IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM) e-ISSN: 2278-487X, p-ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 16, Issue 7. Ver. III (July. 2014), PP 87-97 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 87 | Page Attitudes of young Indian consumers towards luxury brands Dr. R. Srinivasan, Dr. R.K. Srivastava & Prof. Sandeep Bhanot I. Introduction: 1.1 Luxury brands: Luxury is no longer restricted today to only the rich and the selected few but is being used for mass marketing now. The concept of luxury has been changing dramatically across time and culture. Earlier, luxury was connected with things like wines, champagne, designer clothes and sports cars. These days, people have become richer and luxury is a blurred genre that is no longer the preserve of the elite. More and more consumers have increased their financial status as the old values of tradition and nobility have become less important. People are having much more disposable income in comparison to earlier generations, resulting in a tendency towards fulfilling personal needs and aspirations through experience. Therefore, it could be said that luxury is more about experience (Yeoman and McMahon-Beattie, 2010), rather than financial value. This is not to say that luxury is about status, but luxury is more than financial value. Indeed, they run hand in hand. The need for personal gratification and aspirations has led to greater emphasis on having things which make life better and easy. It means that consumers want to improve their life. This is what Danziger (2005) and Israel (2003) mean when they say that luxury is not just restricted to trophies and status symbols but also covers things giving aesthetic experience and indulgence. This is also due to increasing purchasing power of women in society, which is a good sign for luxury markets such as wellbeing, clothes and tourism. We see that the earlier concept of luxury of consumption and elitism stills prevails especially in emerging economies of China. In the recent times, the Global Financial Crisis has led consumers to re-examine their priorities and as a consequence, attitudes and behaviors towards luxury have changed. In management field it is accepted to distinguish luxury products from necessary and ordinary products within their category by their basic characteristics. These include things like financial value, quality, aesthetics, exclusivity and status giving. All of these characteristics are relative terms. A luxury product is characterised by a relatively high rating on each of these dimensions compared to other products of its category (Trommsdorff and Heine 2008, p. 1670). Luxury brands are those whose ratio of functional utility to price is low while the ratio of intangible and situational utility to price is high. 1.2 Indian luxury market: Although in the last few years, India‘s luxury industry has witnessed a significant transformation, but the concept of luxury is not new for India. India was known for its prosperity before the British came to India. Even later, there were many royal families and business classes which were buyers of western luxury brands. In addition, India has been a production outsourcing destination for a long time, but at present due to a steadily growing economy and globalized business environment. India has rapidly transformed into a huge market for luxury products. The luxury market showed a high growth of 20 percent in the year 2009 and reached USD 5.75 billion in 2010. In 2012, luxury products have grown at 29 percent to reach a size of USD 2.05 billion, well above expectation of 23 percent. Services have grown at 22 percent to reach USD 0.95 billion and assets have grown at 13 percent to reach USD 2.75 billion. According to a recent report by Technopak, out of the $2.5 billion luxury market in India, luxury products and services constitute around 15 percent. It is also estimated that the luxury market in India is set to touch almost three times its current size at USS 14.72 billion by 2015 (A T Kearney, 2011). As said by the industry experts, this growth is due to continuous increases in high net worth individuals (More than 150000) with a net worth of $600 billion and more than three million household earning above Rs. 10 Lakh in the top 10 cities in India. 1.3 Indian luxury consumer: Many demographic changes have taken place in the Indian population which have led to increase in purchase of luxury brands. After the advent of globalization, the youth have better job opportunities and higher disposable incomes which has increased their purchasing power. It is assumed that the young have less of liabilities at the start of their career and thus are high on materialism which drives consumerism among them. This had elevated the consumption pattern to conspicuous level. According to Narayan (2012), the Indian luxury shopper can be categorized into the following segments: (i) Richie Rustie: These are people who do not follow any set patterns and defy stereotyping. They buy luxury brands for no fixed reasons and so it is difficult to fit them into any segment. (ii) Vivacious Vivant: This comprise of self- made entrepreneurs or professional business executives who want to spend money to enjoy life, without feeling guilty. They work hard so that they can achieve success and celebrate it by buying luxury brands. (iii) Political Prowler: They want to acquire anything new with the money they have. Acquisitive to the core, has a childlike mentality of coveting whatever they sees new. The source of their riches can be unclear but they contribute the maximum to the purchase of luxury brands.