In India, Students Prefer WhatsApp

In India, Students Prefer WhatsApp Very few favor WeChat June 15, 2017 | Mobile Share Email Print Teenage students in urban India prefer WhatsApp over Facebook Messenger or Snapchat as their primary instant messaging app, a recent study has found. In fact, more than eight in 10 respondents said they preferred to use WhatsApp, according to Tata Consultancy Services, which surveyed roughly 12,000 students ages 12 to 18 from 15 schools across 15 cities in India. Males were more likely than females to prefer that instant messaging app over all others. Facebook Messenger came at a close second. Nearly seven in 10 respondents said that it was their preferred instant messaging service. Again, males were more likely than females to agree. For example, 70% of male students said they preferred Facebook Messenger. It was also the second most popular choice among females, chosen by 58% as their preferred messaging app. Other apps scored much lower among respondents. Out of the instant messaging apps mentioned, Snapchat and WeChat were the least preferred. Indeed, just 10% of students in India said they preferred WeChat, but in this instance females were more likely than males to favor that messaging app. Similarly, just under a quarter of respondents said they preferred Snapchat. Low preference for Snapchat has likely been influenced by a controversy that took place in India earlier this year in which Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel is alleged to have described the country as poor. After these allegations, thousands of Snapchat users in India reportedly uninstalled the app, and hashtags like #UninstallSnapchat and #BoycottSnapchat were trending Twitter topics in the country. Unhappy customers also hit Snapchat’s ratings on various app stores with a barrage of one-star reviews. —Rimma Kats - See more at: https://www.emarketer.com/Article/India-Students-Prefer-WhatsApp/1016026#sthash.hZ3A8qMk.dpuf