New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): Audio quality is the top-most driver (69 per cent) influencing consumer smartphone purchases in India, ahead of battery (65 per cent) and camera (63 per cent), a study showed on Monday.

The digital natives (in the age group of 18-24 years) are the most active content consumers, spending more than 20 hours per week online on audio consumption.

According to the study by market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR) in collaboration with Dolby, over the past year, audio has been increasingly integrated into consumer lives in the country.

"After a year and more of social distancing, audio consumption trends have further intensified. The consumer relationship with audio is constantly evolving. Audio is playing a key role in consumer lives across content types - episodic shows, music, movies, live sports, or mobile gaming," Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR said in a statement.

Amongst digital natives, the survey highlights a remarkable 8 per cent point jump in consumers, over the previous annual study, prioritising audio as a key smartphone purchase driver in 2021 at 71 per cent.

Digital natives are tech-aware, and presumably highly satisfied with the camera and battery innovations brought forth by smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

Movies (86 per cent), music (82 per cent), user-generated content (68 per cent) are the three most-preferred content forms for consumers on their smartphones.

User-generated content, via platforms such as Instagram Reels, has exploded and overtaken episodic content consumption as the third-most preferred content type. Consumers continue to seek more depth and detail, along with more immersive and richer audio experiences.

"The desire for having all three features namely voice and dialogue clarity, depth details as well as immersive experience has increased by 68 per cent," the study said.