Reader's Digest Asia organized its 14th annual Trusted Brand Survey Award 2012. The survey revealed that Thais have the confidence and loyalty to the brands in most countries in Asia. As a result, 38 of brand's award-winning from 59 are all Thai brands. This year, 2 more categories were added in the survey - ISP (Internet Service Provider) and Smart Phone, a highly competitive business in the current market. Consumers seek for the most reliable source of information as a reference before any purchase of goods and services. It is generally accepted among consumes that the results of a survey or known as a Trusted Brand is the most reliable award in Asia.
At the 14th annual Trusted Brand Award 2012, Sue Kearney, editor’s director of Asia-Pacific of Reader's Digest magazine said that the Trusted Brand Survey is one of the most important tasks of Reader's Digest as a world class media and marketing publisher which focuses on sharing business knowledge as well as entertainment through readers, connecting them worldwide and finally using the marketing skills to promote a brand with its unique in each country to become more acceptable.
“The Trusted Brand survey is carried out in 8 Asian markets: Thai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, China and the Philippines. This survey is conducted by Ipsos, a world leading Research Company, via phone and mail, a fair and verifiable method and completely voted for by 1,000 consumers in each country, in all, 8,000 were polled. Consequently, the survey was widely accepted in Asia with the 83% of survey respondents claiming that the poll result is useful for making decision before any purchase of goods or services. Besides, 64% of them say that if a product has been named a Reader's Digest Trusted Brand, they are more likely to buy that brand”
For the survey this year, Sue Kearney said that the questions listed in the survey mainly focused on the local and foreign brands to encourage consumers to both realize the importance of the local product support, having a direct impact on the economy of the nation and the social responsibility with the questions about environmentally friendly products and services as well as the questions on the product label, indicating the product information towards consumers before making a purchase.
"For the survey on products and services, 82% of respondents in Asia agree that purchasing local products will allow economic growth. Thailand ranked first with 94% and 96%, followed by the Philippines, Taiwan, 85%. For questions on the opportunity to purchase domestic goods instead of imported products, the rank was changed slightly but Thailand still was the first with 73%, followed by the Philippines with 68%, Malaysia with 53% and Taiwan ranked fourth at 51%.”
While the survey results on the same idea in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong, more than 50% of respondents agreed that purchasing local products will allow economic growth but 40% of them claimed that purchasing local or foreign products was not an issue "
The results of a survey from 1,000 Thai respondents showed that Thais are the most loyal consumers in Asia. The results can be explained by the survey and it appeared that more than 38 of Thai brands were voted as trusted brands such as Muang Thai Life Insurance, Thai Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Krung Thai Bank, Thai commercial Banks, Thai Farmers Bank, the gold award winner in the category of financial services, Thailand Post Co. Ltd., the gold award winner in services and Yanhee Hospital, the gold award winner in beauty salon and weight loss, etc.
"The award was categorized in 2 types: Gold is given to a brand with a significant score over others in the same category and Platinum to a brand with a double or triple score higher compared to the gold winner as well as the score of the quality must be rated higher than 4. This year, there were 46 gold award winners and 13 platinum awards were granted, including 38 local brands and 21 foreign brands. "
There are also questions on the environmentally friendly products and services focusing on the decision making factors such as local raw materials, environmentally friendly raw materials, production methods as well as recycled packaging.
The results of this survey showed that most of the respondents were keen to support environmentally friendly goods or services. The first 3 ranks were Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan. And, the important factors to consider are recycling of components, 83%, of environmentally friendly raw materials, 81% packaging 81%, and good environmental management, 81%.
Finally, the survey to find out what , the most important details that consumers first read on the product is before purchasing between labels are ingredients, nutritional facts, manufacturer and the origin of the ingredients. And, the result is ingredients. The country was ranked the highest in China, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand respectively.
The highlights of the survey
1. Among the 59 award winners of the trusted brands in Thailand by Reader's Digest, there were 38 winners from Thai local brands.
2. 96% of Thai consumers agreed that purchasing local products will allow economic growth and 73% are keen to buy local products instead of imported products.
3. There are 2 new categories added as follows:
3.1 Internet Service Provider - True Cooperation, the platinum award winner and 3BB, the gold award winner
3.2 Smart Phone (a highly competitive business) - Samsung, the gold award winner
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