More women use WhatsApp than men in India: Survey

India is one of the WhatsApp’s primary markets with most smartphone users depending on the messaging app to keep up with friends, family and work. A recent survey conducted by itel reveals that more women than men use WhatsApp on their devices.

According to the survey, 43% women use WhatsApp on their smartphones as compared to 31% men. When it comes to Facebook though, more men (34%) use Facebook on their phones as compared to women (27%).

itel’s survey was conducted online with 4,000 consumers across 13 states in the country, and had people from various age-groups and demographics.

Titled ‘Trend Survey by itel - What India thinks about smartphones’, the survey also revealed other interesting facts about India’s smartphone usage and the features consumers look for when they are planning to buy a new device.

When it comes to the ‘most trendy feature’ consumers want on their smartphones, in the budget segment, 33% want an AI camera, 25% want a drop notch display and 22% want a fingerprint sensor on their phones. While the AI camera is a ‘highly preferred feature’ amongst the 19 to 25 age group, the drop notch is of interest to both the 19-25 and the 31-35 age group. The preference of a fingerprint sensor increase as the age group increases, according to the survey.

When it comes to consuming content, 64% users prefer content in their local languages. In females, 43% use WhatsApp and 27% use Facebook as compared to 34% males who use Facebook and 31% use WhatsApp for social and entertainment purposes. Atleast 33% os users prefer WhatsApp as their ‘primary social media’.

As far as content is concerned, 50% respondents use their smartphone to watch movies and 29% use it to watch news, according to the survey. Eighty eight percent of those who are 24 or younger watch movies exclusively on their smartphones.

The survey revealed that 38% people prefer YouTube as their preferred app to watch videos followed by 25% who use Voot and 18% use Hotstar. YouTube also beat all other music streaming apps to be the most preferred app for music with a 45% followed by Gaana with a 23%.