Asians and their thoughts on brands, advertising and life

51 % of Asians would be interested in products and services that would help them avoid advertising, which reinforces the common knowledge that today's consumer is bombarded with so many ad messages marketers have an increasingly difficult job making their brands stand out.

Interestingly, most Asians believe technology will accelerate improvements in their lives although 71% of Singaporeans, when they think about the rise of technology in the future, find it overwhelming.

These findings are just some of the many revealed by Eye on Asia, a annual Grey Group study that looks at the hopes and dreams of people in 16 countries across Asia Pacific. The study is a predictor of trends, aimed at understanding what Asians want from life by exploring a wide range of topics including attitudes about work, family, finances, the environment, and their value systems.   

On the shopper front, consumers are becoming more wary about product claims, questioning the reliability of well-established multi-national corporations and looking to more credible sources to ascertain their fears. Customisation, differentiation and consistency in product quality are the three key factors of highly sought-after in brands.

The study found that shoppers are so wary that a stunning 80% of Asians agree it is risky to buy from an unfamiliar brand.     

On the other hand, 59% of Asians are willing to pay a premium for products and services that are either new or perceived to be unique, and their country owning a global brand is seen as motivating to most Asians at 88%.

On the topic of consumerism, it is worthy to note how 85% of Asians are willing to give up convenient products and services they enjoy to preserve the environment, but only 75% of Asians would be willing to pay more for products that are environmentally friendly.

But the upside to that is that an average of 78% of Asians, once they find a brand they like, rarely tend to change their preferences. So if an environmentally friendly brand manages to find a spot in consumers' hearts, it knows it is there to stay.

The study also found consumers think marketers are doing a "good job overall", with Singaporeans (67%) ranking slightly below the Asian average of 72%. Luckily for marketers, 73% of Singaporeans consider themselves interested in advertising, which is also the average figure for Asia.

The Asian interest in advertising correlates with the perception that their advertising is exciting, but in Singapore, only 55% agree its advertising is exciting - 6% "strongly disagree" with the statement.

Along a similar vein, the study found that only 36% agree that Singapore advertising is world class, a result which places Singapore only second to China at the bottom of the list. This is an interesting finding considering Singapore has one of the largest concentrations of advertising agencies in the world and it prides itself for having many world class creative directors, says Chris Beaumont, architect of Eye on Asia and president & CEO of Grey Group Japan.

"Singapore advertising is disproportionately well known simply because there's a disproportionately large number of advertising agencies here," he told Marketing.

The 2008 study surveyed 16 countries including Singapore, Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, New Zealand, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

500 respondents from each of the 16 countries participated in the research which involved both internet and face-to-face interviews. Respondents were 18 to 65 year old individuals.