New study sheds light on how TV audiences engage with streamed ads

Indian viewers are receptive to advertising if it supports free content.

81% of Indian consumers are happy to watch ads on their TV screens in return for free content, according to a new study commissioned by Samsung Ads India.

Samsung Ads India, the advertising division of Samsung Electronics, has partnered with global market research agency Verve to survey a panel of 700 Smart TV users in India. The research aimed to uncover advertising engagement across various TV platforms, including linear TV (cable) advertising supported video on demand (AVOD) and subscription based video on demand (SVOD) that are set to introduce ads as part of some subscription tiers.

Relevancy of ads

In addition to the vast majority of respondents who are willing to watch ads in exchange for free content, a similar amount (80%) claimed to be happy to watch ads if they featured content relevant to them.

Respondents considered AVOD and SVOD services to be the best at delivering relevant ads with 63% and 64% of respondents agreeing, respectively. More than a third of Indians (38%) who watch ads in full on AVOD find them to be engaging due to their length and relevance. The ads are perceived as shorter and therefore less disruptive to the viewing experience.

Emotional response

According to the research, over half of respondents in India demonstrated a positive emotional response to ads across all platforms. Both SVOD and AVOD generated the most positive emotions amongst audiences.

SVOD prompted 63% of respondents to feel excited, whereas AVOD prompted 60% of respondents to feel the same emotion. Similarly, 64% of respondents thought SVOD ads were enjoyable and 62% considered AVOD ads to be enjoyable.

These positive reactions help to explain why Indian respondents said they were more likely to take action in response to advertising on AVOD (64%), followed by SVOD (62%).

This reflects how effectively streaming services have been at delivering ads to Indian audiences in OTT settings. Unlike in other markets, Indian audiences demonstrate little distinction between these services, with some SVOD services already offering an ad-supported tier. Whilst SVOD is a strong performer in India, there is consumer frustration that ads are being shown on paid subscription-based channels. Whereas in other markets, the introduction of ads to the streaming giants is still very much in its infancy.

Trustworthiness of ads

Just under two thirds (62%) of Indian respondents were likely to take action in response to an ad shown to them across all three platform types (AVOD, SVOD, and linear). This is likely a reflection of how highly this market trusts the ads which are delivered to them.

More than 60% of respondents in the survey considered ads across platforms to be trustworthy. This is highest in an SVOD setting where two thirds (66%) of respondents trusted the ads. Similarly, 64% of Indians trust the ads they are shown in AVOD.