‘India’s users too digitally savvy’

Title Bharat-The Neo IndiaIndia users are as efficient as users in India in participating in online financial activities, the report said. The report defines India users as people who prefer regional languages ​​as their main language to access social media. Users in India, meanwhile, prefer English as their main language for social media

For starters, 49% of urban active internet users prefer Indian languages. The preference for Indian languages ​​in non-metropolitan cities is 53% higher than in metropolitan cities at 39%. The report studied social media behaviour, content preferences and spending choices of ‘India’ and ‘India’ users. The survey was conducted online in December 2021 by market research firm YouGov and the findings are based on responses from 3,432 social media users across 17 Indian states, as well as input from media company Kantar on Indic language and urban active internet users.

People who use Indic language or India are ahead of India as far as posting and sharing on social media is concerned. 29% of users in India post content at least once a day, compared to 22% of users in India. Similarly, India is slightly ahead of India in sharing content at 33% versus 32%.

India users shop online for gadgets, clothing and accessories, food, beauty and travel, the report said. Like in India, most of the users in India prefer to stream free videos instead of watching TV. 50% of India’s users stream free videos online every day and about 47% watch TV.

Even for paid subscriptions to streaming services, India is close to India’s heels at 27% vs 29% respectively.

In terms of choice of payment mode, India users are adept at using UPI for online transactions and net-banking and debit card transactions online are ahead of users in India, the report said, adding that they invest in stocks. There are mutual funds, e-gold and even cryptocurrencies. Among users in India, 56% use UPI and 49% use mobile wallets multiple times a week.

Ajit Varghese, Chief Commercial Officer, ShareChat, said language first users are at par with English language first users in terms of digital presence, online transaction methods and shopping habits. “Users in India also lag behind in terms of online consumption of news, food and beverages, health and fitness, and travel-related categories,” Varghese said. They said they are seeing similar trends across their platforms.

GroupM South Asia CEO Prashant Kumar told Media Planning Aspects, India is unique in many ways, “This is mostly because all the cities that make up India are Indian language-heavy, fragmented and display their own set of consumer behavior traits. This diversity in our country brings its own challenges and opportunities. Brands and media planners wishing to reach out to the target audience across the country should look at a customized approach for this segment,” Kumar said.

According to Kantar, the total urban active internet users are over 341 million and there are 167 million urban active Indic internet users. The study shows that urban active Indic Internet users are indexed higher on NCCS A (New Consumer Classification System) and higher education than overall urban active Internet users.