Research Proposal

The Rise of OTT Platform in India

Group 9
Shubham Hajare 20A2HP447
Tahjeeb Kiraan Saikia 20A2HP337
Badam Vamsi 20A2HP420
Sagrika Behera 20A2HP405
Bhavesh Choudhary 20A2HP437

Submitted to:-
Prof. (Dr.) Shabnam Priyadarshini
Assistant Professor
IMT Hyderabad
Current Situation: 

Most industries had little cause for cheer last year, but the OTT business wasn’t one of them.
Engulfed by an outpouring of love and support, OTTs indeed came into their own in 2020.
These streaming platforms gained paid subscribers in big numbers and became a staple of the
Indian culture and lifestyle in the past year. 
Several reports highlighted the manifold growth clocked by OTT platforms across metrics.
2021 may not see a similar development level in terms of subscribers or other percentages on
a year-on-year basis. But there is more to the narrative than numbers. All the contenders in
the OTT ecosystems look to go more aggressive on the back of original premium content,
attractive pricing models, distribution deals, and deeper foray into regional markets. 
 
 
Purpose of the Research 

The purpose of this research is to understand and analyse the type of content viewed,
expected, and demanded by the intended audience, thereby inferring how consumers make
decisions regarding contents in OTT platforms. We would study the competition between
different channels and analyse the reasons for the OTT platform's preference over the pay-tv
market. The main objective of our research are as follows: 

1. What is triggering the consumers to prefer OTT platforms over cable tv? 
2. What are the challenges and pitfalls faced by the OTT platforms? 
3. How are the OTT channels providing different experiences in terms of content &
features? 
4. How are the viewer’s experiences and level of satisfaction with various OTT
channels? 
 
 
Research Design 

The research design adopted in this research was qualitative. This methodology was chosen
as not much literature was available for this research. The research required an in-depth
understanding of gratification factors by delving deeper into the consumer mind for gathering
insights. The interpretative paradigm was taken into consideration. The study adopted the
interview method since the research requirements were to use the laddering technique and
understand the root-cause analysis of consuming content in the OTT platform. This method
helps obtain reasons and causes through an in-depth conversation on current video viewing
patterns, behaviours, beliefs, norms, attitudes, and practices that might influence their OTT
content usage. The tool of qualitative research was a carefully prepared discussion guide
consisting of ice breaking, generic and specific questions. The points in the discussion guide
helped the interviewer to converge the study in a particular direction. Hence, the researcher
undertook a convergent strategy to arrive at the themes of gratification. The findings and
analysis justified the research questions and the objectives of this research. 
 
Sample Questions: 

1. What is your age? 

 
2. What is your profession? 
  Student 
 Working Professional 
 Retired 
 
3. How often do you use OTT platforms? 
 Mostly 
 Sometimes 
 Hardly sometimes 
 
4. Which is your favourite OTT platform? 
 Amazon Prime Video 
 Netflix 
 Disney Hotstar 
 Sony Liv 
 Zee5 
 Voot 
 
5. During your free time, would you prefer watching content on the OTT platform or
TV? 
 Yes 
 No  
 
6. Would you pay subscription fees for watching your favourite content on the OTT
platform? 
 Yes 
 No 
 
7. If yes, which subscription plan would you prefer? 
 100-150 
 150-200 
 200-250 
 250+ 
 
 
Sample Design 

A survey of approximately 100 individuals located in Metro cities, Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3
cities across the country, will provide the database for this study. 
The respondents would be categorized according to different age groups and professions to
study the various groups’ behaviour in our research. 
 

Data Gathering 

The participant planning for this research was that the participants consisted of young,
dynamic, post-graduate individuals. These working professionals belong to the generation
that is defined as millennial or echo boomers and working professionals. The target
participant was in the age group of 15-40 years belonging to metro cities, tier 1, tier 2, and
tier 3 cities. The reason for choosing such a target group was that these individuals are
frequent OTT platform users. Hence the participants were carefully selected so that they
consume OTT content regularly or are addicted to OTT content by been consuming video
content on one or more platforms regularly, either through laptops, desktops, or/and on their
mobile devices. Most of these participants would choose OTT content over traditional
television content and are frequently watching those contents that are customized for the OTT
platform only.  
Google form will be circulated among the respondents to gather data related to the research. 
 

Data Processing and Analysis 

The data is collected via Google form, and the results will be generated using excel sheets,
charts, graphs, and tables. Simple tabulation and excel functions will be utilized to analyse
the data. 
 
 
Report Preparation 

A written report will be prepared, and a presentation of the findings will be made by the
group members. 
 
 
Budget and Time Schedule 

The budget of this research will be Nil because we will be collecting responses through an
online form. The responses will be contained within a fortnight, and the analysis will be
presented.