8/3/2019 IMM Term Paper

1/4

Introduction

The objective of this term paper is to analyze the consumer demographics in Indian society. The

sub-segments contained in every consumer segment act as homogeneous characteristics foreach particular demographic profile & these characteristics govern the marketing efforts for

every organization. A demographic profile provides enough information about the typical

member of a group to create a mental picture of this hypothetical aggregate. For example, a

marketer might speak of the single, female, middle-class, age 18 to 24, college educated

demographic. These demographic profiles are considered as an exercise in making

generalizations about groups of people.

The demographic profiling is done on the basis of age, gender, income, educational background

and many other factors. Thus demographic segmentation can be done in the following ways:-

1) Population :- As per the Census of India 2001, Indias population is 1028.6 million people.

This size of India makes it the second largest country after China. The annual growth rate of

India is 1.4%. Explosive population growth has a major implication for business. The growing

population does not mean growing markets unless these markets have sufficient purchasing

power. Also, marketer does need to understand some of the key characteristics of the

demographic profile of the country. Like India have 933 females for 1000 males.

2) Age :- National population vary in their age mix. In India the median age is 25 years.

However as per census of India age is distributed as shown in the following table :-

S No. Age groups Persons Males Females

1 All ages 1,028,610,328 532,156,772 496,453,556

2 0-9 238,763,954 123,854,445 114,909,509

3 10-14 124,846,858 65,632,877 59,213,981

4 15-19 100,215,890 53,939,991 46,275,899

5 20-24 89,764,132 46,321,150 43,442,982

6 25-29 83,422,393 41,557,546 41,864,847

7 30-34 74,274,044 37,361,916 36,912,128

8 35-39 70,574,085 36,038,727 34,535,358

9 40-44 55,738,297 29,878,715 25,859,582

10 45-49 47,408,976 24,867,886 22,541,090

11 50-54 36,587,559 19,851,608 16,735,951

12 55-59 27,653,347 13,583,022 14,070,325

13 60-64 27,516,779 13,586,347 13,930,432

8/3/2019 IMM Term Paper

2/4

14 65-69 19,806,955 9,472,103 10,334,852

15 70-74 14,708,644 7,527,688 7,180,956

16 75-79 6,551,225 3,263,209 3,288,016

3) Income :- Macroeconomic indicators of the country provide the overall health of the

economy as well as the direction of the economic growth. A marketer needs to understand the

distribution of income to reach more meaningful conclusions about taking specific decisions.

Income distribution in India is as follows :-

No. of students pursuing management course fall under which Income group has to be

determined.

4) Geographic Characteristics :- Basically the region wise segmentation is done here.

The segment undertaken for study is the students pursuing higher education & this category

would lie in every segment of the demography be it middle class, upper class & lower class. The

factors associated with such a segment are:

1.) High level of education2.) High level of occupation3.) Essential for future growth4.) More geographically widespread

This particular category is varied in terms of consumption as compared to other segments &

they prefer high end domestic products or upper end international products which are

generally produced locally.

The demographic profiling in any society works like a Maslows need hierarchy model with

resigned people at the bottom end & successful people at top end having different needs

driving consumer behavior.

1.)Destitutes- Really poor, Struggling for survival

2.)Aspirants-Goal is to improve lifestyle & escape hardship

Income class/ fig in millions

Household Estimated population Household Estimated population

Rich 1.2 7 5.2 30

Consuming Class 32.5 186 75.5 432

Climbers 54.1 312.2 81.7 472

Aspirants 44 253.9 20.2 117

Destitue 33 190.4 16.5 95

1995-1996 2006-2007

8/3/2019 IMM Term Paper

3/4

3.)Climbers-Security, Social acceptance

4.)Consuming Class-Status, envy & success is important

5.)Rich-Achievement, recognition

Methodology Used

Methodology used is basically secondary research from various databases, journals & reports.

Limitations

1.)Too much dependency on secondary research & lack of updated & accurate data.

2.)Sample size can also be a limitation to the study.

3.)Wide demographics & similar characteristics among various demographic segments.

Conclusion

Demographic segmentation can help various companies in better understanding of the

consumers in the market. It helps various firms to specify their target market. The firms can

even opt for varied products for various consumer segments to capture larger mkt share.

Rich

Consuming Class

Climbers

Aspirants

Destitutes

8/3/2019 IMM Term Paper

4/4

References

www.censusindia.gov.in

www.ibef.org

www.investindia.gov.in

http://www.censusindia.gov.in/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/http://www.ibef.org/http://www.ibef.org/http://www.ibef.org/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/