Axis My India, a consumer data intelligence company, released its latest findings of the India Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI), a monthly analysis of consumer perception on a wide range of issues. The report for the month of December highlights consumers preferred mode of media consumption for varied needs such as reading, listening to music. While the popular choice for music continues to be YouTube as mentioned by 39 pc, TV is seen as a second favourite reflecting the view of 18 pc followed by radio at 4 pc. The survey further captured interest and enthusiasm around the ongoing FIFA World Cup where in 27 pc will watch them on their Mobile. Interestingly, 35 pc of the people still read Newspapers every day.
The December net CSI score, calculated by percentage increase minus percentage decrease in sentiment, is at +07, from +09 last month reflecting a decrease by 02 points.
The sentiment analysis delves into five relevant sub-indices – Overall household spending, spending on essential and non-essential items, spending on healthcare, media consumption habits, entertainment & tourism trends.
The survey was carried out via Computer-Aided Telephonic Interviews with a sample size of 10454 people across 33 states and UTs. 69 pc belonged to rural India, while 31 pc belonged to urban counterparts. In terms of regional spread, 24 pc belong to the Northern parts while 27 pc belong to the Eastern parts of India. Moreover, 29 pc and 20 pc belonged to Western and Southern parts of India respectively. 61 pc of the respondents were male, while 39 pc were female. In terms of the two majority sample groups, 32 pc reflect the age group 36YO to 50YOand 29 pc reflect the age group of 26YO to 35YO.
Commenting on the CSI report, Pradeep Gupta, Chairman & MD, Axis My India, said “Media consumption trends in the country is growing and evolving with the changing times. From newspapers to news apps, nowadays consumers have access to information at a jiffy. While age-old newspapers remains to be a reliable source of information for a section of the population, FM Radio falls below new age platforms such as YouTube in consumers consideration set when it comes to music. TV however continues to dominate the viewership score for big ticket events such as FIFA Football World Cup aiding to the big screen experience of consumers. Consumers’ favouritism towards celebrities across profession and states from Mr Bachchan, Virat Kohli, PV Sindhu to Allu Arjun reflect on how media consumption has broken barriers in terms of entertainment consumption. This again ties back to the growing digitalisation and availability of varied modes of media consumption.”
Key findings:
- Consumption of media (TV, Internet, Radio etc.) has increased for 21 pc of the families, which is same as last month. The overall, net score, which was at -4 last month, is at -2 this month.
- Overall household spending has increased for 56 pc of families which reflects a decrease by 3 pc points from last month. The net score which was +51 last month has decreased by -4 to +47 this month.
- Spends on essentials like personal care & household items has increased for 46 pc of the families, which is the same as last month. The net score which was at +27 last month, increase by one this month.
- Spends on non-essential & discretionary products like AC, Car, and Refrigerator has increased for 8 pc of families, which reflects a decrease by 3 pc from last month. The net score, which was at +4 last month has reduced to -1 this month, showcasing a downward sentiments post the end of the festive season.
- Expenses towards health-related items such as vitamins, tests, healthy food has surged for 42 pc of the families, which is the highest in the last three months. This reflects an increased consumption by 3 pc from last month mainly because of the onset of the winter season. The health score which has a negative connotation i.e., the lesser the spends on health items the better the sentiments, has a net score value of -27, which has dipped – 4 from last month.
- Mobility has increased for 6 pc of the families, which reflects a decrease by 1 pc from last month. The overall mobility net indicator score which was at -1 pc last month, has reported -2 this month.
On topics of current national interest:
- Capturing the enthusiasm around the FIFA world cup, Axis My India’s CSI Survey discovered that 17 pc would be watching some key matches while 9 pc would be watching all matches. Gauging the preference interms of viewing medium, the survey revealed that more than half of those surveyed (58 pc) would view it TV, whereas 27 pc and 12 pc will view it on Mobile and OTT platforms respectively.
- The survey also threw light on the newspaper reading routine of consumers and the preferred music medium, thus reflecting on consumers personal media engagement habits. The survey found out that 35 pc read newspaper every day and 39 pc prefer to listen to music via YouTube. TV channels forms the second favoured medium for music listeners.
- Demystifying the nature of consumers’ engagement with instore promotional offers, the survey unveils that 34 pc notice promotional offers running in stores and 50 pc of those who notice these promotional offers indicated that it would influence their final purchase decisions.
- Deep diving into the entertainment sector, the survey exposed that Amitabh Bachchan (with 15 pc) is the most preferred actor, whose movies consumers like to watch the most, followed by Akshay Kumar at 7 pc, Salman Khan at 6 pc, Allu Arjun at 5 pc and Shah Rukh Khan at 4 pc.
- Exploring sentiments around India’s biggest male celebrity (in sports/movies/art except political), the survey revealed that Virat Kohli with 25 pc is India’s favourite, followed by Amitabh Bachchan with 21 pc and Sachin Tendulkar at 17 pc. Furthermore, the survey found out that PV Sindhu with 11 pc is the biggest celebrity in female category, followed by Mithali Raj with 10 pc.
- In an attempt to understand consumer year-end travel plans around holidays, the survey points out that 21 pc would go on a domestic holiday this season. Deep diving into the considerations, the survey indicated that 23 pc would base their decision on the cost, while 17 pc would base it on the season and destination. Family decision falls under the third set of considerations when planning for holidays.
