Indians online are getting adept at hybrid lifestyles: Google Year In Search 2021

Indians have become adept at leveraging Internet access to make more informed choices and better decisions, and seek support for their hybrid lifestyles, reveals Google annual Year in Search report for 2021.

The accelerated expansion of the Internet user base in India over the past two years, has also led to millions of new Google searches per day across user segments, channels and needs, making search a key touchpoint for relevant and helpful information.

Launching the report, Sapna Chadha, vice president, marketing, Google India & Southeast Asia, said, “This year’s report is headlined by a surge in searches across a spectrum of existing and emerging trends. It provides a unique insight into the connected Indian’s preference for a digital-first life. As people become increasingly adept online, search has become their ‘go-to’ for making sense of a hybrid world in which more and more services and solutions are also now online.”

“Businesses will need to take a proactive role in responding to this consumer transition that’s well underway, by providing seamless paths to purchase across online and otherwise. Along with convenience, brands will need to continuously build trust and confidence amongst their consumers, as they make more choices and decisions online.”

Deepening use of digital for hybrid lifestyles

With intermittent mobility, 2021 saw an acceptance of a blended lifestyle, with an approximately 350 per cent growth in interest in hybrid workplace, alongside an 80 per cent increase in online doctor consultation. Increasing user comfort with online commerce, has led to a record 533 per cent growth in search interest for D2C brands and a 55 per cent increase in virtual try on.

Making more informed choices through search

As people increase their reliance on the Internet for navigating a blended life, they are also proactively seeking reassurance on the torrent of information they access, and becoming more conscious about online safety in 2021. This is evident in an 80 per cent increase in searches for is it true on various aspects of fact-checking, misinformation and fake news in 2021.

In addition, there is an increasing interest in privacy, with a 27 per cent increase in these searches, higher than APAC growth of 20 per cent. With many more brands and businesses selling products online, as a part of the omni-channel push, people are also extending their demand for authenticity across their purchase journey.

There has been an 80 per cent growth in searches for a brand’s official store, 38 per cent growth in search interest in trusted website and a 41 per cent increase in search interest in which brand is good, as people looked to build their consideration set for brands.

New priorities for a hybrid life

The past year also saw a reexamination of lifestyle choices, with people further prioritising quality time, family ties, and overall health and wellness. Interest in health insurance for family grew by 44 per cent.

Beyond the need for financial protection, 2021’s Year in Search report also signals that people are broadening their interest in wellness to be more holistic, with searches across physical, emotional and mental health wellbeing growing by 27 per cent.

Search interest in pet-friendly grew by more than 70 per cent, as people seek to have their furry friends join them on their staycations and dine outs. As an extension of these new priorities, people are now also emphasising purchase choices that match their beliefs and values.

With over 86 per cent of consumers saying that buying sustainable products makes them happy, search interest for conscious consumerism is on the rise. The interest in sustainable is the highest in the last five years, for electric scooter (up by 230 per cent), fair trade (up by 15 per cent) and cycling (up by 41 per cent).

Growing preference for language content

As more people, especially from non-metros, become connected users. the demand for local language is also continuing to grow. YouTube searches for songs and videos in local languages doubled in 2021. Growth in searches for translations and assistance in comprehending words that are not in the users’ mother tongue, underscore the need for the digital ecosystem to serve the Indic language user.

The year also saw people’s reliance on digital for broader inclusion increase, with a focus on finances, investment, jobs and income. In particular, searches for jobs for women grew by 33 per cent, loans for women by 25 per cent, and there was a 30 per cent increase in searches for women rights and equal pay. Underlining this trend was 73 per cent growth in users asking for help in getting their phones set up, 43 per cent growth in how to invest, and 17 per cent higher searches for sell online than last year.

The full report, based on Google Trends data over the year September 2020 to August 2021 versus September 2019 to August 2020, can be accessed at Year in Search 2021.

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