MAM
Indians watch 100 minutes of TV daily, reveals BBC study
MUMBAI: Indians are turning couch potatoes, says a research study Horizon 2003 conducted by BBC World. According to the report, Indians watch on an average five channels and 100 minutes of television every day.
Horizon 2003, conducted by research agency NFO-MBL on behalf of BBC World in the top six metros, profiled a universe of 3,80,000 people from a sample base of more than 5,500 respondents. The research aimed at providing compelling insights into the attitudes and activities of India’s leading consumers and decision-makers – right from their media consumption, to choice of automobiles, to clothing habits, to the use of Internet and mobile phones primarily caters to media planners, agencies and advertisers.
The research findings’ enables them to understand the particular horizon professional better , who is a catalyst and has the economic and corporate power to speed up change, states a BBC press release.
“We look forward to Horizon 2003 being a tool for advertisers and planners to get a better understanding of this upscale, influential audience. The first study of its kind to be launched in 2000 helped in profiling this Horizon professional. It was heartening to know that the findings of the previous Horizon helped a lot of our advertisers sharpen and redefine their target audience and understand the profile of the consumer they were talking to, resulting in a better focussed media usage, ” BBC World,Head of Ad Sales Seema Mohapatra is quoted as saying in an official release.
Horizon20003 revealed that Indian viewers watch half an hour of news everyday. News and sports are the most preferred programme genres followed by general entertainment with Delhiites scoring highest for news at 29 per cent and Bangalore being the lowest for news at 14 per cent. The study showed that Bangaloreans constitute the largest sports viewing segment (34 per cent) with Delhi being at the bottom with 16 per cent preferring sports.
Horizons 2003′s study of investment and saving habits revealed life insurance to be the biggest financial investment with 38 per cent, followed by the stock market at 18 per cent. Among loans taken, housing loans were the highest at 41 per cent and the next highest being car loans at 37 per cent. Most individuals (25 per cent) had accounts in the State Bank of India followed by ICICI at 22 per cent.
Moving onto consumer durables, the study revealed that washing machines have emerged as the most desirable product followed by cars and desktop computers. 42 per cent of the sample own a mobile phone of which 52 per cent own a Nokia and 42 per cent use Air Tel’s services.
Alchohol consumption habits indicated that 25 per cent consumed spirits of which 72 per cent are beer guzzlers, followed by 48 per cent whiskey drinkers and 25 per cent who drink rum. The study revealed that most executives drink at bars and pubs, while self-employed professionals drink at friends’ homes and businessmen at parties.
Horizons 2003’s study of attitudes revealed that 95 per cent of the Horizon professionals are proud to be Indians and 75 per cent believe risks are worth taking. India’s rising generation agree that they are risk taking but there is a split vote on ethics and optimism with 40 per cent agreeing with using under-hand means to earn money and 56 per cent supporting paying of bribes. Some 47 per cent of the younger audiences (25-34 years) believes that India is getting worse rather than better while older audiences (45-54 years) are more optimistic and feel otherwise and agree that India is a better place to live and work than other countries.
The highlight of Horizon2003 is a section that focuses on travellers as a separate target audience, which is claimed as a ‘first time’ inclusion for any research undertaken on consumer behaviour. The study goes into great details to understand the travelling habits such as the mode of transport, kind of holidays, choice of place and media consumption while travelling which will be different from household viewer ship.
This section came up with the following findings:
* 60 per cent take a holiday in India while five per cent take a holiday abroad, 18 per cent travel on business within India, and eight per cent travel on business abroad at least once a year.
* For International holidays taken in the past one-year people from Mumbai (30 per cent), Bangalore (35 per cent) and Hyderabad (26 per cent) preferred travelling to the US, while 35 per cent from Kolkata and 41 per cent from Chennai travelled to Singapore. 25 per cent of the respondents from Delhi went to Nepal for holiday.
* Among domestic business travellers, Jet Airways (60 per cent) is the preferred airline followed by India Airlines (53 per cent) and Sahara Airlines (20 per cent). For domestic leisure travel, Jet Airways and Indian Airlines enjoy an equal share.
*Among International leisure destinations, Singapore is the favourite with 23 per cent respondents, followed by 22 per cent opting to visit the US. International business travellers prefer the US (24 per cent) followed by Singapore (23 per cent) and the UK (13 per cent).
“The objective of Horizon 2003 is three-fold. Firstly, it provides advertisers and agencies with a better understanding of a crucially important group of influential adults – which is the profile of BBC World viewers – the professionals who will be shaping India’s destiny. These are very difficult to survey using traditional methods. Secondly, to provide a balance to those national studies which rightly focus on the mass markets. And thirdly to reflect the changing situation in India first identified in the pioneering 2000 study,” BBC World, Head of Research Jeremy Nye is quoted as having said in the release.
MAM
Brands push beyond compliance as trust takes centre stage
ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026 spotlights shift from legal checks to credibility.
MUMBAI: In a world where a disclaimer can be legally sound yet socially suspect, brands are learning that compliance may tick boxes but trust wins markets. At the inaugural ASCI AdTrust Summit 2026, a panel on “Beyond Compliance: The New Currency of Trust” unpacked a growing industry reality: the gap between what the law permits and what consumers accept is widening and fast.
Moderated by Meenakshi Ramkumar of National Law School of India University, the discussion brought together leaders across law, marketing and academia to examine how brands must evolve in a digital ecosystem increasingly shaped by scrutiny, scepticism and speed.
Ramkumar set the tone by highlighting a critical shift, advertising today operates in the same digital space that fuels misinformation, scams and fake news, making credibility harder to establish. “The challenge is not just about what brands do, but the broader context of low institutional trust,” she noted, adding that when violations go unchecked, trust erodes not just in brands but in the regulatory system itself.
This vacuum, she said, has given rise to consumer activism from boycotts to social media backlash as a parallel accountability mechanism.
For Amit Bhasin, Chief Legal Officer at Marico, the distinction was clear, legal compliance is non negotiable, but insufficient. “Compliance is the minimum threshold. The real challenge is staying aligned with changing consumer expectations,” he said.
He pointed to how advertising narratives have evolved from traditional depictions of gender roles to more shared responsibilities reflecting a broader societal shift. “Earlier, it was fine to show one person doing the household work. Today, that may not land well. Consumers expect brands to reflect reality,” Bhasin observed.
He also highlighted internal debates where campaigns that may be legally permissible are still rejected for being culturally insensitive, noting that responsible advertising often requires asking uncomfortable questions before the public does.
If compliance is the baseline, reputation is the battlefield.
Bhasin noted that reputational risk has become a far greater concern than legal exposure, particularly in an era where campaigns can be dissected within hours online. “Earlier, a controversial ad might invite a newspaper editorial. Today, within hours, you’re at the centre of a storm,” he said.
Brands, he added, now evaluate campaigns through a dual lens legal viability and reputational vulnerability with the latter often proving more decisive.
From a healthcare perspective, Satish Sahoo of Cipla Health underscored the complexity of operating within fragmented yet stringent regulatory frameworks, spanning drugs, food, cosmetics and Ayush. “Anything under a drug licence is the most tightly regulated,” he said, adding that this necessitates proactive, not reactive, compliance.
He shared an example from the oral rehydration salts (ORS) category, where Cipla resisted the temptation to position products aggressively despite competitive pressure. “Our product is WHO compliant, and our communication reflects that. We chose not to blur the lines, even if others did,” he noted.
The long term payoff, he suggested, lies in credibility built over consistency, not quick wins.
Yet, as Harsha N of National Law School of India University pointed out, even perfect compliance does not guarantee trust. Drawing from historical and modern examples from exaggerated product claims in the 1800s to contemporary environmental and health advertising, he argued that legal frameworks often lag behind consumer expectations. “A brand can be fully compliant and still be perceived as misleading,” he said, citing instances where fine print disclosures fail to reach or convince the average consumer. He added that larger companies carry a disproportionate responsibility to set ethical benchmarks, even in areas where the law remains silent.
The conversation also turned to digital advertising, where the challenge extends beyond content to how ads are experienced. From algorithmic targeting to personalised messaging, brands now operate in an environment where regulation struggles to keep pace with technology.
Sahoo noted that social media has amplified awareness, with influencers and consumers increasingly scrutinising product claims and calling out inconsistencies. “Awareness has gone up dramatically. People are questioning what goes into products and what brands are saying,” he said.
The role of self regulatory bodies such as Advertising Standards Council of India also came under the spotlight.
Harsha acknowledged that while SROs play a crucial role, they are not immune to criticism, particularly around perceived conflicts of interest and enforcement gaps. “SROs have a higher threshold of responsibility not just to interpret the law, but to anticipate societal expectations,” he said.
He added that failures in self regulation often push the burden back onto government intervention, underscoring the need for stronger, more proactive oversight.
One of the more nuanced debates centred on whether building trust comes at a cost. While Sahoo acknowledged that quality and compliance can increase costs, he argued that companies must absorb them as part of their long term strategy.
Bhasin, however, framed the challenge differently not as cost, but as competitiveness in a market where not all players play by the same rules. “The real tension is when others cut corners and you choose not to,” he said.
The panel concluded with a call to embed trust into business metrics.
Sahoo suggested that organisations must go beyond revenue targets to include consumer equity and trust based KPIs, ensuring that ethical considerations are not sidelined in the pursuit of growth. “Trust sounds abstract, but it can translate into measurable consumer equity,” he said.
As the discussion wrapped up, one message stood out: the rules of advertising are being rewritten not just by regulators, but by consumers themselves. In an ecosystem where attention is fleeting and scepticism is high, brands that merely comply may survive, but those that build trust are the ones that endure.
