Despite global economic challenges, Asia-Pacific marketers plan to increase product promotion, mainly on social media, while reducing their brand-building budget, according to the 2024 Nielsen Global Annual Marketer Survey.
The survey also revealed Thais in the Gen Z and Gen Y age ranges love to read and create product reviews on the internet.
Thailand is also the leading country for online chatter about Labubu dolls, according to global media research firm Neilsen.
Marketers in Asia-Pacific are planning to increase their spending on advertising more than marketers in other regions, said Runchita Sirvoravilai, Thailand vertical lead for advertiser and agency at Neilsen.
She said the survey found 31% of respondents in Asia-Pacific ranked brand awareness as their top priority, followed by revenue growth (26%), customer retention (19%) and customer acquisition (14%).
In terms of budget spent, 80% of the region's marketers plan to increase performance marketing activities such as product promotions to drive revenue, while focusing less on brand awareness.
Most of the spending went to social media channels, where a retail media network is growing via the internet and apps, according to Neilsen.
More Asians are shopping online, resulting in higher traffic on websites and apps, said Ms Runchita.
She said 79% of respondents in Asia-Pacific plan to increase ad spending in this retail media network this year.
According to the 2023 survey, online shopping still has room to grow in Thailand based on a 43% penetration rate, which was up 3% from 2022, compared with a 64% penetration rate in Singapore, up 2%. The Philippines tallied a 68% penetration rate, up 5%, while Indonesia totalled a 59% penetration rate, a gain of 12%.
Malaysia's penetration rate was 61%, down 2%.
Super apps are playing a greater role in the ad landscape, particularly GrabAds, Foodpanda, Robinhood and Line.
Ms Runchita said brand building and awareness can influence consumer perceptions and have a broad reach, lasting for the long term to drive future sales.
Nielsen found brand building not only affects long-term sales, but can also help control customer acquisition cost.
For the first four months of 2024, advertising in Thailand grew 4% year-on-year to 37.9 billion baht, according to Neilsen.
Of the total value, TV secured the largest share with 18.9 billion baht, followed by the internet at 10.5 billion, out-of-home 5.6 billion, and cinema 1.1 billion, with cinema tallying the highest growth of 35%.
Radio and print contributed 1 billion baht and 588 million baht, respectively.
The biggest decrease in ad spending was on e-marketplaces, which declined by 64%, noted the research firm.
The biggest gain in ad spending by sector was automotive, which posted 45% growth by value, led by electric vehicles and pickups.
Ad spending on food and beverage grew 21%.
In related news, Neilsen's Social Listening revealed Thailand was the top country for chatting online about Labubu dolls and Popmart over the past month, with more than 365,000 mentions recorded.
Ms Runchita said opinions expressed online influence consumers' purchasing decisions.
Some 37% of both Gen Z and Gen Y frequently post comments and reviews online.
In addition, 49% of Gen Y, 46% of Gen Z and 12% of baby boomers are influenced by online comments and reviews, according to Nielsen.