Why it is difficult to sell personal indulgence to middle class India

Personal space remains an elitist concept for most of us. We are born into two bedroom pigeon-hole apartments where we have to share our room, including the toilet with our siblings or our grandparents. The symbols of indulgence like a colour TV is also shared with the entire family at the common comforts of a drawing room. No wonder we are yet to have a single adult channel.

Similarly, as we grow up, our life in a hostel is spent in the ambit of common, shared space. We eat in the common mess, watch TV in the common room, use common toilets, common libraries and common games room.

Our travail with space continues, when we join the corporate world. This time we choose our own apartments but still need to share the rent, the electricity bill and even the cost of running the household with our roomies.

Even when we get married, the so called personal space still eludes us. The wife takes place of our roomies. From the toilet to the TV, the sharing continues.

Resulting in a unique apathy towards self gratification

Because we don’t understand the concept of personal space, we don’t seem to appreciate the concept of personal indulgence either, which is tagged as either Hedonistic; Debauchery; Irresponsible; Wasteful.

Still today, in predominant Indian households, the Indian wives never address their husbands by their names; the husbands are always addressed in the third person as Ai Jee, Suniye Jee or Bittu ke papa (which translated in English means ‘Excuse Me’ or ‘Hello’ or even Bittu’s father). Because, in the typical joint family fabric of Indian families , the wife has always been considered as an outsider temptress who, with her youthful charm and beauty, has the power to snatch away the son from the rest of the family. As a result to keep the family structure intact, the strategy has been to inject formality to create a certain distance and keep the marriage role-based, instead of an intimate relationship between two individuals. So the wife is an acquisition for the family and not a partner or companion for the husband.

Indian Collectivism - Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

India, with a score of 48, is a society with clear collectivistic traits, where to be rejected by one’s peers or to be thought lowly of by one’s extended and immediate in-groups, leaves him or her rudderless and with a sense of intense emptiness.

In our social fabric the I never precedes the WE. Since childhood two things are ingrained in our system: family > self interest. Happiness of the Family = Happiness of the self. And whenever, in the middle-class context, the I > WE, we get into a moral guilt trip.

So how to sell personal indulgence to such an averse group?

The same product can be used by different people with absolutely different reasons on the basis of the cultural sensibilities that they represent. Eg. Sony Walkman. The reason why the Western world lapped it up was because it allowed one to listen to music without being interrupted by others. A clear case of I >WE. But Nobutoshi Kihara had invented it for very different reason; so that one could listen to music without disturbing others. A clear case of WE>I.

There are social filters through which indulgences are accepted: Either they are enjoyed collectively or they have a strong social sanctioning (at times even both).

Slight recalibration of product positioning for better middle-class connect

Purchase of a brand new colour TV: the medium of collective home entertainment which is way cheaper than outside entertainment, like going out to watch a movie or a play. It works pretty well in a pessimistic economy with the Indian rupee nose diving.

Upgrading to a car from a two-wheeler: First step for a family extension in either marriage or the arrival of a new kid. Justifications is that it’s never safe to travel with an expecting wife or kid on a two-wheeler. Even bulky SUVs should be sold as family vehicles that have the space to accommodate every family member without leaving behind anyone (even the dog), rather than mean machines to satisfy individual egos

Purchase of a computer or laptop: a computer or a laptop is still considered as an educational device more than an entertainment device. Rationalize its purchase as the must needed edu-tool for the precocious child. Even as an entry point for the grandparents to stay in touch with their kids or grandkids staying out of town.

In a nutshell, any personal indulgence product will sell anywhere in India as long as we position it as an adhesive that binds the great Indian family together rather than a Western influence that threatens to break the social fabric.

Ayan Banik is head of brand strategy at Cheil India.