'Optimism Ka Mahaul': The Mood of Bharat 2024 Report Unveils India's Positive Outlook

The Bharat Lab, a think-tank created by the coming together of ad agency Rediffusion, and the Lucknow University, has released its The Mood of Bharat 2024 Report – appropriately titled Optimism ka Mahaul.

This report is the result of 1565 in-depth citizen interviews in the Hindi Heartland through telephonic and internet surveys. The sample covered the mix of cohorts across gender, profession and life stage. Men (56%) and women (44%), students (31%) and working professional (69%), business owners (38%) and salaried class (62%) – all were given a stage to express their mood about 2024.

“The report documents the perspective of the citizen of Bharat going into 2024 including, but not restricted to their overall sentiment, sources of optimism, areas of concerns, expectations and watchouts”, says Dr. Sandeep Goyal, co-Chair of The Bharat Lab.

Following are some of the key highlights from the report –

Bharat Welcomes 2024 with Optimistic Arms: Over 62% respondents radiating positive vibes, 35% exuding a confident balance, and only 3% expressing clear pessimism.

The holy trinity of national pride + technology + economy boosts the morale.

There three factors cumulatively were top ranked sources of optimism for 85% of the respondents.

On a personal front, work-life balance key driver of optimism (something India – as opposed to Bharat - seems to struggle with) Good career prospects and positive personal life circumstances together make up the primary source of optimism for close to 76% of Bharat-wasis.

Only 11% in Bharat harbour any fears about the state of the economy. Over 51% were positive about the Indian economy in 2024, while 37% took a neutral stand.

AI and Elections are the Top 2 domains of interest for Bharat in 2024

22.3% respondents expressed interest in AI and other technology innovations, and 20.08% registered elections 20.08% as the key domains they are keen to follow in 2024.

Home improvement and travel: The upgrade priorities of Bharat

42.1% of the participants are optimistic about an upgrade in lifestyle in the year 2024. 20% are looking at travel as their big story for 2024.

Entrepreneurs Steal the Spotlight, Leaving Creators in the Dust! When asked about heroes who will shine (Bollywood was excluded; so was cricket) in 2024, Entrepreneurs claimed the spotlight with an impressive with 26.7% of the nods. Surprisingly, creators and scientists were at the back of the pack garnering 15.8% and 13.5% of the votes respectively.

The Bharat of Today Fears for the Planet of Tomorrow When quizzed about top concerns, Climate Change tops the List of Fears at 33.5%, Wars and Recession follow at 29.1%. The global recession is a concern for only 16.2% of Bharat Citizens.

Equally interesting were the cohort level findings. Some highlights –

SME owners – Most cautious of the lot - SME owners - shopkeepers, traders and small business owners – were the group with highest pessimism for 2024 at 28.8%. When asked specifically about financial outlook, only 37% were optimistic.

Govt and PSU employees – Most excited about prospects in 2024 - 81.3% of the Government and public sector employees expressed a positive overall outlook for 2024, and 79.06% of the Govt. and PSU employees were optimistic about personal growth in 2024

Women to lead the surge in tech and gadgets in 2024 - Of the respondents who chose tech and gadgets as their top interest in 2024, women outnumbered men 2:1. 66.5% of women chose tech as top interest vis-à-vis 33.5% of men!

Finally amongst working people, the married workers are more optimistic than single folks. Married individuals foresee better economic conditions (58.13%) compared to unmarried individuals (39.3%). Unmarried workers express 56.17% optimism for personal growth, while married workers are even more positive at 66.27%.

Speaking about the findings, Prof Alok Rai, chair of The Bharat Lab and V-C of Lucknow University said, ”This report on optimism clearly indicates that Bharat today is excited about embracing technology, entrepreneurship and the economic opportunities that are coming along in this Amrit Kaal of India.”

Dr. Sandeep Goyal, co-Chair drew attention to cohort intelligence, ”The overall optimism should give confidence to businesses like FMCG, Auto, Tech, Finance, Travel and more. Bharat is a great source of growth, and diving into cohorts will help them unlock new sources of growth”.

Dr. Sangeeta Sahu, Head of the Department of Business Management, Lucknow University reiterated that, “With women showing double the interest than men in technology, I wonder how many mobile, laptop and even tech start-ups today are developing products and communications with women as their lead consumer”.

Divyanshu Bhadoria, lead for The Bharat Lab concluded, ”As always Bharat surprises us with its readiness for change. The fact that entrepreneurs emerge as bigger heroes than creators hints to a larger shift in Bharat from content consumer to commerce creator”.

The Bharat Lab is India’s only consumer insights think tank focussed on understanding the consumer and citizen of Bharat, defined as India excluding its top 30 cities.

Published on: Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 07:57 PM IST