New research reveals how brand preferences in Thailand have shifted during the pandemic

Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the experience management category, today launched its second Brand Trust Study research  revealing how Thais’ preferences, behaviours, and expectations of the brands they engage with has shifted during the first 6 months of the pandemic.

The first brand trust study was conducted with 520 consumers in Thailand between 29 April - 5 May 2020. The second study is a follow up to with 319 Thais (aged 18-65) surveyed in early September 2020.

The study revealed that even though restrictions have changed the actions brands are taking continue to have a significant impact on consumers. Again, more than 95 per cent agreed that during a crisis brand actions impact trust - with a majority 92% of people agreeing the impact was major.

Similar to the earlier study, the drivers of brand trust are consistent. Not taking advantage of a crisis to maximise profits remains the most important (44%), followed by maintaining reasonable pricing (37%), and taking care of customers (39%) and employees (20%).

Where we start to see a shift among Thai is in their communication preferences, and the messages they want to receive.

The top brand communications people want to receive right now are messages on safety and hygiene protocols (70%), replacing updates into how brands are responding to the pandemic (63%) which has fallen to second. Information into products and services (50%), information on changes to business distribution (45%), and sales and promotion emails (45%) make up the top 5 messages Thais want to hear.

When it comes to the medium, Thais are increasingly choosing email and social media while moving away from traditional broadcast and online channels.

“Being able to identify, understand, and respond to rapidly changing expectations is business critical during the pandemic, and long after it. The fact that preferences toward the message and the medium have changed and yet the importance of actions remains hugely important reveals brands cannot afford to stand still in how they engage consumers. As we move forward through the pandemic preferences and attitudes will continue to shift. This is why it’s hugely important businesses use technology like Qualtrics to have an “always on pulse” of consumer sentiment and behaviour tracking. Insights delivered by Qualtrics help identify the lead indicators businesses need to design and deliver the brand communications and experiences people want, and which ultimately cultivate the trust needed to succeed,” said Lisa Khatri, Research and Brand Experience Lead for Qualtrics in APJ.