Query from a reader about Indian Consumers

Query from Mr. Ginil George - Why are Indians as consumers gullible? Is it because we are not mature shoppers despite being around for close to 5000 years?

An interesting question and something I always speak about when talking about retail marketing.

None of us are qualified to be consumers! A provocative statement, but true.

At best we can read the labels on some of the packaged products and make some informed decisions. But when there are no labels to guide us, we are lost and rely on someone else’s professed capability. The basic fact of shopping being a habit is largely driven by this reality. Over a period of time we tend to stick to a store because we trust the store to sell us the right products. The best example for this behaviour is the fact that most of us would ask a medical store person to suggest medicines for some of the simpler ailments. Chemicals that we are adding to our human system!

This trait is also one of the key drivers of brands and loyalty to brands. Over a period of time brands stand for trust and faith. As consumers we trust the claims of brands because we trust. If one were to be truly rationale would one buy water enriched with Oxygen? After all water is H2O. So, when water is enriched with oxygen, would it become H2O2?? Or does it become an aerated drink?

In that context not only Indians, every consumer of the world is gullible. But is that truly being gullible? I would prefer to think that the consumers are trusting. Does not trust create great brands? As a marketer I would be devastated if consumers lost this capability to trust.

Abraham Lincoln said “You can fool some people for some time. You cant fool all the people, all the time”. Same is the logic with regards to our trust as a consumer. When the trust is let down and done obviously, consumers move on. A famous tea brand which was almost generic to the category started losing share and sales started dropping. When a qualitative study was done to determine why loyal customers were switching, the reasons all resonated with a single thought; “I felt let down when the quality dropped. I had trusted this brand so much”.