Audiences who vote on reality shows have been, by and large, found to attach more importance to the ethnic and regional backgrounds of the contestants. They also attach more importance to their appearance and their capacity to weave a moving story for garnering emotional support rather than judging them on their skill levels. The opportunity to win large sums of prize money and other goodies along with getting instant fame and recognition has been so tempting that not just upcoming talents but also celebrities have been reported to apply unethical means to win contests.

"So you thought talent contests were about talent. Sure they are but it's not good enough to have noodles of talent, you must have noodles of audience appeal. Don't confuse that with sex or star appeal. And, don't make the mistake of thinking you need to be top of the pops with the judges, either, just with those Tom Thumbs on the SMS alphabet. Essentially, talent contests are SMS contests."

In "Indian Idol 2", there were reports that Sandeep Acharya, one of the top two contestants bought innumerous cell phone connections for people belonging to his region specifically for the voting purpose. Consequently, he won the competition and left his competitor, NC Karunya high and dry despite the later being a superior singer than Sandeep.

Unethical Audience Voting on Reality Shows : A Boon for India Inc, ethnic and regional backgrounds, contestants, capacity, weave a moving story, garnering emotional support, skill levels, opportunity, win large sums of prize money, goodies, instant fame, recognition, upcoming talents, Sony Entertainment Television, bringing deserving talents, private television channels in India, something likeable to the youth