Trust in advertising up by 4 per cent this year: Synovate survey

As per the Synovate PAX Media Survey 2006, India’s affluent spend on goods and products that make a personal statement. Therefore, they tend to splurge on designer clothes, jewellery and digital products such as digital cameras and DVD players. They also spend on various fitness methods, although this is still catching on.

Going by Steve Garton, Synovate’s global head of media, India’s elite residents are being choosy about what they spend on. The affluent of India spend on quality contemporary products, indulging in more leisure travel, turning sporty and battling the bulge.

If one looks at the purchase intentions of affluent Indians, buying a new car is at the top of the shopping list, followed by state-of-the-art electronic products such as LCD/plasma television sets and laptops/notebooks. “Interestingly, as noticed across the Asia-Pacific region, India, too, sees a substantial increase in leisure and pleasure activities,” says Garton. “Elite Indians have become more outdoor focused with cinema, music concerts and sports consuming a major chunk of their time.”

The study throws up some interesting India-specific product and service ownership, purchase intention and lifestyle facts, covering the period from June 2005 to June 2006. India’s affluent have shown an increase in their leisure travel. During the period, affluent Indians who took one or more leisure trips increased by 16 per cent from 3.2 – 3.7 per cent. The number of people taking three or more leisure trips saw an increase of a whopping 200 per cent, from 0.1 – 0.3 per cent.

India’s elite owning handheld PCs or personal digital assistants (PDAs) has seen a jump from 3.2 per cent to 6.7 per cent – a growth of 109 per cent. Ownership of mobile phones with Internet access has grown from 12.3 per cent to 13.7 per cent. India has shown growth in ownership of digital still cameras and digital video cameras, both having grown over the last year to 16.5 per cent and 14.3 per cent, respectively. The ownership of LCDs or plasma television sets has grown from 1.7 per cent to 3.5 per cent – an impressive106 per cent increase.

Elite Indians have shown a higher ownership of DVD Players – up from 25 per cent to 35.7 per cent, a 43 per cent growth. Those who own luxury jewellery now stand at 17 per cent of affluent Indians.

The yo-yo effect of the stock market this year shows that the number of affluent Indians dabbling in stocks/securities or bonds has come down by a large degree – showing a decrease from 14.3 per cent to 10.7 per cent. Ownership of luxury goods has seen an increase from 15 per cent to 19 per cent.

India’s affluent are turning health conscious and fighting obesity to the hilt. The number of people who go jogging/walking has seen a 120 per cent increase, whereas those who go to the gym have increased by 300 per cent – from 0.1 per cent to 0.3 per cent. Further, those who take to swimming have gone up from 0.4 per cent to 1.4 per cent, which is a 250 per cent rise.

Golfing has also experienced significant growth among elite Indian residents. There has been a healthy 200 per cent increase in those who watch or play golf – from 0.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent.

The study delves into people’s attitudes to brands and advertising via a series of psychographic statements. Trust in advertising has grown by 4 per cent over the PAX period and 28 per cent of India’s affluent now agree that they have great trust in products they have seen advertised. Affluent Indians enjoying the fun of shopping has fallen to 48 per cent from the earlier 58 per cent. India’s fascination with all things designer may be fading with the number of people agreeing that they prefer to buy designer goods and brands decreasing by 19 per cent, to 32.5 per cent.

For the record, this study tracks media, prosperity and influence in 11 markets across the Asia Pacific region – Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India, Australia and Japan. The Synovate PAX Survey allows marketers to get a full picture of India’s affluent consumers – what they watch, read, buy and how they feel about advertising and branding – thus enabling the marketers to target their marketing efforts more accurately.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!