About INgene blog : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog

About INgene : First ever Indian Youth trend Insights blog:
This blog explores the detailed characteristics of Young-India and explains the finer & crucial differences they have with their global peers. The blog also establishes the theory of “adopted differentiation” (Copyright Kaustav SG,2007) and how the Indian & Inglodian youth are using this as a tool to differentiate themselves from the “aam aadmi” (mass population of India) to establish their new found identity.

The term youth refers to persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. Used colloquially, however the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference- from the physically adolescent to those in their late twenties.
Though superficially the youth all over the world exhibits similar [degree of] attitude, [traits of] interests & [deliverance of] opinion but a detailed observation reveals the finer differential characteristics which are crucial and often ignored while targeting this group as a valued consumer base. India is one of the youngest countries in the world with 60% of its population less then 24 years of age and is charted as the most prospective destination for the retail investment in the A. T. Kearney’s Global Retail Opportunity Report, 2007. With the first ever non-socialistic generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 250million (between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five) and can be broadly divided (socio-psychologically) into three categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural (R1, R2 to R4 SEC) areas with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5% (A, B,C, D & E SEC) and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the creamy layers (A1,A SEC) and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they are strongly growing (70% growth rate). Inglodians are affluent and consume most of the trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart.








Monday, November 15, 2010

GenNext is not all about moolah- Time of India report

India's urban whiz kids may be quite different in reality from the picture many of us may have of spoilt brats who spend hours on the internet and the rest of their time splurging on movies and the like. They may also not be as money-obsessed in theircareer aspirations as they are often made out to be.

A survey of 10,000 children from classes VIII to XII or ages 12 to 18 spread across 11 cities in India has found that over 60% spend on average less than an hour a day on the net and 83% get less than Rs 1,000 a month as pocket money, about two-thirds getting less than Rs 500.

Interestingly, when it comes to career aspirations, the thing most kids wanted from their jobs was new skills, followed by an interesting workplace. A good salary came third in the list of considerations they had. So much for the much-lamented materialism of the new generation.

The choice of careers too is quite different from a generation ago. While IT and engineering were cited among the choices by about 80%, what was revealing was that medicine (39%) is now way down in the pecking order, below even government service (46%). The third preference is media & entertainment (64%).

A survey of 10,000 children from classes VIII to XII or ages 12 to 18 spread across 11 cities in India has found that the kids may not be as money-obsessed in their career aspirations as they are often made out to be. Over 60% spend on average less than an hour a day on the net and 83% get less than Rs 1,000 a month as pocket money, about two-thirds getting less than Rs 500.

The survey was conducted among children predominantly from English-medium schools in Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar. It was conducted by TCS among those who participate in its IT Wiz quiz contest every year. To that extent, the survey reflects a particular kind of child, but the trends do perhaps tell us something about the bigger picture.

What was particularly interesting in the survey findings was the fact that the responses from those from the relatively smaller cities were almost identical to those from the bigger metros.

Over two-thirds of the students said they would like to go abroad to study at some point and here the figure (74%) was significantly higher for the mini-metros than for the metros (66%), a pointer to the growing aspirations in the smaller cities. Also, while a generation ago, most would have thought of doing their post-graduation abroad, now a majority want to do their graduation or even their high school abroad.

While the home remains the primary point of access for the internet, cyber cafes and mobile phones too are used for getting on to the net by over 50% in each case. Not surprisingly, 85% say they are on some social networking site or the other, the vast majority naming several.

As you would expect of students of this profile, about four-fifths have computers at home as well as mobile phones, but what might be less obvious is the finding that almost two-thirds also have a digital camera and an iPod or other digital music player. For those fond of stereotypes, here is one that finally seems to be true: GenNext is indeed as gizmo-crazy as all have believed it is.


A discussion on this at Yahoo

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