Five things you need to know about that search for the 'global consumer'

1 Outlook

For the past 20 years, consumers in India and parts of China have experienced little but improvement. You could argue that the last two decades have been the best in more than a century. Constant growth has created a great sense of optimism and a sense that anything is possible.

Contrast this with the current mood in the Western Europe and North America and you see that we live in an unbalanced world. The emerging markets did not really experience recession in the last couple of years, they continued to get pay rises and bonuses, while the West is in a new age of austerity.

2 Income

Despite the fact that the Chinese economy will soon eclipse the American economy in terms of GDP, earnings are not comparable. The average Chinese income will still be just 20 per cent of the US equivalent.

The Indian economy will also soon become bigger than the US by the same measure but here average incomes will remain even lower than those in China.

Because they earn so much less – even taking into account lower costs of living – their attitudes, priorities and lifestyles will be very different to consumers with similar positions in the West.

This income differential will feed into their behaviour. They will be more cautious about their spending, their travel experiences will be more local and Western-style images of wealth will have little meaning at best and, at worst, create an impression that any brand using them is “not for them”.

3 Brands

Overt status is much more important in emerging markets than it is in developed markets. Status symbols are especially important with young adults. Logos are there to be shown off, rather than be discretely displayed to those in the know.

However, authenticity is less important in emerging markets, hence the key competitor for many big name brands in these economies is not their rivals but copies of their designs. Improved quality makes it much harder to tell these fakes from the real thing and with the cost often below a quarter of the official retail price, the appeal is strong.

4 Generation gap

The Western world has become older while the rest of the world is getting younger. The average age of people in Italy is 43, in India it is 26. But the gaps between the generations are not the same. In the West they are closing while the gap has become a chasm in many emerging markets.

A 40-year-old in the UK could conceivably be a grandfather or a first-time father, they could be going to the same concerts as a 20-year-old and using the same technology.

In countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, technology, social media and work experiences are widening the gap to the point that the parents of a 25-year-old have no understanding of their child’s lifestyle.

5 Home

Young urban consumers in emerging markets have significantly less private living space: Sixty square metres is a large, expensive apartment in an Asian city like Mumbai or Hong Kong, while in London the average first-time buyer’s flat is 80 square metres.

Asian consumers are more likely to share their living space or even live at home with their parents or even their extended family. Hence they spend more free time away from the home.

The development of technology for the home is less important – these consumers favour smaller, individual, mobile possessions that they can carry with them as they meet their friends. Smart phones and iPads/tablets are key to their meetings in parks, shopping malls and at cinemas.

By contrast, their Western urbanite counterparts can legitimately aspire to private space at home and seek ways to display their individualism there.