New survey findings show job and financial security as major concern across generations of Thais for the first time, urging brands and marketers to inspirit consumers with positivity to overcome adversity and move on together.
Wunderman Thompson released Future Pulse study and a new survey report complete with short- and long-term foresight of consumer behavior in the new normal.
COVID-19 has affected businesses and people everywhere. While the situation in Thailand is easing and everything seems to be improving, the outbreak has already changed consumer behavior as a result of its effects on their state of mind, economic condition and way of life. Changes will continue into post COVID-19 period as people fine-tune their life to the new normal.
The report is based on a nationwide survey conducted in July 2020, which studied a sample group of 812 people, 32% male and 68% female with ages ranging from 15 to 60 years old and education levels from secondary school to doctorate degree. It covers four areas of investigation: Finance & Economy, Work & Career, Socializing & Social Distancing, and Health & Wellbeing.
The study found some behaviors and attitudes to be different between and others to be similar across different groups of respondents. Brands and marketers should therefore gain an in-depth understanding of the changing behavior in order to realign their marketing and communication strategies to the new normal effectively.
The study delves into four topmost areas of consumers’ concerns to give brands and marketers the needed insights for more effective business planning. While people are worried, feeling insecure and confused with new things in the new normal, brands and consumers must help each other to get through this situation together.
Survey Findings on Consumer Behavior After COVID-19 are:
Finance & Economy. Most consumers are financially and economically concerned, with 71% of respondents saying they are worried that Thailand will dive into a deep recession, 60% who are worried that the bounce back will be slow, and 60% who are worried about having no jobs and experiencing business slowdown. Getting into more details with regard to investments, the study found that consumers are on a standstill. 50% of respondents chose not to invest in anything and prefer to hold cash by saving money to bank accounts. They have risk-adverse mindset now towards any investments beyond savings due to their income levels and a worry of not earning. However, on what consumers are investing in now, it found 33% of respondents currently on monthly savings, followed by 20% who opened their own business and 12% who invested in insurance.
Work & Career. With 62% of the respondents saying they are worried about their job security and future, the study suggests that most consumers no longer see career advancement and growth as the key driver but consider keeping or even having a job as the most important priority now. At the same time, 48% of the respondents are worried about salary cut and 47% about losing their job. A look into activities that consumers will spend on after COVID-19 reveals that people are willing to invest more in finding and securing a job. 31.5% are willing to spend on upskilling and reskilling as well as attending company-paid training.19.4% of respondents will increase their spending on investment. On the decrease side, 51.6% of respondents will spend less on eating out, 50.1% less on hanging out with friends and 50% less on outdoor activities. Significant decreases are also seen in activities such as travelling both domestically and abroad, going to gym and shopping at malls.
Socialising & Social Distancing. When asked what key changes to their family post COVID-19 will be, a majority of 70% pointed to being more hygienic at home. 56% of respondents said they are cooking more at home and 46% are going out of home less for entertainment. Moreover, 52% are seeing more increased use of technology at home. As consumers spend more time with their families, the importance of friends has decreased. 75% said they will spend the same or less time with friends post COVID-19 and 48% said they will spend less time meeting friends out of home, including for entertainment and eating or drinking out. In terms of shopping behaviour, post COVID-19 has made hygiene, social distancing and time spent a priority.
72% of consumers are more careful with hygiene when shopping and 59% of them place social distancing higher on their priorities. 58% also avoid crowded places. Interestingly, only 28% said their online shopping will increase, possibly because consumers could find for themselves a comfortable mix of online and offline shopping. Retail therapy is also being derailed by retail necessity, with 82% of consumers no longer shop for pleasure but by carefully planned needs.
Health & Wellbeing. In area of health and wellness, the biggest concerns amongst consumers can be related to mental health stability as represented by 47% of the respondents, followed by 45% who are worried about the vaccine and cure for COVID-19 that do not seem to be available or widely accessible any time soon.
The study also unveiled that parents are the most worried group of people. They are worried about providing for the children’s wellbeing future, resulting in depression and stress. To protect their family from the financial stress, they tried to ensure the best ways to communicate with family members about financial difficulties.
The survey suggests that future financial and life security has become a top focus to all consumer groups regardless of their generations and geographic locations, although their issues differs. This is a change from historically different levels of priority given by different generations to this area of concerns.
For gen Z, life is not driven solely by passion. Gen Zers are about the enter the workforce in time of high unemployment and low job opportunities. COVID-19 has made them rethink about life, revisit their passions and relearn skills to achieve their work and career goals. Personal passions are being reprioritized after financial and life security.
Millennials have been working for a while and they begin to reevaluate how they spend their money on traveling, transportation, entertainment and leisure. They cannot afford pure leisure they used to enjoy. Feeling insecure in job, they start to improve skills that matters to their careers. As sources of extra income, millennials are also monetising their hobbies to maintain their levels of financial security.
Up country people have the mindset to always adapt themselves, thanks to their experiences that forced them to be resilient to a variety of unexpected circumstances, including natural disasters and price volatility of agricultural products. To them, COVID-19 is simply another call for adaptation.
The apparent changes to consumers’ shopping behaviour, retail experiences must be reworked. Rather than focusing on shopping engagement to keep as many shoppers shopping as long as possible, retail space design post COVID-19 will be in favor of a quicker shopping experience, enabling the customers to get the products they want with less time spent and minimum physical contact with other people. In other words, this is to maximize shopping efficiency across online and offline channels.
