Thais spend an average of nine hours and 32 minutes a day consuming media and now demand more control over what they view, according to market research firm Nielsen.
The Nielsen Consumer Media View survey revealed consumers now consider time as more important than making money, with 51% of Thai respondents agreeing with this premise in 2021, up from 46% in 2019.
Some 92% indicated they enjoy spending time with family in 2021, up from 82% in 2019, while 33% said they did not have time to go shopping in 2021, up from 29% in 2019.
According to the survey, Thais spend an average of four hours and 10 minutes per day watching TV, three hours and 45 minutes on the internet and one hour and 37 minutes listening to the radio.
Nielsen indicated consumers demand more control over their viewing with a 69% increase of time-shifted TV viewing and a 14% surge in digital viewing compared with the pre-pandemic times.
The report shows each consumer needs multiple viewing choices, said Nielsen.
In 2017, over-the-top (OTT) platform penetration was 10%, but it soared to 52.3% in 2021.
"In the age of the consumer, it is fundamental for content providers to give viewers an extremely versatile number of options, from traditional TV to OTT, from studio to user-generated content," said Runchita Srivoravilai, director of Nielsen Thailand.
As channels, platforms and content options increase, consumers will engage with the options that are most appealing to them, which will continue to affect traditional TV viewing trends, she said.
"Thais are hungry for more content," said Ms Runchita. "This presents an opportunity to keep them engaged for longer on their platform."
"Overall, there is a healthy, dynamic and diverse ecosystem here in Thailand, with marketers able to build a varied media plan to reach the desired audiences."
Nielsen also sees the trend of platforms transforming into super platforms.
TV and the internet are the primary sources of media and platforms have to be more agile in how they respond to large and dynamic expectations from consumers, she said.
Platforms are transforming to survive in the age of consumer demand and to serve more purposes for users, from traditional TV to all-in-one TV, from apps to super apps, and from media to commerce platforms, said Ms Runchita.
Nielsen also pointed out ad spending is slowly bouncing back, with more confidence from various sectors.
In the first 11 months this year, media spending reached 97.2 billion baht, up 0.03% year-on-year.
Internet ad spending rose 12% year-on-year to 21.3 billion baht and TV ad spending climbed 1% year-on-year to 57.9 billion.
The biggest jump in ad spending came from the electrical product segment with 33% growth in the first 11 months this year, compared with the same period last year, followed by retail shops and food outlets with a rise of 25% and the food and beverage segment with a surge of 11%.
