Comments on: Why do we buy what we buy? http://blogs.reuters.com/india-expertzone/2012/01/16/why-do-we-buy-what-we-buy/ Straight from the Specialists Mon, 20 May 2013 07:48:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: AshishDeodhar http://blogs.reuters.com/india-expertzone/2012/01/16/why-do-we-buy-what-we-buy/comment-page-1/#comment-451 AshishDeodhar Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:17:13 +0000 http://blogs.reuters.com/india-expertzone/?p=1396#comment-451 I think we Indians are extremely value-conscious. We somehow don't see a point in buying something for a premium; I suppose finding and getting the best deal kinda gives us a kick. We somehow take great pride in our no-nonsense attitude to making our purchases - from vegetables in the bazaar to cars in glitzy showrooms. I remember taking a friend (supposedly "expert" in cars) with me to a car showroom in Mumbai. I set my heart on a sexy sedan the moment I saw it. My friend then studiously compared that sedan with a small car on various features such as engine power and mileage and leg room and floor height (or something of that sort) and so on and concluded that the small car would give me more value for money in the long run. Besides, he claimed, it would be a pain to park my sedan in Mumbai. When I finally decided to buy the small car, he proudly declared that I just saved myself from looking like a fool! That's the typical middle-class Indian consumer for you. Pragmatic, sensible, no-nonsense... That's the lesson car manufacturers, especially the foreign ones, must learn if they want to compete successfully in the Indian market. I think we Indians are extremely value-conscious. We somehow don’t see a point in buying something for a premium; I suppose finding and getting the best deal kinda gives us a kick. We somehow take great pride in our no-nonsense attitude to making our purchases – from vegetables in the bazaar to cars in glitzy showrooms.

I remember taking a friend (supposedly “expert” in cars) with me to a car showroom in Mumbai. I set my heart on a sexy sedan the moment I saw it. My friend then studiously compared that sedan with a small car on various features such as engine power and mileage and leg room and floor height (or something of that sort) and so on and concluded that the small car would give me more value for money in the long run. Besides, he claimed, it would be a pain to park my sedan in Mumbai. When I finally decided to buy the small car, he proudly declared that I just saved myself from looking like a fool!

That’s the typical middle-class Indian consumer for you. Pragmatic, sensible, no-nonsense… That’s the lesson car manufacturers, especially the foreign ones, must learn if they want to compete successfully in the Indian market.

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