73.1% of Bharat Z trust friends before buying: study

For marketers planning next year’s funnel, the latest read on Bharat Z offers a sharp split: discovery is increasingly algorithmic, but the final purchase decision still belongs to the people a young buyer trusts. That is the central finding of Bharat Z Vibe Check, a study by MSL India and Youth Ki Awaaz that follows the 2024 report Make Way for Bharat Z and tracks how Gen Z in Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities binge, buy and believe two years on.

01 · Discovery begins in the feed

Social media is now the primary shop window for this group. The study found that 55.8% of respondents first hear about a product they eventually purchase through Instagram Reels, posts or creators. If the brand does not appear natively in the feed, it may not enter the consideration set at all. Food delivery and eating out also ranked among the top self-spend categories for 58% of respondents, pointing to convenience as a default expectation.

02 · The final call runs through relationships

What happens after discovery is where the strategic tension sits. Before buying something new, 73.1% of respondents place the highest trust in family and close friends. Reels and short-video advertising earned purchase-stage trust from 54.8%, while 48% said they are influenced by smaller creators they already follow. The numbers suggest a layered trust system: the feed triggers, the creator legitimises, and the inner circle confirms.

Amit Misra, Chief Executive Officer of MSL South Asia, described the finding as a striking paradox: “This generation discovers through algorithms but decides through relationships.” For a CMO, reach alone can open the conversation but cannot be counted on to close it.

03 · Two things the creative and media plan must do

The report offers a practical brief for brand and marketing leaders who want to win this cohort:

• Make the first touch Reels-native. A TV spot cropped into a Reel is not discovery; it is interruption. The content has to look and sound like it belongs in the feed.
• Design for the recommendation moment. Give current customers a clear reason to talk, and work with smaller creators whose followings feel personal rather than merely large.

04 · Why this shapes the next budget cycle

The findings will feed MSL Mojo, MSL India’s culture engagement practice, which translates consumer signals into content, creator, community and engagement strategy. Youth Ki Awaaz Founder and CEO Anshul Tewari said the study shows a generation that is digitally connected, increasingly discerning and decisive about what earns its attention, money and loyalty. For brands, that makes community-led connection a planning input, not a post-campaign afterthought.

Source: MediaNews4U

Mad About Marketing Desk The strategists and writers at Mad About Marketing, writing up what we see in the work every week.