Introduction:

Mumbai is a city of diverse cultures and various communities. Each of them has their own set of traditions, patterns and beliefs. The varied culture has an impact on the jewellery preferences with respect to the design and the purchases of the jewellery. I started my project with the study of various communities in depth and their jewellery preferences. I tried to find out the buying behavior and the jewellery preferences by interviewing many people of different communities. I went to many competitors brand of Tanishq to research on various parameters. I covered Dadar, Bandra, Andheri, Juhu, Malls, Zaveri bazaar, Kemps corner, Ghatkopar. I visited showrooms like: The diamond factory, Razwada, Orra, Carbon, The Notandas, Kiah jewels, Popley, Varuna d jani, Amrapali, Roopa vohra, Tribhuvandas Bhimji Zaveri, Mahesh Notandas. I also visited Vaman hari pethe and Reliance jewels. I got the knowledge of various things like the type of product they keep, price, communities of people visiting there, their promotion strategies with reference to the schemes and offerings. I also visited few jewellery designers dealing with diamonds and antiques. Then I visited various malls like Rcity mall, Shoppers stop, Big bazaar, Pheonix mall. There I interviewed many people in order to find out whether people purchase jewellery at malls. There are 6 main communities i.e. Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Marwari, Muslim, South Indian. I took the interview of almost 40 people from each community. Few interviews were taken to find out their culture in detail. Few of them was to know the jewellery purchasing behavior. Then I visited few markets like Gandhi market, Sion market and Dharavi. People there were very co operative. It became easy for me to interview them. I met few customers of tanishq in order to have their feedback. Many were very hard core loyal to Tanishq. Few customers found that Tanishq was very costly but the designs were very unique. Few relied on Tanishq because it is a Tata brand. Just for the Trust factor people prefer other local brands than tanishq.

Community study: South Indians: They generally prefer plain gold and simple designs. They are very particular about their designs and hence prefer family jeweler or some jeweler from their hometown. Their main festivals are Onam, Pongal, Diwali, New year Vishu and Dassera. They purchase maximum jewellery during the weddings (eg. 101 tola gold). I interviewed nearly 35 - 40 people. They take diamonds only if their grandfather uses them and it is in their tradition. Their design depicts more of horoscope designs. Their jewellery consists of necklace, long gold chains, earrings, stomach belts, baju band.

Gujarati: They prefer more of diamond studded jewellery with different designs and variety. They prefer any familiar jeweler whose designs are unique and have low prices. They generally prefer semi precious stones, polka, uncut diamonds. Their main festivals are Navratri, Paryushan, Diwali, Mahavir jayanti. They purchase jewellery from big brands like Tanishq, Bharti jewelers, Sunil jewelers, Tribhuvandas bhimji zaveri and many more. They prefer purchasing jewellery during weddings. Their jewellery consists of necklace, ring, earring, baju band, bindi. Muslims: They prefer more of gold jewellery. Most of their designs include leafs and flowers. Their jewellery has mina kari work. Their jewellery is very different from others. I found it very difficult to meet people and interview them because they are very shy and do not respond easily. Somehow I managed to get interview of Muslim people when I visited dharavi and sion area. Their main festivals are Ramzan, Id, Bakri id, Shabi barat, Eid Milan. They frequently purchase jewellery during festivals. Their jewellery consists of mainly shaugband, jhumar, pauzab, nathni, bindi. Maharashtrians: They generally prefer pure gold jewellery. They purchase jewellery either from their family jeweler or from big brands. Many prefer those showrooms which are just specialized in their type of gold jewellery. They purchase from popley, vaman hari pethe. Ladies are very particular about their jewellery which they have to wear after their marriage. Their jewellery includes Mangalsutra corel, jodvi, bangle, earrings. They generally do not purchase diamonds since it does not suit them. So they bring diamond jewellery for 8 days and see if it suits them and then purchase. Their main festivals are gudi padwa, mangla garh, akshay truitiya, diwali, dassera. They have the tradition of purchasing gold coin during akshay truitiya and dassera.

Punjabis: They generally prefer gold with stones, kundan, diamonds. Their designs are very huge. Their main festivals are diwali, baisakhi, karva chowth. They purchase jewellery during karva chowth. Their jewellery consists of necklace, rings and earrings. They dont mind spending money for purchasing gold and diamonds. They prefer any branded shop where they find designs suitable. Marwaris: They generally prefer gold studded with stones, diamonds. Ladies wear very delicate kind of jewellery. Their main festivals are diwali, dassera. Their jewellery mainly consists of necklace, earrings, rings, payal, belt. They purchase major jewellery during weddings. They spend money more on purchasing gold biscuits and diamonds. Research Methodology used: Exploratory Research (Questionnaires, Surveys, Interviews, Observation method)

People purchasing jewellery from malls Yes no 26%

74%

50 40 30 20 10 0 Purchasing from malls visiting tanishq No Yes

Yes No

People visiting Tanishq

Yes

No

39% 61%

No
great variety 2% Prefer local dealers 15% costly 8% familiar with the brand 31%

Dont know 44%

Prefer other brand than tanishq 5%

Yes

Have problems with the cost, design, gold quality 25%

Variety and designs 40%

it is a Tata brand, hence, more reliable 8%

Customer of tanishq 13% Familiar with the brand 9%