<div>Companies in India might be rushing in to tap the e-shopping market, but a lot has to be done to encourage consumer and see more transactions. According to Deloitte’s State of the Media Democracy Survey – India 2012 (the Survey), purchasing products is the least online activity done by those surveyed with only 15 per cent saying they shop online. The survey shows that combining online and offline research before deciding what/ where to purchase is important for the majority of consumers. Interestingly, majority of consumers visited websites after watching ads in televisions, newspapers, magazines, or even billboards. And undoubtedly, television is still the reigning emperor and has the most perceived advertising persuasiveness across all age groups.<br /><br />The Internet boom in India continues its growth run. A large majority of consumers, 72 per cent on an average, use search engines on a daily basis. This has been an amazing change compared with the 2009 Survey where only 17 per cent used search engines. Other top activities include emailing (60 per cent) and instant messaging with friends/family (58 per cent). Email is still the most commonly used format for sharing content with others but is particularly low among Millennials, as sharing via social network is their preferred medium. Consumers are actively using the Internet to learn of new products, decide which to buy, and importantly, which not to buy. Millennials are most actively using the Internet to recommend products to others.<br /><br /><img width="218" height="140" align="right" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=c965abe5-e133-46d6-a153-d6ff641bf2fa&groupId=36166&t=1353323253867" alt="" />The second edition of the Survey, commissioned by Deloitte, employed an online methodology among 2006 consumers across all geographies and age groups.It was focused on four generations and five distinct age groups between the ages of 14 and 75. The survey provides a generational ‘reality check’ and a glimpse on consumer preferences, interaction with technology, purchasing trends, response to advertising and a peek into future preferences.<br /><br />As expected Younger consumers are far more comfortable using advanced technologies. They are also more likely to consume media in new formats. For example, nine-in-ten Millennials are using their smartphone as an entertainment device, and a similar proportion say their laptop/desktop PC is more of an entertainment device than their television<br /><br />Television remains the most common way to consume video, TV content and film, followed by the Internet. However, the proportion of consumers multitasking while watching television is substantial, with the most common activities being emailing, reading, and talking over phone. Television (along with newspapers) is rated as the strongest medium for advertising, with two-thirds saying it’s among their top influences on their buying decisions. About 60 per cent Millennials and 69 per cent Boomers are influenced by ads on TV. Newspapers are a close second, driven by the older age groups (74 per cent of Boomers). The vast majority of consumers continue to read magazines, However, affinity for magazines is considerably lower than TV or newspapers, and they’re regarded as much less influential with regard to advertising.<br /><br />As for magazines – overall, a similar proportion of consumers have read a magazine in the past six months, and household magazine subscriptions are fairly common. However, affinity for magazines is considerable lower than TV or newspapers, and they’re regarded as much less influential with regard to advertising<br /><br />Trailing Millennials lead the pack everywhere and are the most engaged in a number of media topics, including music, social networking, television, websites, movies, books, apps, videogames and virtual worlds. Conversations about social networking sites and websites have gained tremendously compared with 2009 Survey where the range was 3-4 per cent compared with 45-47 per cent now. Interestingly, newspapers (53 per cent) are the most talked about media topic among consumers, followed by music (47 per cent) and social networking sites (47 per cent) and television shows (46 per cent).<br /><br />Among devices, cellphones/smartphones (82 per cent), desktop (74 per cent), laptop (68 per cent), and digital cameras (61 per cent) are the most commonly owned, while laptops, desktops, and flat panel TV sets also remain the most-valued products. Tablets join the ranks of most valued products, despite low ownership levels. Overall, consumers show a strong interest in convergence of television, internet, video and several contents. The expectation is for being able to access information according to preference anywhere-anytime on their favorite device. <br /><br /><br /> </div>