Consumer buying behaviour during festivals

Mohammad Bathish B A Roll no: 215121047

Abstract:
The aim of the assignment is to identify customer’s buying behaviour during festivals
in India. As India is a secular country, Indians follow or celebrate a wide range of
festivals like Diwali, Holi, EID, Christmas and even New Year. Companies or brands
have a lot of opportunities during the festive season. The study is primarily based on
various online articles, surveys and research papers.

Introduction:
Consumer Behaviour is the study of how different organizations, groups and people
acquire, use different products, goods, services and ideas to meet their need and
want. Marketers must have a comprehensive knowledge of both theory and reality
when it comes to customer behaviour. There are many factors that affect the
customers’ buying decision, they are mainly cultural, social, and personal factors.

Festivals are a time of joy and celebration, also this time we like to gift our loved ones
as well as indulge ourselves. This creates a huge opportunity for brands to sell their
product to the consumers. Many companies or brands adapt various marketing
techniques such as discounts, promotions, ads to market their product to the
consumers. This is done to increase sales, create brand awareness among the
general audience. India is a diverse country and its diversity can be seen from its
buying patterns during festivals, most north and west Indians make a purchase during
the festival of Diwali, people from Kerala usually buy during Onam festivals,
consumers in Tamil Nadu prefer to make a purchase during Pongal.

Here the brands try to connect with the consumers by adapting a festive based
marketing approach, to understand the needs of the consumers. Brands achieve high
levels of success during this period and it would be very beneficial to study these
marketing strategies for future reference. Such information will be useful for
manufacturers, retailers, marketing agencies and scholars in understanding consumer
behaviour. In the following section we would look into various aspects regarding
consumer behaviour during festivals in India.

Everything, from food to electronics, is available online in the twenty-first century.

Consumers are becoming more aware of the benefits of digitalization and are
requesting more customised control. While customers in major cities choose online
shopping and ecommerce for the majority of their purchases, the trend is progressively
spreading to non-metro cities.

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Evolution of consumer buying behaviour over the years:
The two main options for customers are offline shopping and online shopping. During
the festive season, market places and malls attract a large volume of consumers. Even
Though offline shopping has its merits, the internet boom in the country along with the
increasing usage of social media and availability of credit has given rise to online
shopping, in a way transformed the consumer habits.

The concept of eCommerce, as well as the ease with which Indian consumers can
access top brands and a wide range of product offerings, has made festive shopping
a breeze. It has also resulted in a significant shift in the purchasing experience and
attitude of customers. However, the most important influence eCommerce has had on
customer buying patterns is the ability to shop from anywhere, at any time, without
having to adhere to store hours.

COVID-19 epidemic halted the world economy, halting ambitious purchases for a
while. According to the Adobe Digital Economy Index study, eCommerce sales in May
2020 alone will surpass those of the whole 2019 holiday season. Since March, when
long-term lockdowns were imposed, eCommerce spending has surpassed forecasts,
totalling more than $52 billion in transactions.

This constantly growing purchasing landscape, which includes everything from local
brick-and-mortar stores and malls to mobile phone buying, presents marketers with a
fantastic chance to build a seamless experience between online and offline shopping.
Brands are adapting by developing applications and optimising their web storefronts
to give customers more options about where, when, and how they purchase. A
customer may order a thing online, have it delivered in a day or two, and even return
it to a real store if they are dissatisfied.

For millions of Indian customers, festival buying is a big deal. Whether it's a drop in
the economy owing to COVID-19's unprecedented breakout or a high inflation rate that
strains household finances, Indian consumers remain irrepressible when it comes to
spending over the festive season.

Festive Season Pulse 2021:

According to The Festive Season Pulse 2021, a survey conducted by global
advertising leader The Trade Desk and YouGov, Six out of ten Indian customers are
interested in learning about new companies during holiday season sales, with 91
percent planning to make a purchase during the forthcoming festive season. It
examines customer attitudes and behaviours about India's holiday season sales, as
well as the channels that marketers may use to maximise the efficacy of their
marketing campaigns on the open internet.

The festive season is essential to Indian buyers, and the findings are encouraging for
marketers. Almost one-third of Indians are looking forward to the forthcoming festive
season sales, with nine out of ten intending to make a purchase during this period.
According to the study, 82 percent of respondents shopped online at least once a

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month in the previous six months, and nearly one-quarter of those bought online
multiple times a week or more often.

When the consumers were asked about the channel that made the biggest impact on
their purchasing behaviours, the survey responders/ consumers cited video streaming
platforms (OTT), music streaming services, websites, and mobile applications
(collectively known as open internet channel) were named by 34% of respondents,
while social media was cited by 33% and conventional offline methods (direct mail,
traditional TV ads, outdoor advertising, and word of mouth) were cited by 32%.This
data show that customers use the open internet just as much as social media to inform
their purchasing decisions. This is unsurprising, given that most individuals spend the
bulk of their time at home on the internet, watching OTT, streaming music, and reading
online content for pleasure. The growing open internet has given marketers new ways
to include these channels into their digital marketing mix, allowing them to influence
customers at every point of their journey.

The research also underlined the rising relevance of over-the-top (OTT) and music
streaming in helping customers locate new offers and promotions. More and more
regular online consumers are discovering new discounts and promotions via
advertisements on OTT (nearly one-half) or music streaming services (more than one
in four).

Additionally, the study showed that Indians are prone to switching brands since more
than half of them (53%) are neutral or apathetic to the brands they buy. Furthermore,
during the festival season, six out of ten Indians are interested in learning about new
companies, with women being more interested than men (68 percent versus 58
percent). This also suggests that women are more receptive to advertisements during
holiday sales, which is why marketers should target women far ahead of time for
holiday sales rather than males, who may have pre-determined purchasing demands.

The report also states that the festival season is the best time for the marketers to
capture the attention of both brand loyalists and brand switchers. With the multitude
of options and customers' excitement for sales events, marketers may capitalise on
this enthusiasm by giving consumers offers where they see the most value for money.

Preferred categories for festive shopping:

Giving clothing to members of a household is undoubtedly a must-do during significant
Indian festivals. As a result, the most preferred item purchased during the festive
season are “Clothes and Apparels”. The next favourite item of purchase is electronics.
This is backed by multiple studies and surveys most notably the survey conducted by
“Statista Research Department”, they conducted the survey from 2017 to 2020
regarding the preferred category of purchase in India during the festive season, the
survey had over 100,000+ respondents.

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Conclusion:
The purpose of the study is to better understand consumer behaviour throughout the
festive season, which has led to a better knowledge of the basic factors that impact
customers' purchasing decisions. It can also be understood that consumers are
moving towards online channels for shopping and the popular item that sells during
the festive seasons are apparels. Manufacturers, retailers, marketing agencies should
be up to date on target customer behaviour in order to make the most of the
opportunity.

Reference:
1. “Festive Season Pulse 2021”, Survey by The Trade Desk and YouGov

2. [Link] (2018), “A study on consumer buying behaviour during festive

season”, International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, Vol. 8 Issue 3,
pp. 516-517

3. V T Shailashri, [Link], Dr. Surekha Shenoy, “A study on Online

Consumer Buying Behaviour during Festive Seasons in India”, ssrn, pp. 186-
187

4. [Link]/statistics/1026759/india-preferred-categories-festive-
shopping/

5. [Link]
purchasing-habits-evolved-over-the-years.a6703/

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