Discovering the Changes in Gendering of Products: Case of Woman in ‘Bikerni Community’ in India

Varsha Jain; Kriti Bharadwaj; Amrita Bansal; Vivek S Natarajan

doi:10.33182/bc.v6i2.490

Authors

Varsha Jain MICA, Ahmedabad
Kriti Bharadwaj Cuponation, Marketing Manager- Singapore & India Gurgaon Office
Amrita Bansal FPM Scholar, MICA, Shela, Ahmedabad
Vivek S Natarajan Associate Professor, Jerry and Sheila Reese Faculty Scholar in Business, Department of Management and Marketing, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33182/bc.v6i2.490

Keywords:

gendered products, gender roles, identity theory, self congruency theory, Bikerni Association

Abstract

In the Indian society, gender roles have played an important role in shaping the culture. However, due to technological advancements and change in societal needs, there is an evolution in the gender roles. This evolution has created a need to understand the gendered products from a new perspective. Therefore, this paper tries to discover the factors of consumption of gendered products and role of social media in shaping the consumption pattern and motivation of women in biking industry in India. Subsequently, to address the objectives, qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, netnography and projective techniques are applied and data is analyzed further. With the help of data analysis, it has been found that that Indian woman is motivated by a quest for freedom, independence and empowerment. The families and close-knit communities that they are part of, such as Bikerni Association of India, help them participate in a hyper-masculine product market.

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Author Biographies

Varsha Jain, MICA, Ahmedabad

Dr. Varsha Jain is Assistant Professor in Integrated Marketing Communication and Chair, Dissertation at the Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (India). She has 41 publications in international, national and trade journals and book chapters such as International Journal of Mobile Marketing (US peer reviewed), Young Consumers (Emerald, UK), Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration (Emerald, UK peer reviewed journal), Middle East Media Educator (Middle East peer reviewed journal). She has reviewed cases, papers and book chapters for International Journal of Emerging Markets (Emerald, UK), Asian Media Information Centre (AMIC, Singapore), Vikalpa (IIM-A), Sage, Pearson Publications and Oxford University Press. She was recognized as “Outstanding Woman Management Researcher–2012” in January 2013 at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, India and "Young Management Researcher -2013" (gold medal) at IMT Ghaziabad, Delhi, India by AIMS International (The Association of Indian Management Scholars). She is an editorial board member of AIMS International Journal of Management. She was a visiting scholar at Medill School, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois from May to July 2013 and visiting professor at IIM, Indore from July 2013 to December 2013. Her research areas are mobile marketing, luxury branding and generation Y.

Kriti Bharadwaj, Cuponation, Marketing Manager- Singapore & India Gurgaon Office

Kriti Bharadwaj is currently working as a Marketing Manager (India & Singapore) for a Rocket Internet firm. She works on all marketing, branding strategy, CRM and PR activities for Cuponation. Prior to this, she was working as a Brand Planner at Mirum- JWT. Kriti pursued MBA in Strategic Marketing and Communication from MICA (Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad) where I specialised in Brand Management. Prior to MBA, she worked for approximately 2 years in Research and Consultancy at EY and Kline Consulting. Kriti graduated in Economics from Delhi University and has led many research projects in her academic and professional experience.

Amrita Bansal, FPM Scholar, MICA, Shela, Ahmedabad

Amrita Bansal is an F.P.M. scholar at the MICA, Ahmedabad (India). She pursued MBA in marketing from ICFAI Hyderabad. After her masters she worked in Indusind Bank for a year as an Assistant Manager. From 2014-2015 she worked with ICFAI Group as a marketing manager. Her areas of study include Marketing, Branding, Societal Marketing, and Theories of Persuasion. She tries to study all these areas together and bring an interdisciplinary approach in her scholarship. At present she is in the 1^st year of FPM-C programme.

Vivek S Natarajan, Associate Professor, Jerry and Sheila Reese Faculty Scholar in Business, Department of Management and Marketing, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas

Dr. Vivek Natarajan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and Marketing at Lamar University since 2006. His areas of research interest include New Product Development / Innovation/ Entrepreneurship, Bibliometrics, Electronic Commerce, Health Care and Case Method. He has authored more than eighteen referred articles on subjects ranging from the heath care industry to the housing industry in journals including IJICBM. He is serving as the President of Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators.