WISDOM FOR
A CHAOTIC WORLD
Case Study
DECODING ACTIONABLE CULTURAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE MODERN CATEGORIES OF ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS AND E-COMMERCE
E-commerce industry in India is expected to grow from US $2.9 billion to over US $100 billion by 2020 and the online classifieds industry, which stood at US $0.3 billion in 2013, is expected to grow to US $0.75 billion by 2018.
Hitherto, there had been an assumption that as e-commerce and online classifieds are new age categories for the ‘modern’ youth, decisions around these categories will also be modern and will bypass traditions – so long as the consumers are convinced about convenience, a switch will take place from offline to online. But, we had observed that while they are aware of the positives of online classifieds and e-commerce vis-à-vis offline solutions, it did not easily translate into habit change.
When we looked back to the research we had done with young people and observed the social indicators, we found that even with increasing affluence, there were certain traditional values and myths that continued. So we developed a reinterpreted model of e-commerce that has the 'Cultural Unconscious' at its foundation – which encompasses myths that guide behavior.
Using this model and in conjunction with OLX, India, we set out to uncover the deep cultural barriers to e-commerce and online classifieds by using a multi-disciplinary approach. We applied a unique combination of Psychology, Hindu mythology, cultural anthropology and literature to both the methods we developed and for the analysis. Using this unique combination we were able to probe deeper into the implicit beliefs that prevented consumer conversion. Ultimately, we came up with powerful cultural solutions in terms of inputs into communication strategy and execution.
The case study was presented at the ESOMAR Global Qualitative Conference 2015 in Paris.
