Who Are The People Who Buy Cars?

Who are the people who buy cars? E

XACTLY. Who are the people who buy cars? What are their incomes like? What consumer durables do they own? These were some of the other aspects that were examined by Indica Research while conducting Project Beatle – the study on buying a car – for Business Line. Most consumer research starts with the socio-economic classification, the system that slots people

into different categories based on a combination of several parameters such as income, education level and so on. Project Beatle was no different. A majority of the respondents came from the SEC A classification, with just over 50 per cent of them coming under the SEC A1 segment. Typically, people in the A1 segment have a post-graduate or professional degree and are business people,

self-employed professionals or corporate executives. Some of those in this classification may have only a graduate degree, but meet the other parameters, such as occupation and income, of the SEC A1 segment. And while 26 per cent belonged to the SEC A2 segment, 22 per cent were in the SEC B1 classification Income was another area that was examined in some detail. The average monthly household income (MHI) across the five cities surveyed was Rs 16,487. The highest average MHI was in New Delhi – Rs 18,138 while the lowest was in Hyderabad – Rs 14,490. The largest chunk of respondents, 21 per cent, fell in the Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 MHI bracket, while only seven per cent crossed the Rs 25,000 mark. Most of the car owners\prospective owners surveyed, 82 per cent to be precise, were males, and the

Socio-economic profile of respondents 80 A2

A1

(%)

B1

60

40

20

0

All

Del

Mum

Chn

Blr

Hyd

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Monthly household income 30 Hyd

Blr

Chn

Mum

Del

25

(%)

All

Avg MHI : Rs. 16,487

20 15 10

Graphic by J. A .P r e m

5

k um a r

0 Rs. 7,001 10,000

Rs. 10,001 - Rs. 12,501 - Rs. 15,001 - Rs. 17,001 - Rs. 20,001 - Rs. 25,001 12,500 15,000 17,000 20,000 25,000 50,000

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Age of respondents 40 35

(%)

Hyd

Blr

Chn

Mum

Del

All

30 25 20 15 10 5 0

18 - 25 yrs 26 - 30 yrs. 31 - 35 yrs. 36 - 40 yrs. 41 - 45 yrs. 46 - 50 yrs.

51 + yrs

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Urban Pulse ✦ Business Line ✦ June 2001 39

Daily

What media habits are like – Newspapers

Occupation of respondents 80

100

Self employed professionals

(%) All

Businessmen Salaried employees

60

News

(%)

Mum

Del

Hyd

Blr

Chn

75

50

40

20

0

All

Del

Mum

Chn

Blr

Hyd

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Durables car buyers have 100 All 80

Del

Chn

Mum

Hyd

Blr (%)

60

40

20

0 Telephone

2 Wheelers

21" TV

165 Litres refrigerator

4 Wheelers (i.e. cars)

Washing Air cooler Machine semi automatic

Hi-Fi Music System with CD

Cellphone

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Credit cards owned 70 All

60

Mum

Del

Chn

Blr

Hyd

(%)

50 40 30 20 10 0 Citibank cards

StanChart cards

SBI

ANZ

Others

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents. 40 Urban Pulse ✦ Business Line ✦ June 2001

average age of the respondents was just under 38 years. A significant proportion of the respondents, 21 per cent, were between 26 and 30 years old. However, in all cities except Mumbai, a greater proportion of the respondents came in the 36 to 40 years age group, perhaps a reflection of the increased usage of two-wheelers in this age group in these cities. And when it comes to occupation, the honours were evenly split between business people and salaried employees, with each group accounting for 41 per cent of the respondents, while selfemployed professionals accounted for the remaining 18 per cent. Not surprisingly, telephones (89 per cent), accounted for the most significant item on the list of durables owned by the respondents. Next came two-wheelers at 76 per cent. In fact, two-wheelers were owned by over 75 per cent of the respondents in all the cities except Mumbai, where the figure was a much lower 53 per cent. Among the different brands of twowheelers owned, models from the Bajaj stable account for the largest proportion, 34 per cent, with vehicles from Hero Honda coming next at 21 per cent. And most of the respondents stay in independent houses (62 per cent) which they own (83 per cent). Approximately 14 per cent of the respondents employ a driver, while 24 per cent employee a cook. Credit cards appear to have made significant inroads into the Indian market, with 38 per cent of the respondents owning a credit\debit card. And while

respondents in Mumbai top this segment at 46 per cent, exactly half this proportion (23 per cent) own a credit card in Hyderabad. Among the credit card brands, Citibank is the first choice of a significant 38 per cent of the respondents who own a credit card. It is also the most popular brand in Bangalore, where 61 per cent rank it number one and in New Delhi where it finds favour with 44 per cent and also in Mumbai (28 per cent) and Chennai (39 per cent). However, Hyderabad has some good news for the State Bank of India (SBI), with 30 per cent of the card-owning respondents in the city possessing an SBI Card. A significant 36 per cent of the respondents owned other card brands such as Visa, Master Card, BOB Card and so on. The study also found that the media is a significant part of the lives of the respondents in all the cities, with television making a huge impact. While 84 per cent of the respondents watch TV regularly, 72 per cent read newspapers and 63 per cent read magazines. The media habits are more or less uniform across cities, except Hyderabad where figures for all three media are rather low. The media usage patterns, especially the TV channels viewed indicate a greater tilt toward entertainment, with news-based programming coming further down the list of preferences. An interesting entrant on the list of magazines read is Reader’s Digest, read by 10 per cent of the respondents across the country. It is most popular in Mumbai and Chennai, 22 per cent and 16 per cent respectively. ■

25

0 The Times of India

The New Indian Express

The Hindu

The Hindustan Times

Business Line

Asian Age

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents. Daily

News

What media habits are like – Magazines 100 (%) All

Mum

Del

Chn

Blr

Business India

Femina

Hyd

75

50

25

0 India Today

Outlook

The Week

Business Today

The Sportstar

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.

Daily

News

What media habits are like – TV Channels 100 (%) All

Del

Mum

Blr

Chn

Hyd

75

50

25

0 STAR Plus

Zee TV

Sony TV

Zee Cinema

STAR Sports

ESPN

MTV

STAR Movies

Discovery National Channel Geographic

In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents. Urban Pulse ✦ Business Line ✦ June 2001 41