Figure 5 Driving among Professional and Upper Income Class

Although India gained freedom over sixty years ago, it has taken a while to give up its colonial mentality. In the last twenty years, one of the major psycho/social/cultural developments has to do with the rising Indian pride. This is particularly true of younger generation (especially those under 30 years) whose sense of pride and achievement has lain to rest all residual colonial obsessions and negatives (Varma 2006, Bijapurkar 2008). Removed from the experiences and memories of older generation, they are hardly conscious of their colonial past nor do they seem to care. In fact, ironically, most Indians of their generation and even many segments of the semi-urban and rural populations are learning and attempting to master the English language as a way to participate in the rapidly rising global economic scene and to enjoy consumerist benefits through better employment and individual pursuits.

At the national level, Nano has become a matter of national pride and an expression of Indianness. In terms of the world of products, India is known for textiles, hand made rugs, crafts and spices. In the last 15 years are so, India has become known globally for its software industry and has become a major player in the global knowledge economy (Dahlman and Utz 2005). However, there is a distinction between service/knowledge industry and concrete technological product orientation. Thus Nano represents a concrete manifestation of a technological achievement.

Indian pride originates from different sources. Its mythology and mythological heroes, its national pride as an emerging economic power, its democratic form of government and successful private enterprise in the IT sector and its preeminence in the entertainment world via Bollywood point to its current economic and cultural strength (Kasbekar 2006).
Nationalism and Indian Pride – Design Considerations

Implied in Nano design process is the notion of nationalism. Tata motors tried to exploit the national element aggressively. For example, there was a huge advertisement by Tata motors when this car was first launched and the Chairman of Tata enterprises thanked the Indians publicly (The Hindu 2009) (see also Figure 2 above).

As India is transforming to become an emerging industrial power the aspirations of the consumers are also on the rise (Bijapurkar 2007). It is true that India still has one quarter of its population at levels of urban or rural poverty. However, one has to weigh this against other trends. With a population of over a billion people, the middle class in the combined urban and rural sectors is considered to be around half a billion (NCAER 2005). They have attained certain levels of education and disposable income. There is upward mobility, self sufficiency in many aspects of personal and family needs (food, clothing, education, housing etc).

In the last twenty years, since 1991, India has been rapidly moving towards being a consumer society (Bijapurkar 2008). With the rise of television in many homes and the rise of televisual culture, increasing literacy and the production of college graduates, and the rise of the IT sector along with self-sufficiency in the agriculture sector, India has certainly entered the world picture. It is one of the four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, China and India), the four rising powers consisting of two-thirds of the world population.
The Target Consumer

The typical Indian member of urban working class travels by public transportation, or a bicycle, or a motor-cycle which are used to carry multiple members of the family. The trend of owning two-wheelers is due to a variety of facts peculiar to India. One of the chief factors is poor public transport in many parts of India. Additionally, two-wheelers offer a great deal of convenience and mobility for the Indian family (Figure 4 above). The wealthier class of professionals does own expensive cars (Figure 5 above). However, as stated earlier, many changes are occurring on social, cultural and economic fronts. There is now more upward mobility than ever before and greater urbanization. The urban middle class segment is now 1/3^rd of the population compared to 1/4^th only fifteen years ago. The disposable income has risen significantly.

The tantalizing virtue of personal freedom is now being embraced by Indians in many walks of life (Lorenzen and Mudambi 2010). For women, it ranges from economic independence to choosing their life partners to wearing of non-traditional (Western) style clothes and using latest technologies but not necessarily totally abandoning their traditional attire (Figure 6 above). It is all a matter of fluidity and expressing their sense of freedom through fashion, attire and even driving an automobile (Figure 5 above).

When an Indian woman wears a sari, for example, and she gets off the car, the design question is, what is the height that would be required for her to get off without sort of disturbing the folds of the sari? Nano designers really addressed this issue because the design question was what can be done to ensure that a car speaks to the Indian female consumer? In other words, how can Nano make her feel “this is “my” car”? Of course this will not be an issue for women wearing pants – which probably many younger Indian women do.

In the designing process, a potential male consumer was approached for his view of Nano. He had never owned a car and was currently an owner of a motorized scooter and was in his early twenties. He said that owning Nano would increase his prospects of getting married to a female with higher social standing. Here is what he had to say. “Tomorrow I can get a better girl if she says, ah, he has a car.” In other words, Tata motors are getting into the social fabric of the country. In a semiotic/cultural sense the consumer appropriates the meaning of the car and uses it to his advantage. The consumer may have a small car, but the small car has a semiotic meaning of bigness attached to it, and has a major cultural implication in his statements.

From a marketer’s perspective, the ultimate success of the design rests on how consumers receive the car and whether they actually buy it and invest in it. This is the behavioral side of consumer activity. But there is also the reflective side of design. That is, how does the consumer receive a product (or design) that makes the product alive within the cultural context?

So what can be said of the NANO effect? It’s really about euphoria, hope, optimism, international rivalry.

While India is moving towards becoming a consumer society, Indian culture continues to play on mythological themes. References to mythological characters as sources of inspiration and social models do exist and do not seem to conflict with India’s modernistic ambitions and expectations. The challenge is how to capture the essence of mythology within the context of a technological product?

While India is rising as an economic power, Indian ethos is celebrating its history and mythical past. While undergoing modernization, it has not abandoned its cultural heritage but instead is embracing it with contemporary idioms and overtones while celebrating it in a profound and significant fashion. Some people have described it as the Indian renaissance or reawakening. This can be seen in the marketing of India through travel brochures and the sprucing up of historical sites (Taj Mahal, Nalanda, Konarak, Mahabalipuram etc), as well as fashioning natural scenic settings as part of the growing tourist trade. Not only are these sites being marketed to foreign tourists, but they are now targeted to Indians themselves.