Tee Trends and The Socio Psychological Influences

Social psychology of Youth in India and its impact
in the fashion and pricing trends of Tee shirts
By:
Kaustav SenGupta
www.ingene.blogspot.com
www.ingeneinsights.com
by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 1

Contents:
Acknowledgement 3
Theoretical Framework of the research 3
Key Points 3
Research methodology 4
Abstract 4
Introducing ‘new’ India and its global significance 6
Retail trends in India 10
The significance of ‘young India’ in global work force 12
Overall understanding of youth in India 13
The spread of Youth 15
Socio-Economic Background and Education 16
Social psychological traits of youth in India 16
Spending Pattern 26
Average (weekly) spends of Youth in India 26
Spends on key Categories 27
The Urban Youth 28
Understanding Commonalities 29
Tee shirt as a tool to understand the social psychological and socio-economic trend 29
Introduction to Tee Shirt 29
Brief history of Tee shirt 30
International socio-psychological influences in Tee shirts 31
Focus group study, Analysis and inferences 32
Photo representations of the Tee trends in India and analysis

of the social psychological influences 43
Trend inferences 55
Tee shirts as a tool to understand the changing scenarios

and analysis of the social psychological influences 55
Conclusion 57
Bibliography 58

“Human beings have always used their appearance as personal advertising - a calling card
signaling who we are and where we are at. As our world grows ever more complex and
fragmented, the importance of appearance grows ever greater: our visible differences and
similarities facilitating interaction and relationships….”
- Ted Polhemus
Acknowledgement:
My gratitude to the survey respondents who gave their valued time to attend the interview and
attended the focus group survey.
My thanks to the NID alumni and designer Niel Dentas for providing me with photos of his most
sold tee shirt collections.
My special thanks to my research guide Ted Polhemus (www.tedpolhemus.com) for his invaluable
guidance in all my researches about Youth Culture analysis and insights in India.
Theoretical Framework of the research:

The research will be guided mostly by the theory of conspicuous consumption by Vablen’s theory
of Leisure class, study by Barnard (1996- differentiation of fashion and clothing), Brenninkmeyer’s
(1963) of mode, clothing, dress, costume, customs, color psychologies, Gastalt’s theory and Ted
Polhemus’s (1994, 1995) explanations about style, customs and adornments. It will also be guided
by the Theories and applications of human psychology.
Key Points:
India, Youth in India, Youth social psychology, Fashion, Trends, Tee shirt trends.
Research Methodology:
1. Study and Analysis of available/ sourced primary and secondary data and product
information
2. Selection of consumer study method
3. Selection of target samples for the focus group study
4. Conducting focus group study and analysis
5. Comparison of available data and analysis
6. Deriving research inference

7. Understanding the changing scenarios and analysis of the social psychological influences to
establish Tee shirt as a social psychological trend identification tool.
Abstract:
The term youth refers to persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. Used colloquially,
however the term generally refers to a broader, more ambiguous field of reference- from the
physically adolescent to those in their late twenties.
Though superficially the youth all over the world exhibits similar [degree of] attitude, [traits of]
interests & [deliverance of] opinion but a detailed observation reveals the finer differential
characteristics which are crucial and often ignored while targeting this group as a valued
consumer base. India is one of the youngest countries in the world (and becoming younger) with
270 million individuals in 13 to 24 years age group (Businessworld Marketing Whitebook 2010-
2011) and is charted as the most prospective destination for the retail investment in the A. T.
Kearney’s Global Retail Opportunity Report, 2007. With the first ever non-socialistic
generation’s thriving aspiration & new found money power combined with steadily growing
GDP, bubbling IT industry and increasing list of confident young entrepreneurs, the scenario
appears very lucrative for the global and local retailers to target the “Youngisthan” (young-
India). But, the secret remains in the understanding of the finer AIOs (Attitude, Interests and
Opinion) of this generation. The Indian youth segment roughly estimates close to 533 million
between the ages of 13 and 39 years; can be broadly divided (socio-psychologically) into three
categories: the Bharatiyas, the Indians & the Inglodians (copyright Kaustav SG 2008). The
Bharatiyas estimating 67% of the young population lives in the rural (R1, R2 to R4 SEC) areas
with least influence of globalization, high traditional values. They are least economically
privileged, most family oriented Bollywood influenced generation. The Indians constitute 31.5%
(A, B,C, D & E SEC) and have moderate global influence. They are well aware of the global
trends but rooted to the Indian family values, customs and ethos. The Inglodians are basically the
creamy layers (A1,A SEC) and marginal (1.5% or roughly three million) in number though they
are strongly growing (70% growth rate). In’glo’dians are affluent and consume most of the
trendy & luxury items. They are internet savvy & the believers of global-village (a place where
there is no difference between east & west, developing & developed countries etc.), highly
influenced by the western music, food, fashion & culture yet Indian at heart.
This research will primarily cover a selected focus group of youth in India (In’glo’dians) to
identify the micro traits of differences in lifestyle, consumer behavior and various socio-
psychological influences which largely effects the fashion trends in Tee to define their social
presence / identity.
The study will also explore Tee shirt as an important tool to understand the social
psychological and socio-economic trend among the youth in India.
Introducing ‘new’ India and its global significance:

Since early 1990s, India has witnessed great social, political and cultural change. As the world’s
largest democracy, it’s most diverse nation and one of the fastest growing economies, India is now,
sixty years after Independence, widely regarded as an emerging superpower. India’s gross domestic
product passed the trillion dollar mark. This is the first time in history that it has been valued so
high. But, the most interesting fact is that it will pass the next trillion-dollar mark in nine years at
most- by 2016 at the latest. And the composition of that second trillion dollar market will be very
different from that of the first.
The findings from the latest study, The Bird of Gold- The Raise of India’s Consumer Market
published by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), reveal that if India continues on its current high
growth path, over the next two decades the Indian market will undergo a major transformation.
Income levels will almost triple and India will climb from its position as the 12th largest
consumer market today to become the world’s fifth largest market by 2025. As Indian
incomes raise, over 291 million people will move from desperate poverty to a more sustainable life,
and India’s middle class will swell by over ten times from it’s current size of 50 million to 583
million people. By 2025, over 23 million Indians- more than the population of Australia today-
will number among the country’s wealthiest citizens. While much of this new wealth and
consumption will be created in urban areas, rural income growth will benefit too. Forecast for
India’s real GDP growth rate over the coming two decades generally range between 6 to 9 per cent
per year. MGI forecasts real compound annual growth of 7.3 percent from 2005-2025, a
marked acceleration from the 6 per cent growth of the previous two decades. In this growth
rate, average real household disposable income will grow from 113,744 Indian rupees in 2005
to 318,896 Indian rupees by 2025, a compound annual growth rate of 5.3 per cent. This is
significantly more rapid than the 3.6 per cent annual growth of the last two decades with the
exception of China, and much quicker than income growth in other major markets. For
example, US average real household income increased at a compound annual growth rate of
1.5 per cent over the past two decades; for Japan the figure was 0.25 per cent. Rising income
will create a 583 million-strong middle class. India’s raising real incomes have already had a
significant impact on poverty reduction. I
In 1985, 93 per cent of the population had an annual household income of less than 90,000 Indian
rupees, or less than $1,970 per year or $5.40 per day- an income bracket categorized as deprived.
By 2005, this had dropped by about two-fifths to 54 per cent of the population, with the biggest fall
occurring since 1995. Thus more than 103 million people moved out of desperate poverty in the
course of one generation. This is all more impressive given that India’s population grew by 352
million during this period. MGI’s forecast shows that overall economic growth will continue to
benefit India’s poorest citizens and that the deprived segment will further drop from 54 per cent of
the population in 2005 to 22 per cent by 2025. India will become the fifth largest consumer market
by 2025. The aggregate consumption in India will grow in real terms from 17 trillion Indian rupees
today to 34 trillion by 2015 and 70 trillion by 2025- a fourfold increase.
After income growth, the second largest factor driving India’s development as a consumer market
is its continued population growth. India’s strength has always been in numbers and today it is the
second only to China in this respect. However, China’s strict adoption of a one-child policy means
that India’s population is growing significantly faster by comparison.

Graph 1 Graph 2
Graph 3

Table 1
Table 2
Table 3

Graph 4 Graph 5
Table 4
Table 5
Table 6

Retail trends in India:
In the past few years, India’s retail journey seemed picture perfect with the most attractive ‘stops’
still unexploited and under-penetrated. Favorable demographics, steady economic growth easy
availability of credits, and large scale real estate developments were fuelling the growth of India’s
approximately USD 25 billion organized retail market.
The biggest categories in retail is food, ethnic apparel and mobile electronics.
Graph 6
Men’s wear is the biggest segment in Indian apparel market.

Graph 7

Graph 8 (Above left), Graph 9 (Above right), Graph 10 (immediate above)

The significance of ‘young India’ in global work force:
According to UN projections, India will overtake China to become most populous country in
the world by 2030. The rapid population growth will give India a youthful demographic
profile as its dependency ratio (the ratio of children and elderly to income earners) drop from
60 today to 48 by 2025. This signifies a rapidly growing labour force and quickly expanding
consumer base.
Between 2010-2030, India will add 241 Million people in working-age population (and that
means the children who are currently in our education system), Brazil will add around 18 million,
while China will add a meager 10 million people during the same time. So even with all the
drawbacks that India has, this particular Indian aspect is going to prove pivotal in making India the
world leader in coming years.
The demographic outlook for the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) could hardly be
more different. In terms of the demographic transition model, India is at the beginning of
stage three (declining fertility, population growth), Brazil and China are at stage four (low
mortality and fertility, population trending towards stability), while Russia is already at stage
five (sub-replacement-rate fertility, declining population). Not surprisingly, the differences in
the projected change in the working-age population the economically relevant variable are
very significant in both absolute and relative terms. [Source: DB Research]
The demographic developments in the BRICs over the next 10, 20, 30 years will vary greatly. This
will impact not only economic growth prospects, but also savings and investment behavior and
potentially if somewhat difficult to quantify financial market growth prospects.
India is demographically in a substantially more favorable position than China and Russia.Brazil’s
demographic window (defined here, non-technically, as a falling dependency ratio) will close
around 2020-25, while in China and Russia it is closing right now. India, by contrast, will enjoy a
very favorable demographic momentum for another three decades. So even though in current
scenario, India may not exactly be mentioned in the same breath as US, UK and China, the picture
in next couple of decades will be quite different.

Graph 11
Under current economic scenario, 2039 would have a world very different from the one we
see today. It would be significantly wealthier, with per capita incomes averaging $23,400 in
2007 dollars, nearly three times the $8,500 today. The economic centre of gravity would shift
to Asia, which today accounts for 21 percent of global activity, but by 2039 could account for
more than half. Three giant economies, China, India and Japan, would lead Asia’s
resurgence.
Overall understanding of Youth in India:

As per Sanjay Tiwari, CEO of FuxtConsult, the term ‘youth’ is very loosely defined and used in
India. While some interpret youth to represent the 13 -24 years olds, some others are seen to view
them as 19 -30 year olds, while some even go to the extent of broad-basing them between 19- 35
years. However, from a consumption and marketing perspective, one need to have more clearly
defined understanding of the term youth, especially since in marketing the ability to ‘independently
fund a consumption decision’ is as important as the possibility to make such an ‘independent
consumption decision’
Given the criticality of the ‘ability to fund independently consumption decisions’ in defining
customers, it is imperative that marketers learn to differentiate between the youth who are capable
of taking independent consumption decisions but not funding them independently, and the ones
who can. So, rather than going with a generic and vaguely defined single terminology of youth,
marketers must look separately at the young who are capable of funding their independent
consumption decision now (Generation Now) and the young who are not capable of independently
funding their consumption decision now but may be able to do so in next few years (Generation
Next).

Table 7
Youth Population Projections (in millions)
2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026

Age group
Total 1027 1114 1197 1275 1347 1411
Below 15 years 363 360 351 343 337 328
15-64 622 702 780 854 916 967
65+ 42 52 66 78 94 116
Source: Government of India, Economic Survey 2005-06, quoting Office of the Registrar General
of India
Table 8
Proportion of Youth Population by Region 2001:
15-19
Percentag
Percentage
e
Region to Total
to Youth
Population
Population
Northern9.51 30.12
N. 10.23 29.21
Eastern
Eastern 9.59 27.50
N. 1.01 31.87
Western
Western 10.00 28.21
Central 9.36 28.74
Southern9.91 27.89

20-24
Percentag
Percentage
Region e
to Total
to Youth
Population
Population
Northern8.08 25.62
N. 8.88 25.35
Eastern
Eastern 8.77 25.27
N. 8.89 26.76
Western
Western 9.29 26.22
Central 8.31 25.52
Southern9.24 26.0
25-34
Percentag
Region Percentagee
to Total
to Youth
Population
Population
Northern13.96 44.24
N. 15.91 45.42
Eastern
Eastern 16.39 47.22
N. 13.75 33.22
Western
Western 16.16 45.77
Central 14.89 45.73
Southern16.36 46.0
Note: Percentages are to the total and to the youth population of the region.
Source: Draft Youth in India Report, RGNIYD, 2007
Table 9
In the Indian context, where young people usually attain financial independence and stability
somewhat later, mainly in their 20s, one may take the young between 13-24 years mostly
representing the Generation Next and the young who are 25 years or more as part of Generation
Now.
If by and large generation next does not have any great ability to independently fund their
consumption preferences and decisions, should marketers look at them as a consumer group at all?
The answer is ‘Yes, by all means’ due to three significant reasons, viz. 1) even as dependent
members of their families these Indian youth represent a sizeable pie of discretionary ‘individual’
level consumption within the household; 2) they seem to have a lot of influence and say even at the
‘household ‘ level consumption, especially in case of products and services which fall i the modern
technology and lifestyle domain; 3) most importantly, they represent the market of ‘tomorrow’
and marketers who do not engage them would do so at the cost of their own future market
prospects.
With their own earnings and financial independence in the future, most Generation Next youth will
ultimately grow up to be the prime targeted consumers of tomorrow- the Generation Now of
tomorrow.
In term of sheer size, Generation Next is almost 270 million individuals strong out of the current
Indian population of 1.15billion, accounting for 23% of Indians. Also almost 17% of the
Generation Next youth are already the chief wage earners of their households (those who contribute
the maximum towards the monthly household expense in their house). At 263 million, Generation
Now (25- 39years)also accounts for an almost equal 23% of Indians.
It needs to be remembered here that just like ‘youth’ is not a single homogenous consumer group,
so is Generation Next. In fact, Generation Next is an amalgamation of two behaviorally distinct age
groups, 13-18 years old or ‘teenagers’ and 19-24 years old or ‘young adults’.
The spread of Youth:
Considering their zonal spread, nearly 39%(majority) of the 13-24 year olds reside in Northern
India, more so because at an overall level, Northern zone concentrates a major chunk of the Indian
population; the rest 19% are from southern and 21% each from eastern and western India. About a
fourth of them are from metros (27%) or smaller towns having population of less than one lakh and
accounting for another one fourth (26%) of them, thus posing a challenge for the marketers to look
beyond the metros (top 10 towns in India).
A 2008 Hansa research study titles YES! Youth: An Emerging Segment furnished the following
details:
1. Many households have only one young person ( 60%)- especially so in the East( 74%). In
the North, nearly half have 2 or more youth- mainly male youth.
2. Many households have a single earning member. More so in the East. in the West, more than half
have at least 2 earning members.
They live mainly with their family( 95%). Their families are largely nuclear families- with or
without elders. Those with elders are more in the North and those without are more in South. Joint
families are relatively more common in the West.
The minimum Household Income (MHIO is between Rs. 8000-20,000)
Most students get pocket money (92%) between Rs. 250 -1000. Rs.100- 500 is relatively more
than in South and East. Many get over Rs. 500 in the North. Men and older youth get relatively
more pocket money per month.
Some mothers work (9%). Many work full time; exception being the West where nearly half
work past time( 46% vs 29% otherwise).
Socio-Economic Background and Education:

Among this segment, 81% are single/ unmarried and almost 18% of them are married with children.
Although at an overall level, majority of the urban population comes from SEC ‘E’ households.
When we look at the Generation Next youth segment, SEC ‘C’ households form the single biggest
chunk of urban youth and 21% of the rural youth come from SEC R4 (lowest rural socio-economic
class) households.
In rural India 80% of the youth have completed their higher secondary / senior secondary, where as
in urban India 40% of youth are either graduate or post-graduate.
0.2% of the Generation Next are from wealthy households though a decent amount of whole
population (5%) of them own a silver credit card.

Social psychological traits of youth in India:
Social psychology:
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific
refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include
all of the psychological variables that are measurable in a human being. The statement that others
may be imagined or implied suggests that we are prone to social influence even when no other
people are present, such as when watching television, or following internalized cultural norms.
Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the interaction of mental states
and immediate social situations. In Kurt Lewin's famous heuristic formula, behavior can be viewed
as a function of the person and the environment, B = f(P , E). In general, social psychologists have
a preference for laboratory based, empirical findings. Social psychology theories tend to be specific
and focused, rather than global and general.
Social psychology is an interdisciplinary domain that bridges the gap between psychology and
sociology. During the years immediately following World War II, there was frequent collaboration
between psychologists and sociologists. However, the two disciplines have become increasingly
specialized and isolated from each other in recent years, with sociologists focusing on "macro
variables" (e.g. social structure) to a much greater extent. Nevertheless, sociological approaches to
social psychology remain an important counterpart to psychological research in this area.
According to psychologist Gordon Allport, social psychology is a discipline that uses scientific
methods "to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings" (1985).
Social psychology looks at a wide range of social topics, including group behavior, social
perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression and prejudice. It is important to
note that social psychology is not just about looking at social influences. Social perception and
social interaction are also vital to understanding social behavior.
Interpersonal phenomena
Social influence refers to the way people affect the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of others.
Like the study of attitudes, it is a traditional, core topic in social psychology. In fact, research
on social influence overlaps considerably with research on attitudes and persuasion. Social
influence is also closely related to the study of group dynamics, as most of the principles of
influence are strongest when they take place in social groups.
Conformity is the most common and pervasive form of social influence. It is generally defined
as the tendency to act or think like other members of a group. Group size, unanimity, cohesion,
status, and prior commitment all help to determine the level of conformity in an individual.
Conformity is usually viewed as a negative tendency in American culture, but a certain amount of
conformity is not only necessary and normal, but probably essential for a community to function.
The two major motives in conformity are normative influence, the tendency to conform in
order to gain social acceptance, and avoid social rejection or conflict, as in peer pressure; and
informational influence, which is based on the desire to obtain useful information through
conformity, and thereby achieve a correct or appropriate result. Minority influence is the
degree to which a smaller faction within the group influences the group during decision making.
Note that this refers to a minority position on some issue, not an ethnic minority. Their influence is
primarily informational and depends on consistent adherence to a position, degree of defection
from the majority, and the status and self-confidence of the minority members. Reactance is a
tendency to assert oneself by doing the opposite of what is expected. This phenomenon is also
known as anti-conformity and it appears to be more common in men than in women.
There are two other major areas of social influence research. Compliance refers to any change in
behavior that is due to a request or suggestion from another person. The Foot-in-the-door technique
is a compliance method in which the persuader requests a small favor and then follows up with a
larger favor, e.g. asking for the time, and then asking for ten dollars. A related trick is the Bait and
switch. The third major form of social influence is obedience. This is a change in behavior that is
the result of a direct order or command from another person.
A different kind of social influence is the self-fulfilling prophecy. This is a prediction that, in being
made, actually causes itself to become true. For example, in the stock market, if it is widely
believed that a crash is imminent, investors may lose confidence, sell most of their stock, and
actually cause the crash. Likewise, people may expect hostility in others and actually induce this
hostility by their own behavior.
Group dynamics:
A group can be defined as two or more individuals that are connected to each another by social
relationships. Groups tend to interact, influence each other, and share a common identity. They
have a number of emergent qualities that distinguish them from aggregates:
Norms - implicit rules and expectations for group members to follow, e.g. saying thank you,
shaking hands.
Roles - implicit rules and expectations for specific members within the group, e.g. the oldest
sibling, who may have additional responsibilities in the family.
Relations - patterns of liking within the group, and also differences in prestige or status, e.g.
leaders, popular people.
Temporary groups and aggregates share few or none of these features, and do not qualify as true
social groups. People waiting in line to get on a bus, for example, do not constitute a group.
Groups are important not only because they offer social support, resources, and a feeling of
belonging, but because they supplement an individual's self-concept. To a large extent, humans
define themselves by the group memberships which form their social identity. The shared social
identity of individuals within a group influences intergroup behavior, the way in which groups
behave towards and perceive each other. These perceptions and behaviors in turn define the social
identity of individuals within the interacting groups. The tendency to define oneself by membership
of a group leads to intergroup discrimination, which involves favorable perceptions and behaviors
directed towards the in-group, but negative perceptions and behaviors directed towards the out-
group. Intergroup discrimination leads to prejudice and stereotyping, while the processes of social
facilitation and group polarization encourage extreme behaviors towards the out-group.
Groups often moderate and improve decision making, and are frequently relied upon for these
benefits, such as committees and juries. A number of group biases, however, can interfere with
effective decision making. For example, group polarization, formerly known as the "risky shift,"
occurs when people polarize their views in a more extreme direction after group discussion. More
problematic is the phenomenon of groupthink. This is a collective thinking defect that is
characterized by a premature consensus or an incorrect assumption of consensus, caused by
members of a group failing to promote views which are not consistent with the views of other
members. Groupthink occurs in a variety of situations, including isolation of a group and the
presence of a highly directive leader. Janis offered the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion as a historical
case of groupthink.
Groups also affect performance and productivity. Social facilitation, for example, is a tendency to
work harder and faster in the presence of others. Social facilitation increases the likelihood of the
dominant response, which tends to improve performance on simple tasks and reduce it on complex
tasks. In contrast, social loafing is the tendency of individuals to slack when working in a group.
Social loafing is common when the task is considered unimportant and individual contributions are
not easy to see.
Social psychologists study group-related (collective) phenomena such as the behavior of crowds.
An important concept in this area is deindividuation, a reduced state of self-awareness that can be
caused by feelings of anonymity. Deindividuation is associated with uninhibited and sometimes
dangerous behavior. It is common in crowds and mobs, but it can also be caused by a disguise, a
uniform, alcohol, dark environments, or online anonymity.
Attitudes:
The work of attitudes is a core topic in social psychology. Attitudes are involved in virtually
every other area of the discipline, including conformity, interpersonal attraction, social
perception, and prejudice. In social psychology, attitudes are defined as learned, global
evaluations of a person, object, place, or issue that influence thought and action. Put more simply,
attitudes are basic expressions of approval or disapproval, favorability or un-favorability, or as Bem
put it, likes and dislikes. Examples would include liking chocolate ice cream, being against
abortion, or endorsing the values of a particular political party.
Social psychologists have studied attitude formation, the structure of attitudes, attitude change, the
function of attitudes, and the relationship between attitudes and behavior. Because people are
influenced by the situation, general attitudes are not always good predictors of specific behavior.
For a variety of reasons, a person may value the environment and not recycle a can on a particular
day. Attitudes that are well remembered and central to our self-concept, however, are more likely to
lead to behavior, and measures of general attitudes do predict patterns of behavior over time.
Large amount of recent research on attitudes is on the distinction between traditional, self-report
attitude measures and "implicit" or unconscious attitudes. For example, experiments using the
Implicit Association Test have found that people often demonstrate bias against other races, even
when their questionnaire responses reveal equal mindedness. One study found that explicit attitudes
correlate with verbal behavior in interracial interactions, whereas implicit attitudes correlate with
nonverbal behavior.
While Plato referred to the idea of the "crowd mind" and concepts such as social loafing and social
facilitation were introduced in the late-1800s, it wasn't until after World War II that research on
social psychology would begin in earnest. The horrors of the Holocaust led researchers to study the
effects of social influence, conformity, and obedience.
Social psychologically, youth in India can be divided into 3 different categories as mentioned
below:

Trait theory and Social psychological traits of youth in India:
In psychology, Trait theory is a major approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists
are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of
behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are relatively stable over time,
differ among individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are shy), and influence
behavior.Gordon Allport was an early pioneer in the study of traits, which he sometimes referred to
as dispositions. In his approach, central traits are basic to an individual's personality, whereas
secondary traits are more peripheral. Common traits are those recognized within a culture and may
vary between cultures. Cardinal traits are those by which an individual may be strongly recognized.
Since Allport's time, trait theorists have focused more on group statistics than on single individuals.
Allport called these two emphases "nomothetic" and "idiographic," respectively. In this research I
have focused in group traits which are common among the influencers in a society and more
peripheral, hence mutating.
Trait 1 # “Family is important”
Indian youth are very family oriented and career focused. The career and family are the most
important priority in their life. In INgene survy’2009 53% stated that family is the most important
priority
in their life and the then the career (39%)

Photo trait 1
The Global TGI teen survey found 76% Indian youth believes that “it is important that my family
thinks I am doing well” which is higher than any other country.
Photo trait 2
TRU Teen survey found that the most preferred way of spending time (of Indian youth) is with
parents and friends.

Chart 12 Chart 1
YES-2 survey found that most preferred food for Indian youth are South Indian dishes and Chat
items.
Table 10
Trait 2 # “being local / desi is becoming cool”

The survey I did last year shows that the usage of loacal slang is becoming more popular than the
English slang. Also the exhibitionism of being Indian is becoming stronger.
Photo trait 3
Street food, lassi, local beverages, Indian comics, Gandhiji’s face in tee shirt is becoming more
popular. This shows a movement towards Indianization of mindset of youth in India.
Photo trait 4
Trait 3 # “Self confidence level is growing”

This generation is becoming very confident about their capability and appearance.
Photo trait 5
Trait 4 # “Relationship and iconic representation of emotions through smiley”
Photo trait 6
Trait 5# “increasing dependence over the usage of cell phone”

Every second teen in India having a cell-phone just illustrates the power and the necessity of this
device. The increasing capabilities of the cell phone have not limited the teens from using them for
any given purpose, but the primary activity still remains communicating. The texting phenomenon
is more in the older teens where it as much as 1 in 3 teens. Speaking on the phone with friends is
more predominant amongst the boys as compared to the girls.
The cell phone has also turned into an entertainment device. With memory capacity increasing,
advanced cameras coming in, portability with music players and plug and play functionality
available, not to forget the radio and gaming, a cell-phone has become a companion when doing
nothing. In fact watching TV shows, listening to MP3s and radio are even more popular than
sending text messages.
An interesting thing to note would be that cell-phones nowadays are quite restricted in schools and
colleges that the teens go on. So a lot of their activities on the cell-phone are governed by the
circumstances in which they’re allowed to use their cell-phones.
Graph 14 Graph 15
Trait 6# “online life- dependence on internet is growing”

Shopping online considered a luxury for the rich is growing fast and Indian teens could be the next
big target. While 68% of teens shopping online love buying books, it is the practice of shopping
for gifts and flowers that is catching up. The smaller towns have a higher incidence of purchasing
books online as compared to the larger metros. This may be because in big metros the titles are
available more easily in all the big book stores as opposed to the small stores where there are just
private libraries.
The teens aren’t spending much on buying movies and music online as compared to the teens in the
West. The ideology of free download and following practice of peer to peer downloading has
become a hit. The teens in the west have spent three times more on purchasing flowers and gifts
online as compared to their counterparts from south. Well, the culture of the west zone can be
attributed to this fact.
Table 11
Table 12
Graph 16 Table 13

Spending Pattern:
Average (weekly) spends of Youth in India:

According to the TRU Teen study conducted by Research International, pre-teens and teenagers
understand money fairly well in today's time. Parents are the leading source of income for
Generation Next. Majority of them get money from their parents when they need it. There is a
striking difference between a young Indian in 2009 from what it was in 1991. Teens today are
earning to augment their allowances, something which was rare in late 1980s and early 1990s. The
economic downturn in 2008 and during early 2009 has definitely impacted the teen spending. The
average urban teen in India spends close to Rs. 132(approx. US$ 3) a week which is lower as
compared to last year rs. 200( US$ 4-5). But the number of teens spending' nothing ' in the previous
week's time has come down from 13% to 8% this year.
Today's youth is on the fast track to success with aspirations soaring high. Their look out for part
time and odd jobs has increased and the need to 'Arrive' in the society has become of primal
importance. No wonder close to 30% of the teens want to achieve financial independence even
before they are out of their teens.
As youth grow older, their tendency to spend more also increases. It’s a branded world out
there and the demands just keep increasing. Of all the teens, the teens in the west zone are who the
marketers would love; they are the highest average weekly spenders. East zone teens turn out to be
very conservative in their spending patterns. There is also a significant difference in the way
younger teens spends compared to the older teens.
Teens in the age of 16 to 19 years spend twice as much as their younger counterparts.
Teens are the rising face of the Indian consumer and they have given the recession a miss as it
may seem. The projection of teens spending same or more as compared to last year is a
whopping 72% as compared to the 55% found in the previous wave. Optimism and consumer
power are doing the trick for Indian teens unlike teens in the West where they have been
struck hard with the ongoing recession.
Graph 17
Spends on key Categories:

According to the TRU teen study conducted by Research International, 'Kapda. Ipod, and
Cell phone,' the new mantra, has replaced what used to be the description of the bare necessities of
"Roti, Kapda,aur Makan" for an Indian teen. Teens in India spend most of their cash on clothing,
electronic goods, and the ever so indispensable cell phone! These categories have become
representatives of the style statement a teens want to portray. Spending on their cell phone has
become a necessity!
An Indian boy spends more than the girls in the clothing category. The boys usually prefer
branded items to differentiate themselves whereas the girls have so many different choices, branded
clothing would not be their prime preference.
The spending on cell phone expenses has turned tables. It was the girls who were spending
more than the boys last year; the scene seems to be reversed. The boys spend close to Rs.125 a
month as compared to just Rs.106 by the girls. The girls not to be left behind have their own
indulgences, in the form of beauty aids and entertainment areas. The girls would rather go out with
friends and spend on movies and their cosmetics than stay at home in front of the computer and
video games.
The electronics category spending is dominated by the young teens as opposed to the older
ones. The young teens are so fascinated about the technology that at times they are the major
influencers in a high value electronics purchase in the family.
The girls spend more money on entertainment than the guys, a sign of the changing times and a
sign of the different needs prevalent in today's society.
The younger teen out pips the older counterpart when it comes to electronics purchases. It
appears that the technology learning curve, has it been proved. The teen in South splurges his cash
much more on any give category than his counterparts from across the country. Even though the
numbers of teenagers who spend are less, the ones who do spend.
Graph 18

Graph 19
Graph 20
The Urban Youth:

The urban youth are gadget savvy, fun loving yet responsible with their money. Video games,
mobile phones, color TVs and motorbikes are the hot favorite assets among the youth.
The mobile phone has also turned into an entertainment device. With the memory capacity
increasing, advanced cameras coming in, portability with music players and plug and play
functionality available, not to forgot the FM radio and gaming, a mobile phone has become a
companion when doing nothing.
A good 1 in 4 Generation Next youth in urban India feels that internet is the main source of
entertainment in their life. With free availability and accessibility of fun downloads, games, ring-
tones, chatting / e mailing, social networking sites etc., internet for teenagers and young adults is an
abode of entertainment where they spend most of their leisure time. Most of the youth have an ‘I
can do it attitude’ with 39% of them stating that they try to solve a problem all by themselves.

More than half (55%) of the urban youth in India keep a close track of latest trends of lifestyle,
clothing etc. and are conscious of their extrinsic behavior. However, they are not compulsive
shoppers and try to strike a balance between their needs and latest trends. Although shopping is a
favorite activity for 56% of the youth, 21% of them go on a shopping spree from time to time,
while the remaining 79% of the youth claim to go for need-based shopping.
Understanding Commonalities among diversified youth of India:

It is absolutely necessary for the marketers to understand that most of the youth in India are high on
aspirations but with low current levels of affordability to be able to live those aspirations.
Moreover, the youth in India is too varied specifically in terms of the urban and rural divide and the
regional divides, and these need to be understood well.
There are commonalities but there are stark differences as well. More than demographic
commonalities it is going to be important for marketers to understand the commonalities in the
attitude, interests and opinions and various other socio-psychological aspects of the youth and
thereby influence or impact their current or aspired lifestyle.
Tee shirt as a tool to understand the socio-psychological and socio-

economic trend:
As Yuniya Kawamura suggested in the book “Fashion-ology- :An introduction to Fashion Studies”,
the study of fashion is neither the study of dress nor the study of clothing, which means that the
two, fashion and dress/ clothing, are different concepts and entities which can be or should be
studied separately. The study of fashion is the sociological investigation of fashion and it should
treat fashion as a system of institutions that produces the concept as well as the phenomenon/
practice of fashion. Similar to the sociology of art that studies the practices and institutions of
artistic production ( Wolff 1993: 139). The influence of fashion must vary as per the demography
and the sociological scenarios. Tee shirt, being a staple in youth wardrobe is an excellent tool to
understand the Attitude, Interests and Opinion (A.I.O) of the youth segment through the graphics
and selection of colors. The Tee shirt is also an important tool to understand the socio-economic
condition of the youth segment through the most selling price category.
The links to relate tee shirt as a tool to understand the socio-psychological and economical
environment of a society will be established in the analysis described in below topics of this
research project.
Introduction to Tee Shirt:

Today a tee shirt is the invincible staple of any youth’s wardrobe in India. It’s easy to wear, easy to
maintain, easy to change, easy to show the “attitude” and immediately makes one at ease in a casual
environment (and now even at corporate environment). It’s a piece of garment which is pulled on
over the head to cover most of a person’s torso. Tee shirts are typically made of cotton or polyester
fibers (or of the mix of two), knitted together in a jersey stitch that gives a tee shirt its distinctive
soft texture. Though tee shirts were actually worn as undershirts now are worn frequently as the
only piece of clothing on the top half of the body over the undergarments. It has become a medium
for self expression and advertising which exhibits a “statement” (or the lack of it!) through its texts
or graphics. A tee shirt typically extends to the waist with variants like tank top, “A” cut, muscle
shirt ( with a desi variant in Salman Khan style), scoop neck and the V neck. Hip Hop music and
lifestyle contributed to a tee which is called “tall-T” (actually oversized tee) and extended down to
the knees. The tee evolved from undergarments used in the 19th century through cutting the one
piece “union suit” underwear into separate top and bottom garments, with the top long enough to
tuck under the waistband of the bottoms. Tee shirts, with and without buttons, were adopted by
miners and stevedores during the late 1800’s as a convenient covering for hot environments. Tee
shirts, as a slip on garment without buttons, originally became popular in the United States when
they were issued by the U.S. Navy during or following the Spanish American War. These were the
crew necked, short sleeved, white cotton undershirt to be worn under a uniform. It became common
for sailors and Marines in work parties, the early submarines, and tropical climates to remove their
uniform jacket, wearing only the undershirt. Named after the size and shape of the garment’s
silhouette they soon became popular as the bottom layer of clothing for various factory workers.
The tee shirts were easily fitted, easily cleaned and inexpensive, hence for this reason it became the
best wearable piece of clothing among the young. It became a default garment when modesty called
for a torso covering but environment called for lightweight near-to-body clothing. Post world war II
saw the veterans wearing their uniform trousers with their tee as casual clothing, and became even
more popular after tee clad Marlon Brando in A Streetcat Named Desire. Brando made tee, a
symbol of youth, a stand alone outer wear. The invention of Plastosol (a more durable and
stretchable ink) in 1959 allowed much more variety in tee shirt graphics. In 1960s, the ringer tee
shirt became a must have among the rock n rollers. This decade also saw an emergence of tie-dying
and screen printing on the surface of tee shirts. Che Guevara (Marxist Revolutionary) became the
iconic graphic in tee during 60’s due to the political turmoil and he still remains to be most wide
spread icon in tee shirt graphics followed by legendry pop artist and Rastafarian Bob Marley.
Personalization of tee shirt began at 60’s and slowly till date tee shirts are very important tool to
express personal slogan, protest or attitude. The punks used tee shirt as a tool to express their
anarchy. Skin heads and neo Nazis used tee shirt to protest and advertise their opinion. The early
2000s saw the renewed popularity of Tee with slogans and graphics with strong inclinations to the
humorous or iconic expressions. The licensed tee shirts became extremely popular with
endorsements by the movie stars, players and TV artists. Among few popular trends in retro tee
days, the “midriff” tee was popular in 90’s and the double layer (wearing a short sleeve tee over a
long sleeve) became popular in the mid of the millennium.
Currently the tee shirt market in India is valued at more than Rs. 55 billion with 56% men’s,
5% women’s, 2% active sportswear and 35% kids tee shirts.
History of Tee shirt:

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the T-Shirt quickly became a favorite. Now, a century
later, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the T-Shirt remains as popular as ever.
The American T-Shirt began during WWI when American troops

noticed European soldiers wearing a comfortable and lightweight
cotton undershirt during the hot and humid European summer days.
Compared to the wool uniforms that the American soldiers wore, these
undershirts were cooler and more comfortable and they quickly caught
on with the Americans. Due to their simple design, these shirts became
known in the USA as "T" shirts or, as we know them now, "T-Shirts".
By the 1920's, "T-Shirt" had become an official word in the American

English language with it's inclusion in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
By W.W. II, both the Navy and the Army had included the T-Shirt as
standard issue underwear.
Initially pegged as an undergarment, the T-Shirt soon came in to it's

own on the big screen. John Wayne, Marlon Brando and James Dean all shocked Americans by
wearing their underwear on national TV. In 1951, Marlon Brando shocked Americans in his film
"A Streetcar Named Desire" when his T-Shirt was ripped off of his body revealing his naked chest.
By 1955, the T-Shirt was tolerated worn without another shirt covering it. Then James Dean made
the T-Shirt real cool in "Rebel Without A Cause". James Dean made the T-Shirt a contemporary
symbol of rebellious youth.
In the 60's people began to tie dye and screen-print the basic cotton T-Shirt making it an even
bigger commercial success. Advances in printing and dying allowed more variety and the Tank
Top, Muscle Shirt, Scoop Neck, V-Neck, and many other variations of the T-Shirt came in to
fashion.
The T-Shirt was inexpensive, in style, and could make any statement you cared to print. The
American T-Shirt came into it's own during the late sixties and seventies. Rock and Roll bands
began to realize that they could make significant amounts of money selling their T-Shirts.
Professional Sports caught on and soon the officially licensed T-Shirt became hot merchandise.
During the 80's and 90's the production of T-Shirts and the mechanics of printing on them increased
the volume and availability. Soon the American T-Shirt was being called a commodity item in the
apparel industry.
At the beginning of a new millennium, the t-shirt has entered cyberspace and is now about to
become even bigger. The American T-Shirt is well built and it is made to be worn. The artwork
symbolizes the cultural and social climate of our times. The printing is state of the art created by
true craftspeople. The T-Shirt is a great product.
International social psychological influences in Tee shirts:

 Social awareness quotes in Tee shirts (Bottom)

 Global warming quotes and graphics in Tee shirts (Top Right and Bottom Left)
 green quotes in Tee shirts (Bottom Right)

 Anti War Tee shirts (Bottom)
 Anti and Pro Obama Tee shirts (Bottom), Pro Mao Tee shirts (Bottom Right)

Focus group study of young influencers at NIFT campus and
Analysis:
A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about
their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept,
advertisement, idea, or packaging.
The main focus of the new genre of research is to involve contextual, thick descriptions which
bolster a theoretical and methodological pluralist stance of the researcher. These psycho-social
studies do not contest over qualitative or quantitative methodology instead these spread out
their wings to theorize about ‘psychological subject’ and its embeddedness in the social
matrix and shows interest in critique informed by ideological concerns in psychology (Frosh,
2003:1551). In past few years, the resurgence of this psychosocial perspective has brought into its
fold many prolific even vanguard research trends. Honey Oberoi’s exploration into cultural
resilience and research on marginalized voices (2002, 2003); Nagpal (2000); Sunil Bhatia’s (2002)
work on cross-cultural psychology and representation of the ‘other’ in Euro-American psychology
are some examples of these renewed efforts.
Focus group study produces data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction
found in a group setting—listening to others’ verbalized experiences stimulates memories, ideas,
and experiences in participants. This is also known as the group effect where group members
engage in “a kind of ‘chaining’ or ‘cascading’ effect; talk links to, or tumbles out of, the topics and
expressions preceding it” (Lindlof & Taylor, 2002, p. 182)
Focus groups also provide an opportunity for disclosure among similar others in a setting where
participants are validated. For example, in the context of workplace bullying, targeted employees
often find themselves in situations where they experience lack of voice and feelings of isolation.
Use of focus groups to study workplace bullying therefore serve as both an efficacious and ethical
venue for collecting data (see, e.g., Tracy, Lutgen-Sandvik, & Alberts, 2006)
The 30 influencers were selectively chosen from various departments of NIFT, Chennai and were
interviewed individually through the verbal+ questioner format. The responses were later converted
into charts and then the statistical graphs were made which in turn were visualized as pie charts.
I have followed the “focus group social psychology analysis” process because this is most relevant
process among all the other methodologies and my focus group was a selected number of
influencers in NIFT, Chennai campus.
I have selected NIFT, Chennai campus as a micro society with proper mix of said three segments of
social psychological members (Indians, Bharatiyas and In’glo’dians).
I have selected the participants of the focus group trend study (face to face questioner) from the
“influencers” segment. The influencers or innovators are them who influence other’s decision
making process and being recognized as the initiator of trends in a society (as the below bell curve
shows):

My research
respondents
(The detailed report and questioners are attached as annexure 1, 2 and 3)

The results of focus group study:
Most of the youth stated that they wear tee because it looks “cool”. Neither the comfort factor nor
the trend influenced them as much as the coolness.
why you wear a tee?

It looks cool it is in trend it is comfortable I just feel like
11%
26%
58%
5%
Graph 21
Most of them suggested that tee is not an occasional wear and they likes to wear it daily basis or
when going out with friends.
when you wear a tee?

Daily basis Picnic While going on a date outing with friends
22%
0%
0%
78%
Graph 22
The survey found that among this age group the brand name doesn’t add any value while
purchasing the tee! For teens and post teens of India, the look, attitude, fit and materials are more
important than the brand value.
46% stated that they doesn’t bother on what brand the tee is as long as the tee is cool and
comfortable…and if the tee expresses “that” right attitude then its a “killer” to must have, even if
its displayed in the road side shop or Sarojini Nagar market (New Delhi).

Graph 23
One of the respondents expressed that tee is a staple for her daily-wear and she don’t expects one
tee to “stay longer” ( means wearable among the peers) than one season…”you know, the lesser life
is better cause change is inevitable” she further explained. Since tee is not considered as an
investment (other than the sentimental values…. “The first tee from my girl friend”… “or the tee
with signatures of all my classmates” etc.) The brand is not much into focus but the instant appeal.
As soon as the tee looses its “grace” to wear among the clan, it retires to become “ghar ka kapda”
(wearable at home) till being torn. Hence, the tee brands must focus more on the texts, graphics, fit
and materials than unnecessarily spending money in advertisements and promotional activities.
Also, the cozy store environment will not help them to gain popularity unless the product appears
perfect to the youth.
The best price to afford a tee for boys are Rs.299 and Girls agreed not to pay more than Rs.599.
Graph 24
Graph 25
Graph 26
The boys prefers tee in solid color or with graphics where as the girls like texts in their tees.

Graph 27
The survey revealed that girls prefer loose and actual to the size tee (none of the respondents voted
for body hugging tee!) and boys prefer actual to the size tee.
Graph 28

Graph 29
Boys and girls both preferred the round neck tee than any other variations.
Graph 30

Graph 31
The most preferred colors for the boys are grey and black and the emerging color trend is towards
green and blues. The girl’s color is predominantly black with successive color as pink. The
emerging color for girls is green.
Girls-Color
White black red blue Pink Green
9% 9%
18%
5%
50%
9%
Graph 32

Graph 33

Photo representations of the Tee trends in India and analysis of the
social psychological influences:
As the confidence level on localness is growing, the trend is moving towards Indian text and
images. A glocal tee is cooler than the western.
Photo Plate 1
Photo plate 2

Photo plate 3
Photo plate 4 Photo plate 5

Photo plate 6 (above) and 7 (below)

Photo plate 10
Photo plate 11

Photo plate 12
Photo plate 13
Love to nation is becoming expressive through ‘I love my India’ tee
Photo plate 14

Social consciousness is in trend and expressed through ‘I Vote’ tee or ‘get over alcohol’ tee:
Photo plate 15
Photo plate 16
Online life is becoming a prominent expression and shown through ‘Loading’ tee:
Photo plate 17

Mobile is an integral part of Indian youth’s life, which is expressed through ‘call me’ tee:
Photo plate 18
The gothic tees are also very popular (skull motifs with darker graphics). The gothic essence is now
mixing with retro rocks to express the right percentage of coolness. Ed Hardy tees (original and
knock offs) are in vogue for their vintage tattoo inspired gothic designs.
Photo plate 19

Becoming environmentally conscious is cool today and hence green as a color in tee.
Photo plate 20
The influence of Similes and usage of mobile texting icons are in trend at the smiley Tees:

Photo plate 23
Che Guevara’s face is the most common icon in India among youth. The ‘defamed’ or ‘de-shaped’
Che is also growing as a market:

Photo plate 26
Gandhiji became the hottest and trendy icon in tee:
Photo plate 27

Photo plate 28

Ed Hardy tees are very popular due to their coolness among the celebrities:
Photo plates 31
Photo plates 32
Photo plates 33

Trend inference:
After the study of visuals and focus group analysis it was understood that:
 The trend is moving towards social messages as text, and environment will become more
popular as a core topic to appear “cool” in tee.
 The animated figures, cartoon characters, college names and over sized texts as of 60’s pop
art will reappear with brighter colors over monotones.
 A parallel trend of desi/ local messages and Indian iconography/ images will flood the
market to become another stronger trend.
 Che has already become passé…hence; will Mr. Gandhi be the “next” pop icon? Hope
not…the fate of Che as a mass icon in fashion is not much desirable (I recently found an
ashtray with his face in middle to drop the ash!)…one out of ten respondents in the survey
doesn’t know who Che was though they were wearing his face and few even told that he
was a rock star!
Tee shirts as a tool to understand the changing scenarios and analysis

of the social psychological influences:
After the reviewing the global trend, analysis of various social psychological trends in India and
observing the trend direction through the photos evidences I understood that Tee shirts can very
well be used as a tool to understand the changing social psychology and economy.
The major observations and inferences are mentioned below:
Observation:
 The major population in India is middle class (as per the Graph1, Graph 2 and Table1). The
distribution of income among the middle class is majorly concentrated in food and
education (as per the Table 5 and Graph 5). Also in the chart it’s shown that cloths are only
the third priority among most of the SECs (Table 5) in India. Even the retail share of
clothing is only 7% of the total retail consumption (Graph 10). Also, it was observed that
most students get pocket money (92%) between Rs. 250 -1000. Rs.100- 500 is relatively
more than in South and East. Many get over Rs. 500 in the North. Men and older youth get
relatively more pocket money per month. Though they spend most of it in clothing (73%)
but the total amount is less.
Inference:
This got reflected in the most popular price segment of Tee shirts, where Rs.299 for boys and
Rs.599 for girls was the most liked price segment. Among Indian youth, the higher priced Tee
shirts are not popular.

Observation:
 nearly 39%(majority) of the 13-24 year olds reside in Northern India, more so because at an
overall level, Northern zone concentrates a major chunk of the Indian population; the rest
19% are from southern and 21% each from eastern and western India.
Inference:
This got reflected in the selection of languages in the Tee shirt graphics. Most of the tee shirts
printed with Indian language were written in Hindi.
Observation:
 It was observed as socio-psychological trait that the youth in India are more career focused
and family oriented (Photo Trait 1 and Photo Trait 2).
Inference:
Hence the colors of tee shirts preferred by Indian youth were not bright or crazy but sober as
Black and grey which are generally accepted by all members of the family.
Observation:
 The influence of Indianness is identified at a socio-psychological trait ( Phot Trait 3 and
Photo Trait 4) as they are more attracted to the Indian food, language and culture than the
western influences
Inference:
Hence, most of the emerging tee shirts were having Indian influences in regards to graphics ,
typography and language ( Photo Plate 1 to Photo Plate 14).
Observation:
 Along with the growth of young working individuals and their attitude of “I can do it” (as
observed as a socio-psychological trait) the level of self-confidence is growing (Photo Trait
5). Also, the self-identification of being Indian is growing with the awareness of global
importance of India as economic powerhouse in decades to come (Photo Plate 14).
Inference:
This can be observed in the growth of “forget superman, try me tee shirt”.
Observation:
 The smiley and other various icons are becoming a part of youth lifestyle and relationship
(Photo Trait 6).
Inference:
This got reflected in their choice of graphic tee shirts with smiley (Photo Plate 21 to 23).
Observation:
 The social psychological study in this research showed that cell-phone is an integral part of
the life of youth in India.
Inference:
Hence, the tee shirt graphics also appeared with cell phone numbers (Photo Plate 18).
Observation:
 This social psychological research revealed that internet is an integral part of Indian youth’s
lifestyle.
Inference:
The influence of internet was observed in the tee shirt graphics too (Photo Plate 17).
Observation:
 During the focus group study it was observed that the youth in India don’t get
influenced by brands while purchasing the Tee shirts, but mostly focuses in the “look”
and “material” (Graph 23)
Observation:
 It was also observed, that the global social psychological trends (Barak Obama Tee
and Mao tee) don’t have much impact in domestic Tee shirt trends other than the eco-
trends and global warming issues.
Observation:
 This study revealed that the global fashion trends emerges in India at a stage when the
trend is almost out of international fashion arena (ie. The popularity of Goth tees, Ed
Hardy tees and the continuation of Che Guevara as an icon in Tee shirts).
Conclusion:
Through out century’s tee shirt is reflecting the social psychological movement in the society. For
example, Surfing has left its mark on the history of the t-shirt and fashion. The earliest examples of
surfing t-shirts were no more than early marketing tools. Back in 1961 a Californian surfboard
maker Floyd Smith is often credited as the first. Smith asked local surfers to bring their white t-
shirts to his shop and he would screen print the company logo across it. Later that year t-shirts were
made to advertise the Makaha International Surfing Championships. Within a few years the
landscape had changed completely with thousands of surf company t-shirts appearing. They quickly
became "symbols of the casual and free spirited surfing lifestyle". Today in excess of 300 million
surfing t-shirts alone are produced across the globe. Same way, The 1960s saw the birth of the tie-
dye craze in T-shirts and by the late 1960’s the introduction of screen printing guaranteed its
success as a fashion accessory. The tee became a vehicle for publicising social change and political
unrest.Today the influence of the humble t-shirt reaches every high street and back alley across the
planet. Once again social issues are topical along with environmental concerns such as global
warming.
For the youth in India, Tee shirt is a staple in their wardrobe. Hence, analyzing this piece of
garment revealed a lot about their social psychological pattern and economical level.
This assignment has enabled me to establish tee shirt as a tool to identify and measure the social
psychological changes among the youth in India and has a bigger scope to research further in this
topic which I have already expresses in my PhD proposal at NIFT.

Bibliography and References:
Kawamura Yuniya, Fashion-ology, An Introduction to Fashion Studies: Berg, 2005
Brannon, Fashion Forecasting: Fairchild, 2005
Gloor Peter & Cooper Scott, Coolhunting- Casting down the Next Big Thing: Amacom New
York, 2007
Polhemus Ted, Fashion & Anti-Fashion: Themes & Hudson, 1978
Businessworld, The Marketing Whitebook-2007-2008 & 2010-2011: ABP Pvt. Ltd.
Barnard Malcolm (Edited), Fashion Theory- A Reader: Routledge Press
Martha Ira & Slazman Marian, Next Now- Trends for the future: Palgrave Macmilan
Business Standard, India 2010 : B. S. Books
Varma K. Pavan, Being Indian: Penguin Press
Blumer, Herbert, Fashion: From Class Differentiation to Collective Selection, in: Sociological
Quarterly 10, pp. 275-291
Laver James, Costume and Fashion- A Concise History: Dolphin Press
Solomon, Michael R. (ed.), The Psychology of Fashion, Lexington: Lexington Books, 1985
Davis, Fred, Fashion, Culture, and Identity, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1992
Schnierer, Thomas, Modewandel und Gesellschaft, Opladen: Leske + Budrich, 1995
Simmel, Georg, Fashion, in: International Quarterly 10 (1904), pp. 130-155
Tarde, Gabriel, Les lois de l'imitation, Paris: Alcan, 1890
Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of the Leisure Class, 1899
 Cover photo courtesy Mr. Kunwar Abhisek

 Photo plates courtesy Neil Dentas et all
 Data and graphs about Indian economy: The Businessworld

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Social psychology of Youth in India and its impact

in the fashion and pricing trends of Tee shirts

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 1

Theoretical Framework of the research 3

Introducing ‘new’ India and its global significance 6

Retail trends in India 10

The significance of ‘young India’ in global work force 12

Overall understanding of youth in India 13

The spread of Youth 15

Socio-Economic Background and Education 16

Social psychological traits of youth in India 16

Average (weekly) spends of Youth in India 26

Spends on key Categories 27

The Urban Youth 28

Introduction to Tee Shirt 29

Brief history of Tee shirt 30

International socio-psychological influences in Tee shirts 31

Focus group study, Analysis and inferences 32

Photo representations of the Tee trends in India and analysis

Tee shirts as a tool to understand the changing scenarios

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 2

Theoretical Framework of the research:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 3

Introducing ‘new’ India and its global significance:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 5

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 6

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 7

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 9

Men’s wear is the biggest segment in Indian apparel market.

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 10

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 11

Overall understanding of Youth in India:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 12

Youth Population Projections (in millions)

2001 2006 2011 2016 2021 2026

Proportion of Youth Population by Region 2001:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 13

The spread of Youth:

The minimum Household Income (MHIO is between Rs. 8000-20,000)

Socio-Economic Background and Education:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 15

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 18

Trait 1 # “Family is important”

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 19

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 20

Trait 2 # “being local / desi is becoming cool”

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 21

Trait 3 # “Self confidence level is growing”

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 22

Trait 4 # “Relationship and iconic representation of emotions through smiley”

Trait 5# “increasing dependence over the usage of cell phone”

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 23

Trait 6# “online life- dependence on internet is growing”

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 25

Average (weekly) spends of Youth in India:

Spends on key Categories:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 26

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 27

The Urban Youth:

by Kaustav SenGupta, NIFT, India (Copyright Protected) 28

Understanding Commonalities among diversified youth of India:

Tee shirt as a tool to understand the socio-psychological and socio-