Consumer research often focuses on what people want, why they choose and what drives purchase. But in India, desire is rarely expressed in a completely direct form. What we want often has to first become permissible. It may need an alibi. It may sit alongside a contradictory belief. It may require validation from other people, or be expressed in ways that make it socially acceptable.
This masterclass will explore the deeper cultural logic that sits underneath Indian consumer desire and show how researchers can learn to recognise it.
The session will introduce participants to a practical way of decoding desire through lenses such as:
• Permission: What gives someone the right to want something?
• Alibi: What explanation makes the desire acceptable?
• Paradox: What happens when the desire conflicts with how someone sees themselves?
• Performance: How can the desire be safely expressed or displayed?
• Negotiation: Who else has a say in whether the desire can be acted upon?
The session will use Indian consumer examples, cultural observations, research cases and live exercises to demonstrate how these dynamics appear in everyday conversations and purchase decisions. Importantly, this will be designed as a masterclass rather than a presentation. Participants will work with actual consumer statements and learn how to move beyond the stated reason to uncover the cultural logic beneath it.
The larger idea I would like participants to leave with is: Consumers rarely hand researchers desire in its naked form. They hand us desire after culture has made it acceptable.
And therefore, as researchers, we need to go beyond asking: “Why do you want this?" to also understanding: “What allows you to want it?"
The aim is for participants to leave with a new lens for reading Indian consumers, as well as a practical framework they can immediately use in moderation, analysis and insight development.