Hansa Research innovates method to arrive at real household income

Collecting income data in India is fraught with roadblocks. While surveys are considered accurate at capturing product usage and ownership, the same cannot be said of income because of the sensitivities involved. Income tends to be over-estimated in lower classes and under-estimated in upper ones. Measuring real income requires specialized elaborate income studies, which is beyond normal research studies.

Suresh Nimbalkar, Senior Vice President, Hansa Research said: "Income is intuitive, easy to understand and use. It is one of the most differentiating variables. As a result, there was a constant need expressed by the industry to provide real income. The Hansa IRS team took-up the challenge of providing the real income to its users."

Hansa conducted a special income study to accurately measure income. The study also measured product ownership/consumption. Based on this information, Hansa developed a model to predict real income based on product consumption, separately by population class. This model was validated with the help of "National Account Statistics', traditional MHI and New SEC. To arrive at real income in any customized study, all one needs to do is to capture details of 18 products and use the model.

This paper bagged the first prize in recently concluded Market Research Society of India (MRSI) seminar at Bangalore