The Changes in the Perceptions of Women towards the Symbolic Value of Gold: Marketing and Financial Implications

Abstract

Gold is a sought-after good across the globe, particularly among Asian countries. The demand for gold is influenced by symbolic, utilitarian, and hedonic values. One of the critical values among these is symbolic value, which refers to the meanings associated with a commodity. This study attempts to identify the impact of cultural dynamism on the perceptions of women towards the symbolic value of gold. Cultural dynamism is a definite outcome of globalization; it refers to the changes in cultural beliefs and practices as an outcome of exposure to the elements of other cultures. These cultural changes will have an impact on the consumption of all types of goods, particularly those goods that are demanded due to a region’s culture. The present study attempts to identify the direction of cultural dynamics and its impact on gold in India as an outcome of the economy opening up in 1990. The perceptions of two sets of samples have been compared and contrasted in this study: one is a set of females born and married (this is because marriage has a vital role in determining perceptions towards gold) before the advent of globalization and its impacts in India, and the second set is the daughters (to ensure that other elements, such as socioeconomic aspects, are not affecting the perception) of the first set of customers. This study adopts a multidimensional scaling technique to analyze the data; this is due to the sound method that it is, and also due to the ability to provide a visual depiction of the outcomes. It could reveal evidence of polarization regarding perceptions towards the symbolic value of gold; it opened a research gap. A similar study with which to identify perceptions towards hedonic and symbolic values is suggested as an outcome of the study.