Study: MTV India Identifies Five Trends Among Indian Youths

Growing non-political activism and a focus on the local are among the trends that youth media brand MTV has identified in its latest survey of India’s huge young population.

With some 600m Indians under the age of 25, the Mera Bharat Amazeballs study – based on insights gathered from over 25,000 15-25- year- olds across more than 400 cities – examined how this age group’s mindset and behaviour are shifting.

“Despite being a generation high on social media, the youth today is passionate, positive and action-oriented, committed to create a society where everyone matters,” said Navin Shenoy, head of marketing – youth, music and English entertainment at Viacom18.

The five trends MTV highlighted are:

• Make India Great Again

This age group is moving beyond armchair activism: 81% of millennials have taken part in local activities from beach clean-ups and planting trees to participating in carpools. There’s also a widespread view that women’s safety needs to be given more importance.

• Bharat = India

64% of non-metro youth indicated they would prefer to work in their home towns rather than have to move to another city. 67% believe everything they need is equally available in metros and small towns.

• Girls On Top

94% of females think that the same rules should apply to both men and women in a relationship (up from 64% in MTV’s 2016 study). And 84% say their opinions are valued within their family – making them important in the decision-making process. Further, just over half of women (53%) have urged parents to adopt a more modern outlook, compared to just over a third (36%) of men.

• Thank God It’s Family

Young Indians are increasingly open to arranged marriages, joint families and choosing family over career: 60% of young Indian believe their parents understand who’s best for them when it comes to choosing a partner, and 81% say they’d be happy to stay with their parents or in-laws after marriage.

• I Am Who I Am

There’s an acceptance of gender definition among India’s youth, with 71% offering support for homosexuality. Beyond this openness to difference, 75% want to do something meaningful with their lives, while 83% think pursuing their passion is more important than money.

“Doing the study and sharing the facts with marketers have given them positive affinity that we know youth better than anybody else,” said Shenoy. And internally, the study “helps form our choice of both new shows, tweak existing shows and even brand marketing,” he added.