An Exploratory Study Profiling Consumers of Grey Market Products

Globalisation, Privatization and Liberalization (LPG) are phenomena that have spurred the wheels of economic growth. The economist vision is that of operating in a globalised economy where the entire world is treated as a single market segment but that has not been so because of some amount of customization either price wise or design wise that creeps into the products due to the inherent nature of doing business.

Products that were intended for a particular market are finding their way into market segments they were not intended for, where they are being sold through un-authorized distribution channels. This buying and selling through un-authorized distribution channels is known as the Gray Marketing or Parallel Importing.

The present research is an effort in the studying the phenomena called grey markets; it is a quest to understand the grey market consumers awareness and behaviour.