Recession Reactions

Bangalore College Students

May, 2009

Objective & Methodology

Objective:
To study the perception and impact of recession amongst the Graduate and
Postgraduate students in the city of Bangalore

Methodology:
brand-comm in collaboration with Jyoti Nivas College( Department of
Management Studies) conducted Personal Interviews with the help of a
structured questionnaire
N=459( representing over 30 colleges)

List of Colleges

Christ College
Jyoti Nivas College
BMS
Jain College of Engineering
ICFAI
I.I.P.M.
SBMJCE
M.S. Ramaiah College of
Technology
Vijaya College
PES IT

Kristu Jayanti College

St. Josephs College
Vivekananda Degree College
St. Johns Medical College
East West College of Engineering
V.V.N. College
B.H.S. College
Presidency College
Mount Carmel College
New Horizon College
C.M.R. Institute of Technology

Consumption Observation amongst Peers

-Spontaneous Response

Whilst most students opine that the students of their age have become
conscious about the way they are spending, the self-consumption seems to
be unchanged to a large extent

The students personal buying behaviour does not seem to be reflective of

what they have heard and read about the recession

Majority of the students perceive recession to be a reduction in job

opportunities, salaries and an increase in layoffs

However, most perceive that it has no direct impact on them

Opinion on Current Personal Consumption

-Response to Prompted Question

More than half the number of respondents have indicated no change or an

increase in expenditure on all the ten prompted categories

There seems to be no significant differences in the consumption pattern

between Graduates/Post Graduates or Boys/Girls

Gifting

Personal/ Fashion Accessories

33%

Increased/No
Change

40%
Increased/No Change

Decreased

Decreased
60%

67%

ElectronicGadgets

Magazines/ CDs

Clothing
29%

40%

39%

60%

Increased/No Change

Increased/No Change

Increased/No Change

Decreased

Decreased

Decreased

61%

71%

As much as 60% were found not to have decreased their spends on

personal/fashion accessories, gifting, electronic gadgets,
magazines, clothing, CDs etc.

Transportation

Mobile Calls
17%

15%

Increased/No Change

Increased/ No
Change

Decreased

Decreased

85%

83%

Browsing/ Downloads

EatingOut
20%

20%

Increased/No Change
Increased/No Change

Decreased

Decreased

80%

80%

As high as 80% respondents opine that there has been no change or an increase in
the amount spent on transportation, mobile bills, web downloads and eating out.

Savings

Increased/No Change

45%
55%

Decreased

Interestingly, almost 50% of respondents admitted to a

decrease in their savings in the last four months.

Understanding and Perceptions of Recession

- Unaided Response

Majority of the respondents perceive recession to be generating less

number of jobs/ layoffs/ downsizing/ less money/ slowdown in business
activities/ financial crisis

Only some respondents expressed recession in terms of countrys economy/

GDP growth/ inflation, etc

As much as 15-20 % were found to be unaware or had no opinion on the

term Recession

Opinion on Recession
-Response to prompted statement
*5-point scale

60% or more opine that recession is being unnecessarily hyped in the

media ,which is very temporary and not a concern

Whilst majority consider recession to be a hot topic of discussion among

friends, 40% of the respondents think that they and their friends have not
understood the reasons and implications of recession

Majority opine that the recession is something beyond what happens to

corporate and business only

Thank You