No doubt, in tune with the harsh reality of India's socio-economic situation, marketing and economic studies tend to focus sharply on the two basic problems of the country — poverty and unemployment. A recent marketing survey aimed at consumer preferences has done precisely that. The study offers an insight into the complexity as well as opportunities and challenges of understanding the market. Poverty and unemployment were identified as the country's "two leading problems" by 46 per cent and 26 per cent of respondents, respectively. The political and social institutions in which Indians expressed a lot of confidence were the armed forces and the Supreme Court. It is another matter that judicial redress in the country has become an expensive and time-consuming process.

The marketing survey was based on over 5,000 in-person interviews conducted in 144 villages and 84 towns and cities across the country. For a country of a thousand million people, the sample of 5,000 persons may not sound representative after all but then with sound sampling it is possible to get the best results. As for brand identification, the survey has discovered that many of the global brands are yet not known to Indian consumers. This is also quite understandable when one considers the size of the country as well as the rampant illiteracy, poverty, and unemployment. Even in such a situation, however, three brand names that stood out in people's minds were reportedly Bata, Colgate and Philips -- 64 per cent, 61 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively, of the respondents identified these brands.

One aspect of the survey nevertheless may act as a dampener for the champions of globalisation. That aspect is the much-publicised onset of integration of India into the global market. The Gallup Organisation and Gallup India survey has discovered that there was a general preference in the country for goods produced by Indian firms. At the same time, 63 per cent of respondents indicated that they preferred high quality products with lasting value. While such surveys are not to be taken as Bible, the fact is that they do work as some kind of an indicator of the people's preferences.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.