Ogilvy & Mather's latest research initiative, Uncovering White Collar Thai Males, found that middle-income Thai men between the ages of 25 and 45 are increasingly rating a product's personality and value-for-money above status. In each case, the less expensive brands scored higher in terms of brand awareness and brands bought.
While the financial crisis was certainly "a catalyst to make the switch faster", there were already indications of this trend in a 1996 study on Thailand's Generation X, says Witawat Jayapani, vice-chairman of the Ogilvy group in Thailand. The latest study not only confirms it in the target group, but also shows that in several categories, it's actually strengthened.
"Four years ago, nobody mentioned Seiko and now it has the highest level of awareness in the watch category, says Witawat. Similarly, in the car category, Mercedes and BMW have slipped below Toyota and Honda. The Thai shopper is now "more rational, looking for quality and attitude - the Seiko kinetic watch is very popular as are four-wheel drives, which are tough and adventurous, although not always cheaper."
The emerging spending patterns point to a more sophisticated and confident shopper, and a more practical one. Changes in lifestyle over the last few years have resulted in a whole new list of 'must haves' like laptops and mobile phones, says Witawat. Thai men are also more likely to pay for their own homes instead of staying with their parents "so they have to spend more sensibly".
The net result: a full 82 per cent claim to "find out details of a product before making a purchase, 67 per cent compare prices between stores, and 83 per cent say they buy products that are "best value-for-money".
Marketers need to sit up and take notice of these figures. Although the target group represents just 10 per cent of the population, their buying decisions are significant as they shape purchasing behaviour among men in product categories like cars, watches and alcoholic drinks.
There remains, however, at least one area where luxury brands continue to rule the roost. "Men are going for even more premium cosmetic brands, says Witawat. This preference stretches to services, with most men prepared to pay more for a good barber. About a third admit to using women's fragrances and a quarter to using women's skin care products including facial creams and body lotions.
Despite luxury brands having lost their popularity in many other categories, Thai men remain brand conscious. Without naming specific brand categories, spontaneous recall of brands perceived as "suitable for men yielded over 50 names with Arrow and Levi's the two most mentioned brands. "I would say brand awareness comes from the total experience: displays, point-of-sales, brand representation, and word of mouth, Witawat notes. "It's not only about advertising. In many cases, these brands - Levi's, Seiko, Ray Ban - are not big spenders."
Arrow, another modest spender, in its 27th year in Thailand, is enjoying robust growth in sales despite a worldwide dip in retail sales in the fashion industry after September 11. Officials expect this year's figures to overshoot last year's by 10 per cent, surpassing the three to five per cent industry growth.
Meanwhile, the study also found that Thai males are family-oriented, prefer to pay in cash than credit and rate career success and owning a business high on their list of priorities. The last is a major shift and is "very different from their parents' generation, who aspired simply to work with big companies, Witawat notes.
This last aspect has been incorporated into several ad campaigns including a television commercial for Asia Bank by Ogilvy sister company, Results Advertising, showing how the bank enables a young man to own his own business.
Ogilvy itself is in the process of incorporating the results of its latest research into brand strategies for its clients, among whom are Wrangler jeans, Carlsberg and Singha Beer. The agency is also keen to follow up the project with qualitative research within the next two months.
The results of the survey came from fieldwork carried out in March of this year involving 200 working men in Bangkok. Their occupations included government and state enterprise officials, private firm employees and entrepreneurs.
