Is advertising keeping pace with the changing Indian middle class?

India’s middle class is often described as the engine of national consumption growth. Projections by the People Research on India’s Consumer Economy (PRICE) estimate it will grow from 31% of the population in 2021 to over 60% by 2047. A 2023 Goldman Sachs report similarly projects that the number of affluent consumers will rise from 60 million in 2023 to 100 million by 2027. This growth is fuelled by economic formalisation, digital adoption, and rising non-farm employment. 

Yet, even as the middle class expands, its consumption capacity appears under strain. Companies like Hindustan Unilever and Nestlé have flagged this trend. Across 2023 and 2024, many FMCG firms saw value growth due to price hikes, but flat or negative volume growth. The shift toward grammage reduction points to tighter household budgets hit by persistent food and fuel inflation. But income alone doesn’t tell the full story; factors like geography, life stage, and profession all shape the middle-class experience. This makes mass-market messaging a challenge.

“Most ads talk to everyone at once, but really connect with no one,” says Rajesh Mishra, Director at Thinking Hats Consumer Insights. “People at different ages think, feel, and live differently, but that rarely shows up. It’s all one message, when it should feel more personal.”

Prasanna Kumar, Head of Creative Domain & EVP – South Asia at Kantar, notes, “Campaigns are also beginning to reflect emotional complexity like Tanishq’s remarriage ad, which speaks to modern relationships and evolving norms.” But he adds, “the economic tension that underpins many middle-class lives—the trade-offs, credit stress and constant balancing act between aspiration and affordability, is often glossed over.”

Reserve Bank of India data supports this, showing a sharp rise in unsecured loans and credit card borrowing. The growth of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ platforms in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities reflects a shift toward credit-funded consumption.

Additionally, he notes that “identity layers such as caste, religion and regional nuance are still portrayed too safely or symbolically.”

Recent research shows that Indian advertising often portrays identity in a superficial manner. A report by the ASCI and the Unstereotype Alliance found that ads in India show significantly less ethnic diversity (3% vs. a 19% global average) and variation in skin tone (4% vs. 27% globally). Critical identity markers like caste and disability are nearly invisible, with less than 1% representation in advertisements. This data suggests a tendency to rely on safe, monolithic portrayals that gloss over the layered reality of Indian society.

From Lalitaji to lifestyle ads

In the 80s and 90s, Indian advertising leaned on relatable, slice-of-life storytelling. Campaigns like Surf’s Lalitaji, Humara Bajaj, and Dhara’s Jalebi captured the growing middle class. Today’s advertising skews aspirational, luxury homes, global lifestyles, nuclear families, mirroring a shift toward premiumisation.

Rajesh Mishra, Director at Thinking Hats Consumer Insights, draws a contrast between then and now, “Back in the 90s, middle-class ads spoke the language of value: affordable, effective, no-frills, like Nirma’s jingle every household knew. Today, they speak to the heart. Campaigns like Ariel’s Share the Load begin with everyday emotions, like a father reflecting on gender roles, and build a brand message that feels personal, real, and socially aware.”

Sainath Saraban, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Theblurr, observes, “Previously the middle-class was one large homogenised group. Now there are subsets.” He adds that today’s communication is about “reading the vibe, reacting to trends, and crafting bespoke mini-worlds consumers want to belong to.”

The FICCI-EY 2024 report echoes this, highlighting rising platform fragmentation and the need for micro-targeted messaging.

Production designer Praapty Biswas believes that advertising needn’t always chase aspiration in the traditional sense. “Not all ads need to be aspirational in the old sense, they need to feel emotionally relevant,” she says. “The most effective ads see the middle class as a diverse audience with evolving desires.”

Saraban adds that home settings often serve as subtle indicators of brand positioning. Jewellery ads tend to be set in aspirational homes to signal prestige, while detergent commercials lean into relatability to build trust. This visual grammar quietly communicates class intent.

Casting, too, is evolving. “FMCG brands favour safe, clean-cut casting for mass reach,” Saraban says. “But there’s growing demand for real, quirky, natural characters—especially in digital-first content.” He attributes this shift in part to the rise of the creator economy, where micro- and nano-influencers bring relatability and specificity that traditional celebrity endorsements often lack.

Mishra agrees that advertising is slowly catching up to changing consumer realities. “One thing advertising gets right is showing the tech-savvy confidence of today’s middle class,” he says. Yet he’s quick to flag a persistent blind spot: campaigns still tend to gloss over different life stages. “It’s all one message, when it should feel more personal.”

This generational nuance is especially visible in the role Gen Z plays within middle-class households. Dhanya Mohan, Lead - Strategy at TheSmallBigIdea, points out that “Parents still buy, but younger members are big purchase influencers who use social platforms to compare, try niche products, and recommend their picks”. 

Market research backs this up. A McKinsey study shows that Gen Z significantly shapes household buying decisions, from phones and home appliances to travel plans. Their preference for brands with transparent values and social purpose has also raised the bar for authenticity in advertising. As Mohan notes, brand storytelling still tends to centre the parent as the sole decision-maker, missing an opportunity to acknowledge this generational shift.

One household, many screens

Media habits within the middle class are now sharply fragmented. Gone are the days when a single TV show or family ad could capture everyone’s attention.

As Mohan explains, “Today, every family member has an internet-connected device and plays a role in recommending content or products. To engage everyone, brands must have an omnichannel presence-national TV, OTT, digital, and social media and create platform & TG-specific, nuanced content while maintaining the brand’s overall positioning.”

Data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) of India illustrates this fragmentation as well. While television viewership remains high, average daily time spent on smartphones has surpassed it, especially in urban and semi-urban areas.  

Mohan highlights that younger members in middle-class households, particularly Gen Z, are becoming key drivers of product discovery and brand evaluation. Armed with tech, social media, and instant access to information, they compare offerings, try niche products, and recommend them to others in the family. While parents may still make the final purchase, the influence of Gen Z shapes what enters the household.

Sandeep Ranade, Executive Vice President and Head of Quantitative Research at Hansa Research, frames this in terms of strategic planning, “Each advertisement has an objective (create awareness, build a brand (long term), drive sales etc) and each channel/media has a role to play if used effectively. If a brand is targeting the Indian middle class housewife, TV and YT can help build reach and relevant content on these mediums can drive reach. Insta can in some cases radio can be very good reminder, reinforcement media. The content on these media needs to be again customised for the objective ”

This balance creates what can be termed ‘achievable aspiration’ The consumer is willing to be sold a dream, but it must feel like it's within reach. A story about upgrading from a small hatchback to a compact SUV is believable but a story about upgrading from a scooter to a private jet is not. Brands that master this calibrated storytelling are the ones that build lasting equity.

Ranade asserts that while consumers are open to aspiration and storytelling, authenticity remains key. He explains that people are willing to dream, but they resist narratives that feel disingenuous or out of touch with their realities. In his view, effective advertising isn’t just about casting relatable faces, it’s about embedding those characters in stories that are both emotionally resonant and economically plausible.

Advertising aspiration in an age of anxiety

Today’s middle-class consumer in India lives in a constant balancing act, aspiring to a better life while managing rising expenses and slow income growth. Household debt has climbed to 38% of the country’s GDP, and the RBI reports that financial liabilities reached a record 5.8% of GDP in a recent year. At the same time, food inflation often runs higher than overall inflation, hitting essential spending the hardest. For households earning between ₹5 lakh and ₹1 crore, real income growth has barely moved in the last ten years. Despite this, many in this segment continue to look for happiness, identity, and validation through what they buy.

To reach this group, brands need to move beyond traditional ideas of aspiration. According to Kumar of Kantar, today’s consumer wants to feel respected, understood, and in control, not just to show off status. It’s about dignity and agency more than luxury. This reflects a deeper emotional need, where being recognised and valued matters as much as price or product features.

Mishra adds that aspiration now looks very different. It’s no longer about clear steps like upgrading from a bicycle to a car. Instead, it could be about choosing a foreign trip or leaving a steady job to go freelance. “Today’s aspiration is personal,” he says. “Not every ad needs to sell a dream. Some of the best ones, like Fevicol’s rural campaigns, simply celebrate everyday life, cleverness, community, tradition.”

Still, both experts say advertisers often oversimplify the middle-class story. While ads are more emotional and ambitious than before, they don’t always reflect the financial reality. As Kumar puts it, real connection comes not just from showing a dream, but from showing that brands understand the tightrope many families walk, where people are planning for the future, but also watching every rupee. Where being respected feels better than being envied.

Finding the middle ground, again

Some campaigns have managed to strike this balance between aspiration and relatability. One detergent ad, for instance, framed childhood mischief through the lens of maternal understanding, creating an emotional anchor without relying on overt status markers. Another campaign from the same category sparked conversations around domestic labour, using everyday scenarios to reflect changing social dynamics, without coming across as preachy or polarising.

And the rise of endorsers like Ayushmann Khurrana, who embodies a self-made, small-town narrative, signals a renewed appetite for authenticity.

The success of an endorser like Khurrana can be partially explained by the concept of parasocial relationships, where audiences develop a one-sided, intimate-feeling connection with a media figure. His on-screen and off-screen persona as a relatable ‘everyman’ from a middle-class background makes his endorsements feel less like a celebrity selling a product and more like a recommendation from a trusted peer.

So what does it take to reconnect? “I think ‘balance’ is the key operating word here,” says Ranade. “A good, relevant story that is aspirational yet believable (consumers are smart) and tries to build a positive narrative will work.”

Kumar puts it aptly, “First, respect the middle class’s intelligence. Don’t just show the dream- acknowledge the hustle, the everyday stress and the small victories that come along the way. That’s where real relatability lies.”

Final word

Far from fading, India’s middle class is evolving into a sharper, more influential economic force. Projections suggest the number of affluent consumers will touch 100 million by 2027, fuelling what could become a $2 trillion consumer economy by the end of the decade. This segment is digitally savvy and increasingly skeptical, most now research products and verify brand claims online before making a purchase.

In such a market, when advertising fails to land, the gap often lies in the creative approach. Consumer loyalty is fragile, and inauthentic messaging remains one of the top reasons for churn. For brands, revisiting grounded, empathetic storytelling isn’t about nostalgia, it’s a sound commercial strategy. With the middle class poised to drive India’s next phase of consumption growth, ignoring their lived realities is no longer just a creative miss, it’s a costly business risk.