Consumer Perception Towards OTT Media Channels

The introduction of Over-the-Top (OTT) video streaming services through national and international providers has changed consumer behaviour towards entertainment subscription.The study aims to identify the reasons for subscribing and not subscribing to OTT services.The primary purpose is to test the factors affecting consumers' decision towards OTT subscription.The outbreak of COVID-19 saw a robust increase in its viewership.This study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on OTT platforms in India, as it has led to reshaping consumer content preferences.The authors have conducted primary research by doing a survey and focus group discussion.The study emphasized on the impact of various factors such as time, content, convenience, satisfaction and work from home (WFH) on OTT platforms during the COVID-19 crisis and on change in consumer behavior prior to lockdown and after.The findings of this study show that lockdown has played a substantial role in the rise of viewership of OTT platforms, as people working from home are using OTT platforms more.The average hours spent on OTT have increased from 0-2 hours to 2-5 hours and average spending that users are willing to make on OTT platforms is INR100-300 per month.The satisfaction level of customers is directly related to space to watch with family, time to use OTT platforms, the quality of content on OTT platforms and preference of device to view OTT contents.Factors such as age group, occupation, city and income groups determine the usage of the OTT platform.This is an original study; it has been conducted to identify the major determinants of consumer buying behaviour of OTT channels and analyse the needs of customer that impact their satisfaction level.The context of the study is the Indian OTT service market which is highly heterogenous and therefore, this descriptive research provides useful insights to the OTT streaming service providers operating in this competitive space.to understand the potentials of OTT platforms in the Indian market, and the changed behaviour towards media consumption, identify the reasons behind the change and also with big screens opening up, whether OTT space are capable of holding up the interest of the audience.