A P R O D U C T B Y
C A T E G O R Y S T U D Y · S O C I A L M E D I A · I N D I A
Learning is the top reason Indians open Reels
1,001 social media users across 34 Indian states and 172 cities on what they are looking for, how they pay attention, and
what makes them believe a claim. Across all ten behaviours measured, this audience reads as deliberate.
1,001
respondents profiled
172
cities across 34 states
10
behaviours mapped
105,000+
on the MindLink panel
Across all ten behaviours measured, this audience reads as deliberate. It arrives looking for something, keeps what
it finds, and trusts evidence ahead of popularity. The three commercial openings are retrieval, proof and wellbeing,
and none of them is well served today.
H O W T H E S T U D Y W A S R U N
Ten questions on attention intent,
viewing style, daily time, trust and follow
triggers. Fielded to the MindLink panel
and geolocated to respondent city.
W H A T T H E N U M B E R S R E P R E S E N T
Base is 1,001 completed responses. These
record stated intent and self-perception
rather than logged behaviour, so read
them as what this audience believes
about its own attention.
W H Y W E P R O F I L E E V E R Y R E S P O N D E N T
Each respondent holds a full profile
against the same eight archetypes used
across 30+ MindLink categories, so the
same people stay readable by mindset
as well as by market.
F I N D I N G 0 1
Learning leads the reasons
for opening Reels
29.0%
open Reels or Shorts mainly to learn something useful, the
largest single reason given, ahead of quick entertainment at
20.0% and habit at 18.9%
Main reason for opening Reels or Shorts · share of respondents
29.0%
Learn something
useful
20.0%
Quick
entertainment
18.9%
Habit, nothing
specific
18.5%
Time pass or
boredom
13.7%
Stay updated
with trends
W H A T W E W O U L D D O
Build for retrieval as well as reach. Saves, collections and
in-app search are the metrics that match how this
audience already uses the format.
F I N D I N G 0 2
Two in three describe their
viewing as focused
68.3%
focus selectively or watch deeply, against 16.5% who skim
quickly or jump rapidly between videos
How people describe their own browsing · share of respondents
68.3% arrive with intent
35.5%
Focus
selectively
32.8%
Deeply
read or watch
15.3%
Multi-task
16.5%
Skim
or jump
W H A T W E W O U L D D O
Stop optimising for the first three seconds alone. A viewer
who arrives selectively will give a longer runway to content
that earns it.
40.2% save useful content, the most common behaviour
recorded anywhere in this study.
Intent predicts saving. 63.4% of those seeking to learn save
content, against 27.0% of those there for entertainment.
A planned search is the most common viewing style, cited
by 30.1% on a separate question, ahead of browsing
recommendations at 19.6%.
Only 11.6% let videos autoplay. This audience chooses what it
watches.
C A T E G O R Y S T U D Y · S O C I A L M E D I A · I N D I A
F I N D I N G 0 3
Transparency and proof build trust fastest
64.2%
say transparency or proof of results builds trust fastest. Social
validation and authority endorsement together reach 12.0%.
What builds trust fastest · share of respondents
Transparency
33.7%
Proof of results
30.5%
Consistent experience
23.9%
Social validation
7.1%
Authority endorsement
4.9%
W H A T W E W O U L D D O
Attach evidence to creator claims. A receipt, a result or a
review does more work than reach, and it is cheaper to
produce.
F I N D I N G 0 4
Half say their own social media
use is excessive
52.8%
describe their time on social media as sometimes excessive,
hard to control, or borderline addicted
Share reporting excessive or uncontrolled use, by daily time spent
18.3%
Under
30 mins
32.0%
30 to 60
mins
48.2%
1 to 3
hours
73.3%
3 to 5
hours
79.9%
5+
hours
W H A T W E W O U L D D O
Wellbeing framing is an open field. The heaviest users are
the least comfortable, and a platform that hands them
control earns credit no competitor is currently claiming.
F I N D I N G 0 5
A relatable personality drives instant follows
34.6%
follow someone immediately for a relatable personality.
Production quality persuades 8.9%.
What makes someone follow immediately · share of respondents
Relatable personality
34.6%
Unique content style
32.6%
Expertise or credibility
17.4%
High production quality
8.9%
Strong community
6.6%
T H R E E M O V E S T H A T F O L L O W F R O M T H E D A T A
All three are buildable without a larger media budget. Make saving and retrieval easy, since the format already works as a
reference tool. Attach evidence to every claim, since proof outperforms popularity. Hand heavy users control of their own
time, an open field no competitor is currently claiming.
What panel scale makes possible
2.7x
Same age, same cities, different minds.
Explorers say social validation builds trust
at 11.2%, Geeks at 4.1%.
61.5%
of completed responses came from
outside the metros, the hardest cell to
reach conventionally, in one field.
39 days
1,382 people reached and 1,001 fully profiled,
with no new panel build and no field team.
Base: 1,001 completed responses from 1,382 reached, fielded 27 February to 7 April 2026 across 172 Indian cities in 34 states. Sourced from the MindLink panel of
105,000+ verified consumers. Margin of error ±3.1 percentage points at 95% confidence; archetype figures quoted only where n exceeds 150.
MindLink · a product by The Salt Inc. mindlinkpanel.com
Follower count is weak currency. Social validation reaches
7.1%, well below consistency of experience at 23.9%.
Authority endorsement is the weakest signal, at 4.9%. Being
told by an expert does less work than being shown a result.
Unease scales with time. 79.9% of the heaviest users report
some loss of control, against 18.3% of the lightest.
38.9% spend three hours or more a day, so the
uncomfortable heavy user is a large and reachable group.
Personality and originality together drive 67.2% of instant
follows.
Credibility outweighs craft. Expertise reaches 17.4%, twice the
pull of production quality.
