BBC World takes initiative to understand the global Indian

With India emerging as a major IT hub, we are being looked at from a different prism altogether. India is no longer just an exotic land of snake charmers and magicians. It is now seen as a future global superpower. That’s why it’s essential to understand how India relates with the rest of the world.

In order to achieve this objective, BBC World has started first-of-its-kind 'Global Indian' research study. The study is directed towards understanding the internationally minded Indians, who take an active interest in the happenings around the world.

The three-phased study, conducted over a year, will take an in-depth look at international Indians, their lifestyle, attitudes and consumption patterns. It also plans to get a perspective on what really matters to Indians where international political, socio and economic affairs are concerned.

The research goes beyond the SEC demographics to explore psychographic and behaviour patterns of upmarket people, enabling advertising and media planning industry to target the individuals more efficiently.

The first phase of the study, which was conducted between February and April 2005, focussed primarily on developing detailed profiles of global Indians through qualitative interviews held across six cities. This was done with the objective of understanding international news viewers and “to know who the viewers are, and what basically interests them and why”, adds a BBC World release.

The results of the first phase has revealed that Indians look for international information for professional, social and intellectual reasons. Besides providing them with an opportunity to broaden their horizons and improving professional prospects; keeping abreast of what's happening latest in the world also helps them in adapting with the changing times and deciding the course of the future.

Commenting on the study, Jeremy Nye, head of research and planning, BBC World said, "This research is intrinsically about India, a celebration of its openness, in terms of the interests of its people, and its relationship with the rest of the world. This will give us a chance to understand better the global Indians, who we believe will emerge as influencers and be catalysts of change driving India into a global world."

The second phase will quantify the population of global Indians and also unearth their media and consumption patterns. AC Nielson will be involved in the second phase of the study. The third and final phase of the research will be undertaken to profile an equally important yet unexplored affluent sub-group within this category - the international business traveller.

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