Thai teenagers forsaking traditional media for 'Net

Advertisers are having a tough time reaching Thai teenagers, who have tuned out traditional media as few have time to watch television, listen to the radio or read magazines. According to a joint study by Ogilvy & Mather Thailand and Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University's faculty of communication arts, the Internet is now the entertainment and communication medium of choice among Thai teens. The study found that youngsters in Thailand are logging on and spending more time on the Internet using chat rooms as their preferred method of communication. Ogilvy & Mather Thailand managing director Mr Witawat Jayapani said Thai teens aged between 13 to 17 averaged three hours a day on line, compared with three to five hours on line for 18 to 19 year olds. "They are addicted to talking on the 'Net. They use it as a means to communicate and relate to other teens, the content is really nothing." Eighty-six per cent of respondents said they must communicate via a computer, compared with just 24 per cent who said a mobile phone or pager was the most important communications tool. He said the most popular on-line activities were talking to their friends in chat rooms, followed by e-mail, playing games, looking at pictures of Thai movie stars or models, ICQ and finally surfing the Internet for information on fashion, entertainment and sports. "Banner ads won't work with this target market unless you find the right positioning. Thai teens know how to bookmark and jump in without visiting a site's main page the second time. "They have a very low ad view on-line. They laugh at e-commerce since they don't buy on-line and don't believe in the future of this type of business," Mr Witawat, said. The finding showed that Thai teens between 13 to 17 spend from nine to 10 hours a day studying and most take special tutorial classes after school or on weekends. According to the study, Thai teens have little free time and Internet brands must have what Mr Witawat called the "right brand DNA" to attract attention. "Since they spend so much studying, Internet brand names must be associated with fun or chit chat," he added. Getting good grades was considered "cool" with 80 per cent of respondents and viewed as a strong tool to barter with parents for "fun things in life". Thai teens reserve the largest space in their heart for their parents, especially mum, and 95 per cent of respondents said they should be polite and respect their parents. "They are different than teens in other parts of the world; brands that rebel against parents will never win the hearts of Thai teens," Mr Witawat said. As a result of the economic crisis Thai teens are more conscious of value for money rather than big name brands. Asked whether they were willing to spend 60,000 baht (US$1540) on a name brand computer, the teens said they would prefer to spend less and customise an unbranded computer to "high meg, big gig" specifications, Mr Witawat, said. The study, called "The World of Thai Teens: the Chit-Chat Generation", polled 1,100 Thai teens aged between 13-19 years in Phitsanulok, Khon Kaen, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces to gauge opinion. The research was conducted between May 10 and June 10 this year through individual and group face-to-face interviews.

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