THE APEX TIMES
Meta reports India’s video behavior has gone “pan-India,” with Reels leading discovery and commerce
A Meta-commissioned IPSOS study says daily video viewing on Meta platforms now spans cities and rural areas alike, and positions Instagram Reels as the central screen for creators, culture, and purchases among key audiences.
Meta says a new look at India’s short-form video audience points to the end of a long-running assumption that video engagement is mostly an urban phenomenon. In a Meta Newsroom release published June 3, the company cited Meta-commissioned studies by IPSOS concluding that video consumption has become “truly nationwide,” with daily engagement shared across India’s cities, towns and villages - and with Reels playing a leading role in discovery, creator engagement and commerce.
The release puts daily video viewing on Meta platforms at “at least 97%” of surveyed users in India. It also says the urban-rural gap has nearly disappeared: daily video engagement is reported at 98% among urban users and 94% in rural areas. Meta framed those numbers as evidence of a mobile-first, video-first shift that is being driven as much by “Bharat” (rural and smaller-town India) as by metros.
Meta’s audience breakdown adds weight to that “pan-India” argument. The company reported 97% daily video usage among Gen Z, 97% among women, and 98% among NCCS A audiences. NCCS (New Consumer Classification System) is an Indian consumer segmentation approach used in market measurement that grades households based on education of the household’s chief wage earner and ownership of durable goods, with A representing the highest tiers of the grading system.
At the center of Meta’s account is Instagram Reels - vertical, short-form video designed for quick viewing, creation and discovery. Meta previously described Reels as a way to “create and discover short, entertaining videos” in a multi-clip format on Instagram, with content discoverability through surfaces like Feed and Explore.
In the India study, Meta says Reels is becoming “India’s personal and primary screen,” a place where users discover content, creators, communities and brands throughout the day. It reported that 89% of Gen Z users use Reels daily, while daily Reels engagement is also described as strong among women (85%) and NCCS A audiences (88%). Meta also says it sees Reels as a major engine for product and brand discovery, including 84% of Gen Z consumers and 73% of rural users reporting discovery of new products and brands through Meta platforms.
Meta linked the platform’s growth not only to reach, but to engagement patterns. The release highlights categories that surfaced as “most engaged genres on Reels,” including beauty and makeup (52%), fashion and trends (52%), lifestyle (42%), fitness and wellness (42%), comedy and humour (39%), sports (38%) and travel (37%). It also claims Reels drives “nearly 60% higher creator engagement” than other surveyed short-form video platforms, describing creators less as isolated content producers and more as “trusted entertainment and discovery engines” across rural and other audience cohorts.
The study’s commerce emphasis is where Meta’s message gets most direct. Meta says Reels influences the consumer journey end-to-end, reporting 81% product discovery, 66% consideration and 47% purchase influence among users - figures Meta characterizes as positioning short-form video as a key driver of modern commerce behavior. It further points to high-intent categories such as e-commerce, auto and financial services, including a “pronounced” effect in rural financial services users (76% engaging with Meta platforms daily) and an automotive full-funnel pattern it describes as spanning discovery (82%), consideration (68%) and purchase (50%).
Meta’s release does not provide additional technical detail that would typically be needed to validate or compare the study against other measurement efforts - such as full IPSOS methodology, sampling weight breakdowns by subgroup, or margins of error. It also summarizes results at a high level (4,000+ respondents across 23 cities spanning metros, tier 2/3 and rural India) without publishing the underlying IPSOS questionnaires or how responses were translated into the specific “influence” metrics. For now, the company’s numbers should be read as directional evidence of shifting behavior rather than audited performance metrics for any particular campaign.
Why It Matters
- If daily engagement is truly converging across rural and urban India, advertisers and creators may need to plan for a single, nationwide discovery cycle rather than separate metro and non-metro creative strategies.
- Meta’s commerce framing suggests short-form video is moving closer to transaction decisions, which could shift how brands allocate budgets across awareness and conversion-oriented placements.
- Higher reported creator engagement on Reels reinforces a creator-led distribution model in which product discovery increasingly happens through everyday entertainment.
- The study’s focus on Gen Z, women and higher-tier consumer cohorts implies marketing effectiveness may be driven by audience-specific formats, not just audience size or geography.
Sources
Key Facts
- Meta says a Meta-commissioned IPSOS study finds India’s video engagement is no longer metro-only, with daily video viewing reported across cities, towns and villages.
- Meta reports that at least 97% of surveyed users in India watch videos on Meta platforms daily.
- Meta reports daily video engagement of 98% in urban areas and 94% in rural areas.
- Meta says Reels is the main short-form video screen for discovery and engagement, with daily Reels usage of 89% among Gen Z, 85% among women and 88% among NCCS A audiences.
- Meta reports Reels influences the consumer journey with 81% product discovery, 66% consideration and 47% purchase influence among users, alongside stronger patterns in auto and financial services.
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