Marketers and communication professionals alike are familiar with the different facets and archetypes of brands. Perhaps, the time has come to recognise aspects of the consumer too, as unique portraits in themselves. At the heart of this perspective is the increasing sophistication and spread of brands that permit, enable and encourage the consumer to express themselves. Within this narrative, the maturity of consumers themselves is fundamental to the development of these facets and the catalyst for it.

After all, the right to choose is what defines a consumer. The eco-system around the consumer in these times resembles a supermarket, where he or she is at liberty to exercise their choice. Consequently, the drives, moods and motivations of consumer choices are reflective of the times we live in. Viewing the individual as a consumer, whether it’s a car or a cause or a vote, has become the norm and “marketing the concept” has taken root. It becomes necessary to then understand the ‘modes of the consumer’.

This article attempts to understand some of these modes through the lens of experience.

The consumer as rebel Let’s take the most exciting one and perhaps the most baffling one – the consumer as a rebel. This behaviour flies in the face of conventional logic and confounds marketers and communicators alike as consumers seem to have developed minds of their own and are no longer doing what communication is asking them to do. Free will is the genie in the bottle – once it’s out, it’s out. This may threaten the cycle of buying and selling that modern-day economies are built on. In its report Smoking Prevalence and Cigarette Consumption in 187 Countries - 1980-2012 , The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington revealed that the population of women smokers in India has grown from 5.3 million in 1980 to 12.7 million in 2012.

See that in the context of the data tabled recently in Parliament on cigarette smoking. A total of 93.2 billion sticks were smoked in 2014-15 — 10 billion less than in 2012-13. Production has fallen as well, from 117 billion to 105.3 billion sticks. It stands to reason then that women are using a commodity to register a protest, a protest that seems to be an assertion of identity and freedom, without them being the target of marketing. It will be interesting to watch what happens next.

Assertion of the self Take another symbol – blue jeans. Without doubt, it has become one of the most visible components of a mass-marketed consumerist life. There is a mind-boggling array of brands to cater to all manner of wallet power, gender, age, shape and size. The real story is developing beyond that, as consumers interact with the surface of the blue jeans. The pristine promise of outdoorsiness and Americana is scarred by gashes and slashes from which skin peeps through. Embellishments are added and the pair of jeans is treated as a canvas through which wearers seek to create and subsequently project their own culture.

Look closely the next time that you are in a public place. There is a sub-text of aggression that the modifications embody. This is a violent and emphatic attempt to reject the commodification and sameness that blue jeans impose. Maybe these are signs of a revolution. Do keep in mind that this is not limited to an age band, but it’s more of a cohort that loops across years. It may be well worth keeping track of and my belief is that a trend will emerge – a jeans index, a social barometer of sorts. There’s one baking in my oven.

In hedonist avatar Our life and times are a lot about work, uncertainty, global economies shrinking and relentless effort to guard the spot that we occupy in the economic food-chain. This has led to the rise of a rash of behaviours in consumers which seek to reclaim pleasure.

Go forth and enjoy, the consumer is in hedonist mode! This is not about survival needs but about seeking experiences that fly in the face of traditional restraint, guilt and shame associated with consumption in our country. Here the consumer throws on a cloak labelled seduction. It is held together by glamour and allure. After the toil and rigour of life, this is an escape, a pleasure permitted by the consumer.

This is the new contract that the consumer has signed with the self. Sweat, toil, work punctuated by momentary escapes. At this point we need to pause for a moment and reflect on our families.

Every successive generation of the last three, in India, has had more vehicles than the previous one, to generate pleasure. Yet, each successive generation has lower reserves or accumulations of it. My grandparents laughed the loudest. Did yours? Maybe our rising standards of living have diluted our experience of pleasure.

All those brands that hold the promise of hedonism close to their core need to approach the customer with caution. They will need to construct an upward spiral of experiences. Will real life ultimately resemble reel life, similar to The Hunger Games ?

The responsible one This brings us to a rather interesting zone of conflict within the consumer. This is the “responsible” mode of the consumer. I would like to examine this in the context of the odd-even formula proposed by the Delhi Government to reduce the load of pollutants in the air this winter. All eyes are on Delhi to decode the outcome. Decades of unbridled choice have conditioned the consumer to expect personal transportation as a way of life. Having to spend on air purifiers and visits to pulmonologists ends up in the same consumers roundly cursing city administrators for failing to keep the air breathable.

Given the Indian household’s predilection to carry through four digits of the registration number as a means of establishing identity, what are the odds that a lot of people are thinking of purchasing a new car to replace one in the stable to cover the alternate day?

My guess is, a lot of them. Given the unpredictability of our urban existence, we always want to hedge our bets. Maybe the one good that will come of it is the revenue from new car registrations for the Government. And, perhaps the vehicle population will bounce back to what it was before the odd-even solution. Who will win in the face-off between the responsible mode and the self-righteous mode of the consumer? I’m not placing any bets on this one.

We live in interesting times and this narrative in no manner is definitive. It will develop as Indian consumers come into their own.

Rajesh Kumar is Chief Strategy Head, MEC.

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