The Affluent in Indian society - Upper Middle and Rich (UMAR) survey
Mumbai,
September 2, 2009: The Nielsen Company India
The Nielsen survey covers both
the mass and emerging media consumption habits of affluent Indians, including
Television, Print, Radio, Cinema, and Online. It also covers lifestyle habits such
as gym membership, shopping habits including frequency and spends, and
consumption of various FMCG categories by affluent individuals.
“The primary reason for
conducting Nielsen UMAR was to obtain first of all a realistic estimate of this
segment, and secondly, to profile their media and consumption habits. There is
no study today in India which provides an accurate estimate of this target
group; large scale surveys like the NRS and IRS grossly underestimate this
segment as their sampling procedures are directed towards a mass audience and
not specifically to this segment,” said Partha Rakshit, Managing Director,
South Asia, The Nielsen Company.
The survey has initiated a
new method of defining ‘affluence’, based on lifestyle and consumer durables’
ownership of a household rather than monthly income, education, etc., which are
the main parameters of defining Socio Economic Class (SEC) and are inadequate
to cover the consuming disposition of an individual. The variables considered
for lifestyle mapping were: employment of domestic help (maid/driver); holiday
trips abroad; and dining out habits. For durable ownership, the variables that
were considered are Laptop/Desktop, Air-Conditioner, Car, Television, Microwave,
Washing Machine, and number of family members with internet connection at home
and the type of connection used.
Three distinct segments of
affluence emerged by such lifestyle and consumer durables mapping – Upper Middle, Upper-Upper Middle, and Rich
and they are quite distinct in their consumption habits. The grouping was done
based on the ownership of a car, a computer, an LCD, and a holiday abroad.
The Nielsen survey estimates
a total of 2.5 million affluent households in India, of which 2.2 million
belong to the Upper Middle segment—Households that own a car and a computer, but
without an LCD and a holiday abroad. Upper Upper Middle segment consists of
some 0.2 million households and are the owners of a car, a computer, an LCD,
but miss a holiday abroad. The Rich segment makes about 0.1 million of the
households in the affluent pie, all of which are the proud owners of a car, a
computer, an LCD, and also a holiday abroad. The findings of the Nielsen UMAR survey
are useful to Media Planners, Publishers, Agencies, and FMCG companies among
others.
Rakshit added, “The Nielsen
UMAR survey followed the premise that income
is usually understated by the rich and wealthy in society and to categorize the
target consumers that we wanted to reach, SEC was also an inadequate
classification. We needed something more tangible to identify the affluent
segment.”
Top
10 affluent Indian cities ranked according to Nielsen UMAR Survey
|
Rank
|
City
|
|
1
|
|
|
2
|
Bengaluru
|
|
3
|
Greater
Mumbai
|
|
4
|
Chennai
|
|
5
|
|
|
6
|
Kolkata
|
|
7
|
|
|
8
|
Pune
|
|
9
|
Jaipur
|
|
10
|
Ahmedabad
|
Decoding
the affluent
So who are these affluent
consumers and what do they consume? According to Nielsen, six in ten affluent
households are nuclear families, and a quarter has elders at home. Nearly half
of the households have more than one earning member. Even though nearly half of
affluent Indian consumers are schooled in English, the languages spoken at home
are regional Indian languages. Nine in ten affluent individuals own a house,
three-quarters have a fully automated washing machine, and nearly two in five
affluent individuals have a home theatre and modular kitchen.
English is the preferred language
for Newspapers but Television is consumed more in regional languages. Nine in
ten affluent individuals watch Television and nearly three-fourth read English Dailies.
More than three in five watch movies outside home and more than half use Internet
at home. Radio consumption is also high, especially amongst the Rich segment. Amongst
the affluent who listen to the radio everyday, more than other segments - Upper
Middle and Upper Upper Middle. The Rich segment also watches more movies
outside home than other affluent segments. Magazine reading is not very strong
amongst the affluent, and more than six in ten individuals do not read magazines.
(See Chart 1)
“The Nielsen UMAR survey
delves deep into the media consumption habits of the affluent class of Indian
society and provides a wealth of consumption pattern information to aid
marketers in preparing their marketing strategy and media plan. The demographic
and lifestyle information provided in the report will help marketers’ position
products and services catering to affluent Indians with high disposable incomes,”
said Rakshit.
Interestingly most of people belonging to this group are heavy users of internet.The key highlight of this survey are:
1. Half of the targeted consumers are schooled in English
2. English is the preferred language for newspapers however the television programmes watched are more in regional languages.
3. Nine in ten affluent individuals own a house; three-quarters have a fully automated washing machine; and nearly two in five affluent individuals have a home theatre and modular kitchen.
Media Reach:
1. 98 per cent of the individuals watch TV;
2. 70 per cent read English dailies;
3. 67 per cent watch movies outside home;
4. 55 per cent use the internet at home;
5. 54 per cent listen to the radio;
6. while 38 per cent and 10 per cent read magazines and English business dailies, respectively.
Recession:
40-50 per cent of the respondents saying that their expenditure on travel, luxury accessories, fuel, vehicle usage, branded garments and consumer durables has seen no change. However, spending on luxury accessories and vacations, compared to other items, has reduced due to recession.
Affluent
Lifestyle
Nielsen UMAR affluent
individuals work out at gyms, visit spas and beauty parlors, with three in ten
visiting a parlor or spa once a month. Fine dining is high amongst this section
of society and eight in ten individuals go out for meals. Shopping is a craze
-- nine in ten shop at Modern Retail stores, the articles of interest being
footwear, jewellery, handbags, sunglasses, cosmetics, fragrances, pens and
watches to name a few.
Overall, the economic slowdown has not impacted the
spending habits of Nielsen UMAR individuals. However luxury accessories &
travel/vacations are items where Nielsen UMAR individuals have curtailed
spending significantly as compared to other items... (See
Chart 2)
About Nielsen UMAR Survey
Nielsen UMAR Survey gauges lifestyle and media
consumption habits of affluent Indians. Affluence is defined on lifestyle and
ownership of consumer durables. The survey covered more than 18,250 affluent
individuals across all 35 Indian metros.
About
The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media
company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information,
television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile
measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood
Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100
countries, with headquarters in New
York , USA
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