New Delhi: Companies across the globe, including India, will spend an average $ 19 million (Rs 119 crore) on social media this year, a global study by IT services major TCS said .

According to the Mumbai-headquartered company's Global Trend Report on social media, this average spending will rise to $ 24 million (about Rs 150 crore) by 2015.

"Companies will spend an average of nearly $ 19 million per company this year on social media and will increase that to $ 24 million by 2015," said the report titled 'Mastering Digital Feedback: How the best consumer companies use social media'.

Most consumer companies have become serious about social media in just the last three years, it added.

TCS's Global Trend Report explores how 11 global consumer industries and large firms in the world's 4 largest economic regions are using social media. This is the fourth report TCS has published since 2011, the last being on Big Data, it said.

Market research firm ResearchNow surveyed 655 respondents from mostly $ 1 billion plus consumer companies in June and July this year, the average revenue of which was $ 15.6 billion (median of $ 4.9 billion), it added.

"56 per cent of respondents have measured the return on social media investments and most of them say it has been positive," the report said.

Marketing and customer service are the functions that most regularly view consumers' comments on social media, it added.

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