HYPERLOCAL DIGITAL MARKETING AWARENESS AND ADOPTION AMONG INDIAN USERS

Abstract

This study looked at how people in India understand and react to digital marketing, which is like the ads and messages you see on Google, Meta, Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Snabbit, Zepto and so on. The study focused on four parts of how people interact with these ads: • awareness, if they have heard of hyperlocal digital marketing • familiarity, if they really understand what it is • perception, if they think it is a way to spend money • recommendation, if they would suggest it to others. The study used a survey that was online and filled out by participants. Responses came from 121 people across six states in India. Most of these persons were between the ages of 18 and 35 years of age, had a college degree, and lived in the cities or towns. This makes them a fantastic group to examine, since they use the internet on their phones a lot and see commercials all the time. One of the key findings of the study was that people who are aware of marketing are also aware of the methods that are used therein. Just because individuals are aware of it and think it’s a decent way to spend money, doesn’t imply they’ll recommend it to other people. The study also showed what is known as the “awareness-exposure paradox”. folks who view location-based ads all the time actually know less about marketing than folks that never see similar ads. This implies that just serving consumers advertising doesn’t help them get a sense of what hyperlocal marketing is and how it works. It might even get them sick of commercials and tune them out. So, the report says India doesn’t have a problem with technology, with reaching people, with marketing. The difficulty is that people don't comprehend what it is, and how it works. Hyperlocal marketing is happening around them; they don’t have the vocabulary to explain it or grasp how it may help them. It implies corporations and platforms need to do more than provide people ads. They must teach people about marketing and how it may improve their businesses. The report suggests that firms need to think carefully about how they may use location-based technologies to achieve their objectives, rather than simply using buzzwords.