sign in sign up
<<
Home , MS Dhoni, Rajkummar Rao

Youth Advocacy Index 2018

Prepared by MICA, Ahmedabad

Prepared for Topmind, Introduction

Being youthful is to be edgy, at least this seems to be true for the brands and is reflected in their constant attempts to understand and decode the DNA of youth. What excites the Indian youth, how they are influenced, what is it that they value and how they form opinions has been the key motivation of this study.

The main objective of this study is to understand the preferences of the Indian youth and develop youth choice indices across various categories such as: • Most influential business leaders among the youth, • The entrepreneurial icons that influence the youth, • What are the most preferred e-commerce platforms, • Brand choice index of the youth in the smart phone category, • Most viewed online platforms by the youth, and • Most preferred video streaming platforms.

The information generated in this report shall be useful to the brands and would provide a guide on how to engage with youth effectively and at the same time identify the most promising segment. The index developed in the study offers a source of credible, relevant and reliable information by presenting the voice of the Indian youth.

Youth Icons

First Choice Methodology The study was carried out in 15 cities of India with a sample size of 544 respondents. Attempt was made to reach out to 750 respondents but effectively 544 usable responses were received.

Cities covered • Jammu • Amritsar • Rohtak • Delhi • Lucknow • Rajkot • Ahmedabad • Indore • Pune • Mumbai • Bengaluru • • Kolkatta • Udaipur • Shillong

Methodology The respondents were asked to give their opinion on a set of questions related to the celebrities, business leaders, entrepreneurs, mobile brands, online platforms and their perception was measured on a set of parameters. Throughout the questionnaires, the concept of importance is interpreted in a generic way and is comparable to preference, dominance, and similar relationships.

The respondents were specifically reminded of the importance of observing consistency in their answers when point wise comparison was made. They were made to understand that their responses should not be biased toward any particular subject of measurement.

The data received in the second questionnaire was analyzed by Relative Importance Index (RII) method to determine the relative importance of the parameters/variables used for forming the index. Do we listen to Celebrities? Are there leaders in everyday life? A long body of literature argues that a small number of individuals have an outsize influence on what the rest of us buy, wear, and consume. In the academic as well as practitioner’s literature it has been argued that youths are more frequently and highly exposed to media and therefore, are more likely to have a para-social relationship with celebrities. Marketers have believed that celebrities are the ideal role models for this generation resulting into intense affective commitment and emotional involvement. Hence, we decided to identify the most influential celebrities from , Sports and Comedy segment. We asked our participants to rate top five Bollywood actors with whom they want to have a seat next to in an airplane.

Top Actor Celebrities Index No #1 Aamir Khan is an Indian film actor, filmmaker and television Aamir Khan 2.15 talk-show host. Khan has established himself as one of the Shahrukh Khan 1.88 most popular and influential actors of Indian cinema. With his Amitabh Bacchan 1.58 recent success in India and China markets combined he has got the title of Worlds Biggest Superstar. Also known as Mr. 1.49 perfectionist of the Bollywood is no doubt one of the most Ayushmann Khurana 1.18 dedicated actors in this world and is rated as the top youth icon with the highest index factor of 2.15. 1.15 Akshay 1.11 #2 Sharukh Khan , also known as SRK, is an Indian film actor, Hritik Roshan 0.92 producer, and television personality. Referred to in the media 0.76 as the "Badshah of Bollywood“ i.e., "King of Bollywood“. Khan 0.75 started out his career by appearing in several television serials during 1988-1990. He is now one of the most Varun Dhawan 0.43 influential actors in Bollywood. In our study he was rated as Kamal Hassan 0.40 the second most preferred celebrity with whom the current youth will like to share the adjoining seat in the aircraft. Siddharth Malhotra 0.23 #3 One of the oldest celebrities on the list, yet Big B is among the top five rated celebrity in the Bollywood. His overall popularity is high and is ranked number 3. Big B is one of the most credible celebrity and even at the age of 74 he is still a force to reckon with.

#4 Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin's journey to stardom in Bollywood has earned him tremendous respect among the Bollywood fraternity and most importantly he has managed to become a youth icon and a figure of inspiration by virtue of his self made stature, his incredible talent and his relentless spirit to chase his dreams. It’s no wonder he has been rated among the top five Bollywood actors with whom today’s youth want to sit next to in the aircraft.

#5 Ayushman Khurana Ayushman Khurana is an all-rounder Bollywood star who can sing, act and even write scripts. He is an emerging youth icon and was also appointed as the youth face for the state of . In our study he has made it to top five beating who’s who such as Akshya Kumar, Hritik Roshan and Salman Khan. It’s NOT a man’s world anymore! Women are excelling in every field imaginable and films are not an exception. We asked our respondents to rank top 5 Bollywood actresses whose biography they would choose to read ?

#1 Top Actress Celebrity Index no Pryinka Chopra an actress, singer, film producer, philanthropist, and the winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant is the new Priyanka Chopra 2.64 power quotient and has been rated as the most influential Deepika Padukone 2.33 Bollywood actress in this youth survey. She was also among the Alia Bhat 1.90 top 100 influential women in the world by Forbes ranking and has also been a prominent ambassador for UNICEF. No doubt 1.88 why Indian youth is so inspired to read her biography and rated 1.68 her number 1 with an index number of 2.64 Anushka Sharma 1.63 #2 Deepika Padukone Katrina Kaif 0.79 Deepika Padukone listed on the Times’ 100 most influential list, is currently the reigning queen of Bollywood. She is one of the Parineeti Chopra 0.43 few female celebrities with the highest number of brand 0.29 endorsements and clearly dominates the fashion, apparel and Shruthi Hassan 0.21 accessories space and is most likely to influence consumers' decisions to buy/ use a product within this category. Deepika 0.21 has been rated number two in our study with an index of 2.33 0.11 #3 Alia Bhatt Alia Bhatt has proved her and has made her mark with some of the most successful films in the few years. While she is one of the youngest Bollywood stars in the country, she is now among one of the most influential celebrity. In our youth survey, she is rated at number three after Priyanka and Deepika.

#4 Vidya Balan Vidya Balan has emerged as an icon of courage and is known as one of the finest artist in the Bollywood. Her image of someone who speaks her mind and someone who has flouted every rule in the Bollywood has been the inspiration for today’s youth. Vidya Balan has `changed the game for actresses in the industry that was dominated by hero driven scripts with her award winning films. Balan is number four in our list of most influential actresses and reading her biography is on the wish list of Indian youth.

#5 Kangana Ranaut Kangana Ranaut is one of the finest actress in Indian film industry and has bagged three . She is one of the highest paid actress and her journey in Bollywood is an inspiring tale of survival and the embodiment of self belief and hunger to succeed. Kangana is invited to speak at international events of repute and is always complimented for her articulateness. She is considered a global fashion icon with top brands queuing up to sign her as their ambassador. No doubt her biography is on the bucket list of Indian youth and she is among top 5 Bollywood actresses inspiring youths. Most influential sports celebrity Professional sportsmen are celebrities and millions of youth around the world grow up watching them play and at times emulate them. Everything that players do on and off the field is being closely watched by fans and hence, these sports stars are key influencers and marketers have always leveraged their power to sell products and even build brands. Therefore, in this research we included the influencer index of Indian sport celebrities.

Comparative Index

Sania Mirza 1.68

Sachin Tendulkar 2.11

MS Dhoni 2.42

Sania Nehwal 2.79

Virat Kohli 3.03

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50

#1 (Overall Rank 1, Male Rank 1, Female Rank 1) Virat Kohli has had his reputation as 's biggest superstar reaffirmed by TIME Magazine, which has included the India on its '100 Most Influential People' list for 2018. In the youth ratings conducted by us Virat has emerged as an uncontested winner and was ranked number one with an index factor of 3.03.

#2 (Overall Rank 2, Male Rank 2, Female Rank 3) Saina Nehwal may be the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal, the first female Indian shuttler to reach world no.1 and the first Indian woman to win three commonwealth games gold medals in badminton. After the legendary P.T. Usha, Saina Nehwal is the only female athlete to have achieved perplexing heights of popularity. In our youth ratings Sania is number two among the most influential sport stars in India. Male respondents ranked Saina at number 2 however, the female respondents ranked Saina at number 3.

#3 MS Dhoni (Overall Rank 3, Male Rank 3, Female Rank 2) MS Dhoni is one of most successful captains for the Indian Cricket Team. His achievements on the field have won him a nation full of admirers and fans. Dhoni is rightfully known as ‘Captain Cool’. Even in a tense situation, he remains calm, confident and most amazingly cheerful. A force on the field: Leadership skills, ethics and fashion sense aside, Dhoni is a force to be reckoned with on the field. Female respondents on an average ranked MS Dhoni at number 2, whereas male respondent ranked him at number 3. Overall Dhoni is at number three with a comparative index of 2.42. #4 (Overall Rank 4, Across Gender Rank 4) Sachin Tendulkar has given many proud moments to all Indians and Indian cricket History. He is perhaps one player who has played international cricket for 24 years. Sachin is still an inspiration for Indian youth and he was ranked fourth in the study.

#5 (Overall Rank 5, Across Gender Rank 5) Sania Mirza is an icon for the youth of India. Millions of young women and men aspire to emulate her success. Sania Mirza was ranked number five in our ratings survey.

Most influential standup comedians Every city is now seen hosting open mic nights; and Indian comedians are touring Dubai and Singapore. It’s not a stretch to say that comedians are the new superstars of this generation. They receive the kind of adulation that was reserved for actors and cricketers - fan art, fan pages on social media, and being hounded for selfie requests.

There, we included comedy stars in the list of our influencers and asked our respondents to rate stand up comedians. If found that if 'Sense of Humor' was a currency, Indian youth is likely to keep Kenny Sebastian and Biswa Kalyan Rath in they vaults. In top five comedy stars other three are Zakir Khan, Kanan Gill and Vir Das. Most influential business leaders In this section we present the top business leaders and in order to rank them we asked our young respondents to rank the leaders in the order of their preference to sit next to in the aircraft.

#1 Sundar Pichai A graduate from IIT and recipient of scholarship from Stanford earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School before he landed in the Silicon Valley. Following the mantra of empowering the youth, Sundar is the most revered and followed business leader among the youth. In our study he was ranked number one by the respondents.

#2 Indra Nooyi Indira Nooyi is among the most influential business leaders among the youth. She has inspired Indian youth both as a business leader as well as an entrepreneur. Nooyi with her vision statement of ‘performance with purpose’ that encompasses products, planet and people and emphasizes sustainability in everything it does helped PepsiCo to make it to a global list of the world’s most ethical companies. Nooyi was ranked number two in the list of top five business leaders in our study.

#3 Ratan Tata Ratan Tata, Chairman of the Tata group has been credited with transforming the Tata group into a streamlined conglomerate of more than 100 companies and earning a global reputation for his consolidation and expansion strategies. Ratan Tata is ranked number three.

#4 Satya Nadella In the words of Walter Isaacson, former Time managing editor, Nadella has restored Microsoft’s “spirit of innovation” and the company is “now making products that feel more user-friendly, empathetic and collaborative.” Satya Nadella is often praised for his empathy has been rated among top 5 business leaders by the Indian youth and is at number 4 followed by Mukesh Ambani at number 5. Being a successful startup owner is not an easy task- it is the most difficult job in the world! But the successful entrepreneurs become inspiration for hundreds who aspire to follow their foot steps. In this section we identify top inspiring entrepreneurs whose biographies influence the Indian youth. #1 Vijay Shekhar Sharma Most inspiring entrepreneur Index This intense focus and hunger for Vijay Shekhar 3.41 innovation have played a big role in making Vijay Shekhar Sharma one of Ritesh Agarwal 2.56 India’s most successful Binny Bansal 2.53 entrepreneurs. founder of mobile Bhavish Agarwal 2.47 payments company Paytm. Sharma was ranked as India's youngest Mukesh Bansal 1.84 billionaire in 2017 by the Forbes with Dilip Sanghvi 1.39 a net worth of $2.1 billion #2 Ritesh Agarwal Ritesh started his entrepreneurial journey when he was 17 years old. He dropped out of college and launched his first start‐up Oravel Stays Pvt. Ltd. He is the true inspiration for the young entrepreneurs who are dreaming to be the next big thing. He has become the role modal for the youth in India and in this study was ranked number two among the most inspiring entrepreneur.

#3 Binny Bansal Binny Bansal, Co-founder of Flipkart is known for his acumen to take risk. One who believes that a secure job is more riskier than actually getting your hands dirty and learning something by starting your own venture. His risk taking abilities has become inspiration for many young aspiring entrepreneurs in India. Binny stands at third position in our most influential entrepreneurs.

#4 Bhavish Agarwal Bhavish Aggarwal co-founder and CEO of OLA was reported among one of the world’s top 100 influential people by TIME’s 2018 list. His vision, passion and determination to stand against all odds has made him an inspiration to the million of youth in India. Bhavish was ranked at position number 4 in our study.

#5 Mukesh Bansal Mukesh Bansal, founder and former CEO of Myntra, India’s largest online fashion retailer is in the list of our top 5 influential entrepreneurs. A dekko into youth’s choice of brands

Top 5 e-commerce platforms

1.35 1.73

1.94 4.37

2.90

Amazon is the most preferred e-commerce platform among the Indian youth followed by flipkart. Myntra was ranked number three. On number four and number five were the food apps Zomato and Swiggy. However, Myntra is first preference among females as compared to amazon in case of male respondents. Top 5 most viewed online video platforms

1.98

2.88 2.01

2.11 2.77

Online video streaming is growing rapidly in India. In our youth ranking study, we found was ranked number one and was closely followed by Amazon prime. was ranked number three. TVF and Scoop Whoop were the other top ranked video streaming platforms. However, Hotstar was the first choice of the female respondents.

Gender wise preference for online video streaming sites 32%

35% 31%

29% 29% 30% 28%

25% 19%

20% 15%

15% 7%

10% 6% 4% 5% 0% Netflix Amazon Hotstar TVF SCOOP Prime WOOP

Male Female Top five social media platforms Social media is the part of everyday life among the youth. In India we found Youtube was the most viewed social media app with Facebook at number two. Instagram has emerged as the fastest growing platform and was ranked number 3. Quora and twitter were among the top 5 ranked social sites.

Top 5 Social Media Platforms

2.50

2.73 3.64

3.37 3.55

Gender wise preference for Social Media Platforms

30% 27%

25%

23% 23%

25% 22%

21% 18% 20% 18%

15% 13% 10% 10%

5%

0% Youtube Facebook Instagram Quora Twitter

Male Female Top 5 mobile brands as perceived by youth

6.48

8.46 6.58

7.23 8.44

Most desired brand of mobile phone

11 6

15

40

23

Most desired brand – gender wise Most desired phone in Metro's

15% 13%

7%

21%

18% Cities Included • Delhi • Mumbai • Bengaluru 26% • Chennai • Kolkata

Most aspired Mobile Phone Brand - Zone wise

50% 46%

45% 41%

40% 37% 31%

35% 30%

30% 25%

22%

20% 20% 20%

25% 20% 18%

20% 16%

11% 11%

15% 10%

9%

6% 6% 6%

10% 5% 1%

5% 0% 0% Apple I Google One Plus Huawaei Samsung Others Phone Pixel

North South West East

Brand North South West East Apple I Phone 22% 31% 20% 20% Google Pixel 11% 0% 18% 30% One Plus 46% 37% 41% 20% Huawaei 16% 25% 6% Samsung 5% 6% 6% 10% Others 11% 1% 9% 20% Top 10 content categories read online by youth in India

Art 2.53 Skills 2.66 Science 2.72 Finance 2.73 Lifestyle 2.87 Food 2.93 Communication 3.01 Entertainment 3.20 Business 3.27 Marketing 3.47

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00