Increasing craze of Instagram reels in India: People are shopping after watching reels, big revelation in Meta study

The trend of short video content is increasing rapidly in India and Instagram Reels seems to be at the forefront in this. A new study conducted by Meta Platforms has revealed that reels are no longer just a medium of entertainment, but it is also influencing people’s purchasing decisions in a big way.

Use of video content is increasing across the country
The study, commissioned by Meta and conducted by research agency Ipsos, included over 4,000 people from 23 cities, towns and rural areas in India. According to the report, 97% of people in India watch videos on Meta platforms daily.

The study also revealed that there is no longer much difference in the video watching patterns between urban and rural areas. While in cities this figure is 98%, in rural areas 94% people watch video content daily.

Reels becomes the largest content platform
According to the report, Instagram Reels Meta has become the fastest growing short video format on the platforms.

• 97% of Gen Z users watch videos daily.
• 89% of Gen Z users engage with Reels regularly.
• The popularity of Reels has increased rapidly among women and premium users also.

Meta says that Reels has now become the main platform for content discovery, creator engagement and trend setting.

Big impact on purchasing decisions
According to Meta, Reels have now become an important part of people’s purchasing process.

1. 81% product discovery is happening from reels.
2. 66% of people consider reels before purchasing.
3. 47% of purchasing decisions are being directly influenced by reels.

This effect is especially visible in sectors like e-commerce, automobile and financial services.

Increasing trust in creators and content
According to Meta’s India Director, today creators, culture and commerce are coming together on Reels. Users are now not only viewing content, but also searching and purchasing products based on it.

Which contents are most popular?
The study found that among Indian users:

• beauty and makeup
• Fashion and Lifestyle
• fitness
• comedy
• Sports

Such content is most popular and this trend is also influencing the purchasing behavior.