CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF PRODUCT STIMULI An Investigation into Indian Consumer Psychology and its Implications for New Product Development Process and Strategy

Consumer perception of product value is central to all stages of the process of bringing products to markets, from design and manufacture to distribution and retail. As a result, product strategy needs to respect customer needs in order to achieve or retain competitive advantage in providing innovative and differentiated products. Increasingly however, markets are becoming saturated with homogenous product offerings with little differentiation in terms of technology or function. In many mature markets the process of consumer decision making is no longer governed by intrinsic factors such as pricing or performance; instead it is extrinsic factors such as brand, service and ethical behaviour that is becoming increasingly influential to consumer product choices. As one of the most important emerging markets, India has attracted a large number of international brands. The Dramatic changes within the economy have resulted in many new opportunities. There has been a significant rise in consumer disposable income, a development of modern urban lifestyles, and an increase in consumer awareness. These changes have affected buying behaviour and the consumer decision making process. However, relatively little is still known about how Indian consumers perceive products