JioStar festive survey signals strong consumer confidence, digital-led discovery and high persuasion potential for brands
With a Rs 16,500 average budget and 65% still undecided on brands, JioStar, through its survey, offers marketers a powerful window to influence decision-making at scale.
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As the country gears up for the upcoming festive season, JioStar has released the 2025 edition of the JioStar Festive Sentiment Survey, which reveals that 92% of Indian consumers plan to continue or increase their festive spending this year, signalling robust consumer confidence and a golden opportunity for brands.
The survey, built to decode how India is thinking, spending and discovering this festive season, uncovers key trends for marketers - a growing millennial spend base, men spending more this festive season but women set to drive diversity in purchases; shopping across more categories such as fashion, beauty, wellness, home appliances, and mobiles, gifting resurgence with nearly 1 in 2 consumers shopping for others this season; and most importantly 65% of consumers yet to decide which brands they will buy from.
With an average festive shopping budget of Rs 16,500, the window to influence purchase decisions is wide open.
To capture the hearts of audiences and the attention of advertisers, JioStar has also unveiled its expansive entertainment line-up. At the heart of this festive season lies #HarGharMeinJashn, JioStar’s flagship celebration of India’s biggest cultural months. Through this campaign, JioStar aims to go beyond just programming and focus on building moments of joy, memory and meaning across screens.
“This year’s festive outlook is marked by strong consumer optimism and evolving media consumption. Marketers are looking to engage audiences across platforms and languages, and that’s where JioStar’s robust festive offering becomes invaluable. With #HarGharMeinJashn, we are creating a high-impact funnel for brands across discovery, intent, and purchase touchpoints,” said Mahesh Shetty, Head of Revenue, Entertainment, JioStar.
The media solutions this festive season include high-impact formats like pre-roll takeovers, pause ads and interactive formats, along with MegaBlasts for maximum reach, JioStarverse for AI-powered influencer marketing and Moment.ai for contextual storytelling. Advertisers can also tap into smarter ad formats, including countdown, location-based and AQI-based dynamic formats, unlocking real-time relevance and driving deeper audience engagement.
Key findings from survey:
The survey, developed to decode how India is thinking, spending, and discovering this season, points to strong media influence and significant opportunity for last-mile persuasion.
• Increased spending capacity: 85% say their financial situation has improved or stayed the same over the last year
• Millennial vs. Gen Z: Millennials expected to spend more than Gen Z, with higher budgets and category intent
• Women shoppers drive variety: Women will shop across more than 2 categories, including apparel, beauty, gadgets, and home décor
• Top product categories: Apparel and fashion (33%), mobiles (27%), electronics (18%), followed by holidays, jewellery, and beauty
• Online discovery leads: 76% of consumers cite online ads as the top information source, followed by OTT/UGC content and social media
• High brand influence opportunity: 65% of shoppers have not yet decided on the brand they’ll buy from—opening the door for last-mile persuasion
• Balanced retail channels: 52% plan to shop online; 42% offline, indicating the need for omnichannel strategies
• Digital payments dominate: 61% of shoppers prefer cashless options, led by UPI and mobile wallets
Content line-up
JioStar’s diverse content line-up includes a robust mix of reality and fiction that span cultures and languages.
The line-up includes pan-India favourites like Bigg Boss across five languages, Star Parivaar Awards, a new weekend prime-time reality format Pati Patni Aur Panga, JioHotstar Specials such as Trial 2, Salakaar and Rambo in Love and marquee movies such as Chhaava, Kesari 2, Empuraan and Thudaram. Fiction powerhouses continue to drive daily engagement, with shows like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi (Hindi), Siragadikka Aasai (Tamil), and Chempaneer Poovu (Malayalam) resonating deeply with audiences. International titles such as Thunderbolts, A Minecraft Movie, Final Destination Bloodlines, King & Conqueror, Only Murders in the Building S5 will also resonate with the newer audiences.
With curated programming across Onam, Durga Puja, Navratri, Ganesh Utsav and Diwali, JioStar ensures that brands are placed at the heart of every celebration. JioHotstar will also bring families together for large-scale digital celebration Janmashtami LIVE, Navratri LIVE, Dussehra LIVE.The hyper-local festive programming is market-specific and curated to align with regional traditions, viewer behaviours, and cultural nuances.
