievement Driven Youth
    6. Pride in Roots
    7. Individuality Finds Expression
    8. Rural Women: Transformation Within Boundaries
    9. The Need to Shine
    10. A Trajectory of Its Own
  18. Chapter 10: Three Generations, One Big Market
    1. Between Homogeneity and Hypersegmentation
    2. Mainstream Myopia
    3. A New Basis for Segmenting India
    4. A Mélange of Three Mindsets
    5. Potential at Two Ends of the Spectrum
    6. The Partition Generation: Cautious Opening Up
    7. Transition Generation: Heading to Tomorrow, Bringing Yesterday Along
    8. The No-Strings Generation: Life Unbound
    9. Unlocking New Opportunities
  19. Notes
  20. Index

Product information

  • Title: Consumer India: Inside the Indian Mind and Wallet
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: February 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470824658