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According to the statistics given by
Indiantelevision.com, children drive 84-96% of the purchase decisions for
themselves and their family for products like ice creams, candies, and books,
etc., which are for their direct consumption. Their
powers sometimes go far beyond this also. Children have indirect
purchase influence for big ticket items like computers, mobiles,
refrigerators, washing machines and other consumer durables. According
to CVL Srinivas, Chief Executive of Maxcus, a media firm
largely responsible for selling Disney brand products in India, "In our
research, we have found that children are fast becoming the influencers in
Indian families' spending habits. An average of 47% of the kids is
curious to know about their parent's purchases across categories."
Marketers worldwide are today finding the Indian market
very attractive and are naturally keen to grab their share from it. India
has emerged as a promising destination for companies round the globe
and more so for the corporates dealing in kids' products. These
companies have started researching to explore what attracts these kids the most
and what constitutes their favorite activities. The data collected
by Indiantelevision.com reveals that television viewing tops the list
of preferred activities among Indian children, with 55% of the
kids reporting `watching television' as their favorite activity (Exhibit
1). Kids in India watch television for more than five hours on
weekends or vacations (non-school days) and 1-2 hours everyday on
weekdays (school days) (Exhibit 2). Television in India is an important source
of information, entertainment and influence.
PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated the television
business revenues as $3.4 bn in 2005 (Bajaj, 2007). There are roughly
105 million homes with television in India, which is about the same as
in the US. Taking an average of four members in a family, the
television reaches about 420 million people across the country. Also, about
66% of the adult urban population in India watches television on
an average of 2.25 hours per day (Inamdar & Chandra,
2001). Television has emerged as the most powerful medium
for communicating with the buyers and hence the growth of
television advertising in India. An Ernst & Young study estimated the ad
spend on television in India at about $1.0 bn per year in 2004.
The advertisement spending in television reached $1.6 bn in
the year 2005 (Bajaj, 2007). The year 2006 witnessed a 25% increase
in ad volumes on television over the previous year
(Indiantelevision.com, 2006). |
