Buyers prefer experimentation over "brand pull" when its comes to smartphones as they become increasingly brand-agnostic, said CMR's Mobile Industry Consumer Insight (MICI) survey.
The survey said their preferences are being driven by factors such as overall product quality (92 percent), product performance (90 percent), product aesthetics (82 percent) and reliable after-sales service, with fast turnaround time (76 percent).
"In a hyper-competitive market, marked by the smartphone sea of sameness, brands that invest in ensuring product quality and other softer aspects, win big.
"Indian consumers, especially post-millennials and Gen-Z are very demanding. For them, product design, quality, and overall value for money are of critical importance," said Narinder Kumar, Lead Analyst-IIG, CMR, in a statement.
The survey was conducted across the top eight Indian cities in February 2019 and covered teens and youth between the age group of 15 to 30 from various backgrounds and income levels.
While Samsung, with its vast retail network, scored big on after-sales service, 89 percent respondents were found to be most loyal to Oppo, followed by Xiaomi and Realme.
"The CMR MICI survey results affirm the importance and passion that consumers invest in and associate with their smartphones. While bigger smartphone brands continue to hold onto their pockets of strength, it is interesting to see Realme outperform the competition," said Satya Mohanty, Head-User Research Practice, CMR.