Indian youngsters have been the cynosure of all marketers for obvious reasons. High disposable income has given youngsters the power to splurge on things where it can be difficult to justify the price tag.
Branded apparel is one such category where the price tag more often than not is not justifiable after seeing the products. Well, until you see the label that is. Call it status symbol (show off), brand loyalty, quality, branded apparel has a striking appeal especially when it comes to youngsters.
Apparently, the section of youngsters with little or no disposable income of their own (teenagers basically who don’t have income of their own) also have a fascination with branded apparels and they do not think twice before spending their allowance / pocket money on buying these expensive apparels.
It came to light as Assocham released the findings of their survey of 2000 youngsters (13-21 years) to evaluate their apparel purchasing power. Some of the key findings from the survey,
- 35% of respondents (with both parents working) spend as much as Rs 5000 per month on branded apparels. For them, it is the brand and not the price that matters.
- 20% of the total respondents spend approximately Rs 3500-4500 on buying branded apparels
- 60% of the respondents said that they have cluttered closets implying that they buy more than they wear. For youngsters, branded clothes are a symbol of staying ahead among their peers and means that they get their hands on latest ‘in-thing’ in the market whether they really need it or not
- Cinema stars, Sportspersons and models are role model for Indian youngsters when it come to branded apparels. No surprises here too as youngsters are influenced by these celebrities and go their way in emulating their screen idols. With a lot of teenagers hooked to the internet, i think it has become much easier to follow these fashion icons and the latest in fashion
- In terms of brand preference, Levis emerged the top favorite for the casual wear category followed by Lee, Wrangler, Flying Machine and Pepe. Nike came on top with the top branded footwear category followed by Adidas, Rebook and Puma
Going by these trends, its not the youth with high disposable income but youngsters with parents having high disposable income who love to splurge on wearing their Nike and Levis.
I wonder if marketers also invest in targeting the parents of these youngsters or the youngsters (13-20) have enough influence and purchasing power to buy branded apparels.
What are your thoughts on youngsters splurging on branded apparels?
jusss lovely information…lvd it.