Published: Mint dated 8th November 2010

The heterogeneity
that characterizes
the modern Indian
consumer has
created a maze
that marketers
would like to
unravel in order to
target their
products and
services precisely.
In this fortnightly
series, Indicus
Analytics will
present the various
facets of urban
consumers, across
geographies and
socio-economic
groups

Indicus Consumer Data Products


Affluent households with chief wage earners in their middle
age form a sizeable segment of urban SEC A households.
As the second largest SEC A sub-segment, this group is
comprised of one-quarter of all urban SEC A households.
The chief wage earners in this group are well-educated
businessmen or professionals, and are generally in the age
group of 35-44 years. The defining characteristic is that
they are all married with young children. Households have,
therefore, usually three-four members, and most families
have one or two children. Though this segment includes
both joint and nuclear families, the households are
predominantly nuclear families and just 16% have one or
two senior citizens.
These small, well off families are largely
dependent on the earnings of the chief wage
earner, though in nearly one-third of the
households, there are other earning members
as well—spouses or parents. Most spouses
are homemakers, who do not necessarily
need to go out to work. Yet, they are, for the
most part, well-educated and quite capable of
being employed outside the home. The
earning potential is, therefore, high in this
segment, and the next generation is also
being groomed to study higher skills, in all
probability abroad.
The head of the household is usually a
graduate; many are professionals. While self-
employment accounts for around 40% of the
chief wage earners in this segment, the
majority hold salaried jobs. The sectors of
employment are diverse—education, health
and social work being the most common
fields, followed by manufacturing.
Construction, real estate and trade, both
wholesale and retail, are other sectors that
offer the maximum potential to those who
may not be very well-educated or who may
not even hold graduate degrees, but who
have basic business skills and families or
other connections to start off small
enterprises on their own. The chief wage
earners in this segment are well-settled in
As affluent households in their middle years, the majority live in
houses they own, a higher percentage than the SEC A
households in their younger years. These families are climbing
up the income ladder and the ownership of consumer durables
is high—not just vehicles and large TVs, the latest in
microwaves and fridges are becoming the staple in many urban
affluent kitchens.

These households are the ultimate consumers of the new and

the trendy. They are well-connected to the world through
traditional media as well as through the Internet. They travel for
holidays, within India and abroad. These families have the
desire and the ability to get their children the best the world has
to offer. Not all families are super-rich, but this segment is
weighted towards the higher-income categories.

When it comes to location, it is but natural that while there are

many households that fall in the highest income category,
earning more than Rs.15 lakh per year, the highest number is in
Mumbai, India’s financial and commercial capital, followed by
Delhi and other metros. Yet, smaller cities such as Nagpur,
Faridabad, Vadodara, Lucknow, Rajkot, Coimbatore, Surat,
Durg, Ernakulam and Dhanbad also have a sizeable number of
these SEC A households in their middle years. Interestingly, if
we look at the proportion of households in the top income
category, Gandhinagar, Chandigarh and Faridabad stand out.
The beauty of India’s urban consumer geography is that
pockets of affluence are found in all regions and demand is
spread out across the country.