New routes from old roots: Comparing the Indian and Chinese middle class

WHEN WE THINK of India and China, a huge variety of popular perceptions and images come to mind, captured in these real chapter titles from some recent, more popular books:

India:

Global and Medieval – India’s schizophrenic economy;

Battles of the righteous – the rise of India’s lower Castes

New India, old India – the many layered character of Indian modernity

China:

The China price

The pirate nation

The revolution against communist revolution

A startup and a turnaround

While both media and business have focused their attention on the way these two economies have grown, and will continue to grow, there is limited information about the social impact of these economic developments.

Collectivism vs individualism

As a part of this initiative we have focused on the household as a unit and looked at household influences in these two societies. We chose the household unit as a lens, rather than the individual, because of the collective nature of the two societies.

Globalisation and other foreign influences notwithstanding, both societies have traditionally demonstrated a more collectivist social structure with household and family more important than the individual, society or even the country. This difference is important because it contrasts these two societies with the majority of western soci- eties where values and decision making arise from a more individualistic orientation (see methodology at the end of the article).

Differences in experience and pace of change

A direct comparison between the sets of families in China and India would be unfair because each is at a different life-cycle stage. Also, social change in China has been more dramatic and liberating in contrast to the previous period of repression in thinking and exposure. Thus, their need to try to explore is much more pronounced than for Indians, who have witnessed steadier change.

Barring the emergency and accompanied political uncertainty of the 1970s, Indian society has not witnessed social or political turmoil – very unlike China’s tumultuous past.

For example, Indians have used multinational brands for decades – some of them such as Cadbury, Lux, Surf, Horlicks – have almost lost their ‘foreign’ identities and are seen more like ‘Indian’ brands, whereas in China, when people drink Coke or use Olay, they are acutely aware they are consuming a foreign brand: it is typically the primary reason for its consumption.

Despite the difference in the pace of change and the different stages in a household’s evolution, there are still some key comparisons that can be drawn about the way middle-class households lead their lives in these two societies.

We will look first at some of the social contrasts.

• Relationships, freedom, romance, sexuality. Live-in relationships between young men and women are quite prevalent and socially acceptable in China. This is in sharp contrast to how the Indian middle class looks at premarital intimacy. Much of the romantic and sexual behaviour of the young in China is simply a matter of copying certain aspects of a Western lifestyle. Consequently, public displays of affection are much more prevalent in China than India. Young boys and girls are much more expressive as they walk down the streets. This is in sharp contrast to the more conservative view of sexuality prevalent among the Indian middle class. This also shows a greater concern for ‘what will people think’ among the Indian middle class.
• Religion and caste-based social segmentation. Most Chinese families are not religious at all. The practice of religion is a recent phenomenon, and its role is a social one. This is in sharp contrast to their Indian counterparts. Indians find relevance for religion and spiritualism in almost everything – politics, commerce and even family and relationships. The majority of weddings do not happen without a matching horoscope. The first choice of a parent from among the Indian middle class is to get his son or daughter married to someone from the same caste or community. This is an antithesis to the more caste-neutral Chinese middle class.
• Self-expression. While karaoke nights are niche in India, they are a mainstream rage in China. This could once again be seen as ‘expression with a vengeance’ among the ‘recently liberated’ Chinese middle class compared to the traditionally more communicative and democratic India.

There are many areas where behaviours are quite different. We’ll look at a few next.

Doers vs talkers and destiny over deeds

Chinese middle class boys and girls are active and outdoorsy ‘doers’, be it work or play – fishing, barbeque, rollerblading or karaoke. In contrast Indian boys are less active and Indian girls leaving school do not engage in any kind of physical or indoor sport at all. At a cultural level this divergent behaviour is rooted in two distinct philosophies. While the Chinese philosophy is Confucian, wherein the man is the doer and in charge of his destiny, the Hindu philosophy is driven by destiny more than deeds. An old and familiar adage in India, ‘One cannot ever get more than what is written in one’s destiny or get it before the time for it has come.’

Eating out

The Chinese are very comfortable in eating out and do so regularly in groups. This is in sharp contrast to Indian families, for whom a meal out of home is infrequent, although snacking on foreign food is becoming popular with the young.

Multiple jobs

Many young middle-class Chinese men and women take up more than one job at a time – attempting to improve their living standards through the extra income.

In India, on the other hand, moonlighting is an exception. The approach of the Indian middle class towards jobs and employment is much more linear and one-dimensional. Indians aspire to the best of education for themselves because it is a ticket to a better life. Among the Indian middle class, dabbling in many things at the same time is viewed as a symbol of lack of focus or a family’s poor financial standing and inability to support their child’s education. The Chinese are more instrumental: more jobs equal more money.

Media exposure – an acknowledgement of media influence

Younger urban households in both cultures are typified by greater internet penetration. However, the Chinese middle class is much more comfortable with new media than their Indian counterparts.

Furthermore, the Chinese don’t feel embarrassed about acknowledging the role of advertising and media in their purchase decisions. But rarely would an Indian say he bought something because he liked the advertisement. Indians always prefer to point out the logical reasons for the purchase decision (even if emotional reasons are the drivers for purchase), typically citing quality or price as the reason. Indians are inveterate rationalisers in this regard.

Brand preferences and the generational divide

The older generation in China prefers classic symbols of luxury. Young Chinese, on the other hand, prefer brands that are differentiated in design and form. This is especially true for fashion accessories and automobile brands. In other words, Chinese youth are more individualistic in their choice of brands in many categories.

Young Indian middle-class consumers, in contrast, are more comfortable with mainstream brands and prefer to acquire well-known symbols of luxury/exclusivity – suggesting they are less individualistic, less experimental and more image conscious than their Chinese counterparts.

This examination has enriched our understanding of the subtleties and nuances of these two societies and refutes – or at least, clarifies – some of the more prevalent myths or stereotypes. Here are some of the more interesting conclusions:

1. India and China are collective societies but in contrasting ways.

While the meaning of collectivism in the Chinese middle class is more about the household or parents, collectivism in the Indian middle class is more about the family or extended network of relationships, viz. parents, uncles, aunts etc. In some ways, affection and responsibility in China are focused, while they are distributed in India.

2. Although India has been a democracy for decades, the Indian middle class is far from egalitarian.

Even after over 60 years of freedom and independence, the Indian middle class still exhibits caste behaviour in multiple ways. This ranges from marriage preferences to ‘reverse caste-ism’ in the form of reservation of government jobs for people of backward communities.

3. A prominent stereotype is that China is not an expressive or experimental society. We concluded that China is an even more expressive society than India.

Years of controlled life in China have led to a whole universe of bottled-up feelings, emotions and thoughts. The new era of economic boom has led to a new wave of Chinese ‘expression with a vengeance’. The society is altogether more experimental and outgoing than India.

4. Food experimentation is nothing like as widespread as it is in Western (especially Anglo-Saxon) societies.

Both the Indian and Chinese middle class are exploring newer cuisines but this is still simply for a change and not a transition to a new taste. In fact, both societies still look at Western or other international cuisines as snacks and not proper meals.

5. A widespread belief is that the Chinese are rational consumers while Indians are emotional in their purchase behaviour.

Both societies are exploring newer products, services and brands – all with a range of emotional components. The only difference is that the Chinese consumers acknowledge the role of media and marketing in their purchase decisions, while Indians shy away from admitting it.

6. It is an overstatement to say that both middle classes are upgrading and adopting luxury.

The reality is that they are experimenting with ‘miniature luxury’ (personal premium products for special use or occasions), viz. Chivas Regal, Olay, Davidoff etc. and services viz. premium and super premium restaurants, salons etc., while cutting back expenses on staple food, everyday groceries and toiletries. This amounts to a realignment of expenses and not an across-the-board upgradation to premium brands.

7. The young Chinese are seemingly more individualistic in their brand choices, a herd mentality persists in both the societies.

In both societies brand choice is a function of the immediate friend circle. Many brands get chosen simply because everyone in a group is buying them. The difference is restricted to the designs and colour and even these are more similar than divergent.

8. The Western idea that individual effort is what leads to success is not held by either society. Individual efforts are important, but social contacts make all the difference.

Whether it is guanxi in China or bhai bhateejavaad (‘favouring brothers/nephews’) in India, a lot is accomplished by milking family and social relationships.

9. The notion that women are earning, independent and outgoing is unsupported. Men work for money, women work for ‘pocket money’.

Despite better education and equal opportunity, middle-class women in both societies play a supporting role. While men are the chief wage earners, women either take care of the household and remain housewives (in India) or supplement family income with a low-pressure job, simply because their main responsibility is still childcare.

Sample, location and methodology

Household and family influences are a function of their composition (networks within a household unit) and location (networks with the immediate environment). In order to arrive at a balanced portrayal of household influences, we decided to segment the households on the basis of their size and location.

For both the countries, we cherry-picked the household life-cycle segments that are witnessing maximum change. These household/family groups, we believe, represent change in the two civilisations at this point in history. Thus, while the Chinese respondent households are yet to be nests, Indian households are full nests. For China we picked up households units that are demonstrating a revolutionary spending pattern and hitherto unconventional social habits like live-in relationships etc. These are households that comprise young men and women who are entering their first jobs. Research locations had to be chosen, while being conscious of stereotypes, viz. ‘Shanghai is China’ and ‘Bangalore is India’. In order to strike a balance between tradition and modernity we looked at cities that were very old and yet were embracing the new wave of economic and social activity – the real India and the real China, so to speak.

The study used a video-ethnography approach. Families were familiarised with the camera and then videotaped from Saturday to Monday to capture both weekend and weekday routines. For more detail contact the authors (email adresses below).

Some broad implications

Foreign vs local

One of the key implications is that, in China, Multinational Corporation(MNC) brands (with the major exception of food brands that need to be localised everywhere in the world) need not localise their appeal as much as in India. Chinese consumers are looking westwards, and the appeal of those brands lies in just that. In India, localisation must be taken much more seriously and communication often needs to be rooted in local idiom.

The meaning of family

While there are many commonalities there does exist a fundamental differences in the way family influences operate in these two societies. The meaning of family in China is limited to immediate household or parents, whereas in India family stands for a larger network of influences beyond the extended family. Thus the perennial concern in middle-class India is ‘What will people say!’

This differential meaning of family or household manifests itself in the meaning of society and social obligation. While decisions such as education and occupation have equal parental involvement in both societies, in China marriage is more of a personal decision; families dominate in India.

Important role of social bonds

Approval and recognition from the social influencers is key to building brands in both nations; also many items (not just gifts) are bought for others – girlfriends buy cosmetics for each other, food for boyfriends, wives buy for husbands etc.

Family and friend relationships can be so close that one happily passes on the responsibility of choice to another. This is something that would rarely be seen in western societies, which exhibit a more individualistic consumer mindset. Markets such as India and China thus offer an opportunity and pose an imperative to build brand and marketing propositions that are more rooted in relationships and rituals than individual identities.

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Above image text -> [A great deal has been written about the rise of China and India as commercial giants. Yet rarely are comparisons made between the consumers in these two markets. This article, based on a major study undertaken by Ogilvy & Mather, examines the prevalent myths and identifies some of the influences determining the consumption habits of the two largest clusters of consumers in the world.]

 

Live-in relationships between young men and women are quite prevalent and socially acceptable in China. This is in sharp contrast to how the Indian middle class looks at premarital intimacy. Much of the romantic and sexual behaviour of the young in China is simply a matter of copying certain aspects of a Western lifestyle

 

The older generation in China prefers classic symbols of luxury. Young Chinese, on the other hand, prefer brands that are differentiated in design and form. This is especially true for fashion accessories and automobile brands. In other words, Chinese youth is more individualistic in their choice of brands in many categories