MEDIA CONSUMPTION HABITS OF YOUNG WOMEN IN KASHMIR: A CASE STUDY OF WOMEN’S COLLEGE, SRINAGAR

Abstract

Youth in India-administered Kashmir have many choices when it comes to different media products. With regard to this fact, information about media choices of youth especially women group is very difficult to gauge due to multiple reasons such as distributed exposure to a variety of media, dissimilar norms and beliefs, wide interests, and conflict. Thus this study attempts to find what young women in Kashmir like & prefer when it comes to different platforms of media i.e. Print, Broadcast and, Online. The survey method was employed to conduct the study and questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Usage patterns were further classified among rural and urban areas. The study found that newspapers are the first preference of women when it comes to receiving information about news and current affairs, internet trends to be a popular medium for education, and TV wins over all other options for entertainment. A critical path analysis further reveals how students who are excellent in studies tend to be more open to media as compared to their average counterparts and how internet led to addiction and media -dependency among women in Kashmir elevating internet usage amongst them. Through these findings, the researcher anticipates assisting media marketers to develop an effective media strategy to reach their target audience advantageously with an ease to not only understand but also interpret the choices of young women in Kashmir.