Income Inequality and Consumption Pattern Among BOP Consumers in India

Abstract

Marketing discipline has evolved through the context of the industrialized or developed world. However, the largest groups of consumers are also the poorest (Bottom of the Pyramid category) and economic inequality is still persisting among BOP consumers. Using the Gini co-efficient, economic inequality was measured with the help of World Bank report. The main aim of this paper is to know about the trends that took place in income inequality and consumption pattern among BOP consumers based on household surveys (from NSSO and World Bank). It shows that income inequality among BOP consumers has been increasing simultaneously with increase in consumption pattern among BOP consumers because income growth would leads to truly middle-class led one with growing of consumer spending from $1.5 trillion to $6 trillion by 2030. Further, income growth lifts 25 million households from poverty and in 2030 among that fewer than 5 per cent of households will be in below poverty.