A few categories like Watches and Television are continuing to grow despite the slowdown. Down trading is actually a phenomenon when consumers opt for lower value products than higher value ones.

Apparel and big-ticket items are witnessing a slump in sales, air conditioners, home appliances and television sets are still holding strong. Titan industries on the other hand, have not seen any down trading to its mass brand from its premium and mid-premium brands in the past month. The company continues to focus on launches in the premium segment.

Percy Panthaki of HSBC Global Research said there has been no down trading from Titan to Sonata (mass brand) in consumer behavior. The report said "the down trading from Titan to Sonata has not occurred as expected and the decline in watch sales is due to running down of pipeline stocks of Sonata, which were built up in expectation of down trading".

Sabiha Kidwai, general manager, marketing, at Panasonic India, said "Despite the slowdown, we see consumers upgrading in certain categories of consumer durables due increasing consciousness towards brand, quality and energy efficiency."

Consumer durables firm Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd has witnessed the change in consumer behavior in recent months. Kamal Nandi, vice president, sales and marketing, said "Low-end category across verticals of appliances is moving faster, whereas high-end category has slower growth rate". Industry growth for frost-free range of refrigerators prior to the slowdown was 23% and now stands at 7%. Similarly, split ACs were growing 27% before the slowdown, but now grow at only 9%.



Related Books:
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer and Quality
The Emerging Consumer

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Posted by Amrith K.A on 8 May, 2009 5:16:07 PM IST #