Who are the people self-employed professionals or cor-

porate executives. Some of those in

this classification may have only a Socio-economic profile of respondents

who buy cars?

graduate degree, but meet the other
80
parameters, such as occupation and A1 A2 B1
(%)
income, of the SEC A1 segment.
And while 26 per cent belonged to 60
the SEC A2 segment, 22 per cent
were in the SEC B1 classification
Income was another area that 40
was examined in some detail. The
average monthly household income
20

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 classifica-
tion, the system that slots people
into different categories based on a (MHI) across the five cities sur-
combination of several parameters veyed was Rs 16,487. The highest
such as income, education level and average MHI was in New Delhi –
0
so on. Project Beatle was no differ- Rs 18,138 while the lowest was in All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd
ent. Hyderabad – Rs 14,490. The largest
A majority of the respondents chunk of respondents, 21 per cent, In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.
came from the SEC A classification, fell in the Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000
with just over 50 per cent of them MHI bracket, while only seven per
coming under the SEC A1 segment. cent crossed the Rs 25,000 mark.
Typically, people in the A1 segment Most of the car owners\prospec-
have a post-graduate or profession- tive owners surveyed, 82 per cent to Monthly household income
al degree and are business people, be precise, were males, and the 30
Hyd Blr Chn Mum Del All (%)
25
Avg MHI : Rs. 16,487

20

15

10

Graphic by 5
J. A .P r e m
k um a r
0
Rs. 7,001 - Rs. 10,001 - Rs. 12,501 - Rs. 15,001 - Rs. 17,001 - Rs. 20,001 - Rs. 25,001 -
10,000 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
(%) Hyd Blr Chn Mum Del All
35

30

25

20

15

10

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
News

What media habits are like

Occupation of respondents
– Newspapers
80 100
Self employed (%) (%)
professionals All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd
Businessmen
75
60 Salaried
employees

50
40

average age of the respondents was respondents in Mumbai top this 25

20
just under 38 years. A significant segment at 46 per cent, exactly half
proportion of the respondents, 21 this proportion (23 per cent) own a
0
0 per cent, were between 26 and 30 credit card in Hyderabad. Among The Times The New Indian The Hindu The Hindustan Asian Age Business Line
All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd of India Express Times
years old. However, in all cities the credit card brands, Citibank is
except Mumbai, a greater propor- the first choice of a significant 38
In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents. In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.
tion of the respondents came in the per cent of the respondents who
36 to 40 years age group, perhaps a own a credit card. It is also the most
reflection of the increased usage of popular brand in Bangalore, where Daily
News
two-wheelers in this age group in 61 per cent rank it number one and
these cities. in New Delhi where it finds favour What media habits are like
Durables car buyers have And when it comes to occupa- with 44 per cent and also in
tion, the honours were evenly split Mumbai (28 per cent) and Chennai
– Magazines
100 100
All Del Chn Blr
between business people and (39 per cent). However, Hyderabad (%)
Mum Hyd (%)
salaried employees, with each has some good news for the State All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd
80
group accounting for 41 per cent of Bank of India (SBI), with 30 per cent 75

60
the respondents, while self- of the card-owning respondents in
employed professionals accounted the city possessing an SBI Card. A
50
40 for the remaining 18 per cent. significant 36 per cent of the
Not surprisingly, telephones (89 respondents owned other card
20 per cent), accounted for the most brands such as Visa, Master Card, 25
significant item on the list of BOB Card and so on.
0 durables owned by the respon- The study also found that the
Telephone 2 Wheelers 21" TV 165 Litres 4 Wheelers Washing Air cooler Hi-Fi Music Cellphone 0
refrigerator (i.e. cars) Machine - System dents. Next came two-wheelers at media is a significant part of the India Today Outlook The Week Business Today Business India Femina The Sportstar
semi automatic with CD
76 per cent. In fact, two-wheelers lives of the respondents in all the
were owned by over 75 per cent of cities, with television making a In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.
In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.
the respondents in all the cities huge impact. While 84 per cent of
except Mumbai, where the figure the respondents watch TV regular-
Daily
was a much lower 53 per cent. ly, 72 per cent read newspapers and News
Among the different brands of two- 63 per cent read magazines. The
wheelers owned, models from the media habits are more or less uni- What media habits are like
Credit cards owned Bajaj stable account for the largest form across cities, except
– TV Channels
proportion, 34 per cent, with vehi- Hyderabad where figures for all 100
70
(%)
cles from Hero Honda coming next three media are rather low. The (%)
All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd
60 All Del Mum Chn Blr Hyd at 21 per cent. And most of the media usage patterns, especially
respondents stay in independent the TV channels viewed indicate a 75
50
houses (62 per cent) which they greater tilt toward entertainment,
40 own (83 per cent). Approximately with news-based programming 50
30
14 per cent of the respondents coming further down the list of
employ a driver, while 24 per cent preferences. An interesting entrant
20 25
employee a cook. on the list of magazines read is
10 Credit cards appear to have Reader’s Digest, read by 10 per cent
made significant inroads into the of the respondents across the coun- 0
0 STAR Plus ESPN STAR
Indian market, with 38 per cent of try. It is most popular in Mumbai Zee TV Sony TV Zee STAR MTV Discovery National
Citibank cards StanChart cards SBI ANZ Others Cinema Sports Movies Channel Geographic
the respondents owning a and Chennai, 22 per cent and 16 per
In some cases column totals may not add up to 100 per cent as multiple responses were elicited from respondents.
credit\debit card. And while cent respectively. ■ 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 Urban Pulse ✦ Business Line ✦ June 2001 41