New Socio-Economic Classification System for India

India's Market Research Society (MRSI) has partnered with the country's MRUC (Media Research Users Council) to launch a new socio-economic classification system, reflecting changes in consumer attitudes and economic outlook over the past three decades.

The new SEC system draws on MRUC's Indian Readership Survey (IRS) database, as well as household panel data from agency IMRB to provide a single system for both urban and rural India.

It now classifies Indian households according to the educational qualifications of their chief wage earner, and the number of assets owned (including agricultural land). Based on these two parameters, each household will be classified in one of 12 SEC groups.

The previous classification was developed in the mid-1980s and the programme to revamp it was initiated more than five years ago.

MRUC Chairman Lloyd Mathias explains: 'The old system only considered education and occupation as the two parameters for tracking data. In 2006, extensive research and inputs from industry experts had thrown up a burning need to revisit the classification system, given that the market environment, consumer profiles, preferences and attitudes had undergone a sea-change.'

Web sites: www.mruc.net , www.mrsi.in and www.imrbint.com .