Effect of Goods and Services Tax Awareness on Jewellery Purchase Behaviour

The level of consumer awareness on GST is critical in perception building on value of products, fairness in taxation, and in making purchase decisions. The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India that took place on July 1, 2017, was an important change in the taxation system of the country that would consolidate various levels of taxation into one national system. The paper aims to assess the awareness level of consumers regarding GST applied to jewellery. The present study adopts a descriptive research design to analyze the level of awareness, perception, and influence of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on consumer purchasing behavior toward jewellery products. The study is based on primary data collected from jewellery consumers through a structured questionnaire. A total of 100 respondents were selected using the convenience sampling method. The collected data were coded and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The discussion of the data gathered concerning 100 respondents gives some valuable conclusions concerning the consumer awareness and behaviour regarding the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on jewellery products. The demographic profile revealed the respondents were mostly young adults aged between 18 and 35 years and most of them were employed people with moderate income levels between 25,000 to 50,000, on an average monthly. The research has established that the average score of awareness about GST on jewellery was 2.66, which is way lower as compared to the neutral mid (3) (p < 0.001). This finding shows that consumers have a very low degree of knowledge when it comes to GST and its effects on jewellery prices. It was found that there is a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) with a mean score of 1.56 and this indicates that the people still prefer unorganized jewellery vendors to more organized retailers. The research concludes that GST has played a major role in consumer behaviour and taste in the jewellery industry. Despite the fact that GST was implemented to streamline the taxation system in India and bring about transparency in the system, consumer awareness as far as its application to jewellery is concerned is still average.