Brand-conscious and image-conscious India

If there isn't, then here is my question:

Do you think India is getting more and more image-conscious and brand-conscious now? Is it a good thing?

To be honest, in my personal opinion, I feel that the Indian society has gotten more brand-conscious and there seems to be more peer-pressure to dress in a certain way, have certain brands, display certain wealth etc.

I am talking about India, as that's the country where i have seen this, and heard from others as well.

I think it's gotten a lot worse in India now with kids feeling the pressure to have the latest gadgets, fashionable brands, going to certain places for holidays and just generally throwing your wealth around. The parents also feel the pressure to keep up with their demands - not saying that this did not happen wayy before, but it seems to be getting a bit out of hand - and parents also feeling the pressure to appear a certain way in society.

Even today, sometimes I see people wearing branded clothes, which don't even look good together, but the fact that they are "branded" is all that matters.

This may be a generalisation, as there will be Indians who don't - however, as a general population, what do you think?

What kind of a society is India evolving into?

~K

stage 1: you have nothing - no worry about brands as you cant get them.

stage 2: you have something - you want to better stage 1. you go after brands as you can get them

stage 3- you have something for a while - you want to better stage 2. you see them going after brands and therefore you go for best brands

We have seen China emerge as one such example in the past two decades. People go beyond their means to get that Gucci handbag even if that means slacking off on house mortgage (this was a longitudinal project involving iphone and luxury brand factory workers who preferred spending money on brands than planning for the future education, family, sometimes even rent).

Coming to India. India is somewhere in the mid point. The number of companies opening stores in every state has grown progressively higher. There is still much more to come. I expect the influx of exotic brands in addition to the flocking multinationals. Perhaps the construction of VIP shopping malls to the likes of Dubai & Beijing. With this comes the desire to possess a piece of luxury: a status symbol, something to flaunt. It is understandable and it is human nature. eg. some teenagers have an American Eagle or A&F or pompous sweatshirt phase but they grow out of it. Same with introduction of new brands; the interest dies down after a while. In fact, where I live (hippie town), one is considered "cool" if you buy local, eco-friendly clothing (x20 times more expensive than the regular stuff).

Almost all developing countries will experience this spike in consumer culture.

On the one hand it is a time of great interest: globalization, increased number of large scale businesses, economic growth.

On the other hand it kills small businesses: the India from ten years ago had a lot more local shop owners that have been pushed out of business today or barely keeping afloat. Their hand made clothing is competing with Reliance's mass production machines (insert big corporation name here) churning out labelled clothes.

Most brand snobs I know are aware of the fact that these designer goods are overpriced and you're paying for the name. It's not a matter of being ill-informed that they need to be made aware of the happenings of the branded world. It's a generalization to label it as "false satisfaction"..there are people who buy brands for themselves and not others.

@TM If people are feeling pressured into buying brand names and caving in, then that's their own prerogative. It can't be helped if some people give that much importance to what others think that they will buy things they either don't want to or can't afford to. When it come to kids, it's the parents job to either teach them why brands are a no-go or indulge them..why blame societal pressures? Humans are materialistic people and being brand-conscious is just an extension of that, it's not necessarily an evil.