AFBR has been given the opportunity by a regional food and beverage firm based in Malaysia to conduct a market survey on 500 consumers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines over a period of 3 months from October to December 2023.
The consumers interviewed range from 21 to 50 years old and live in the major capital cities of Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Metro Manila.
Most of the consumer survey findings were kept confidential except for the following which the client has allowed us to release:
Apparently, price is still the most important criteria in their purchasing decision (42.6%) followed by flavor or taste (23.6%). Other attributes like health, sustainable and convenient remain as secondary factors and those respondents that choose these 3 attributes as most important usually belong to the upper middle to high income groups which represent less than 20% of the total consumer market in these countries.
For the respondents who have chosen price as the most important, they also mentioned that flavor and health are still important considerations, as such looking at product label and finding out more on the ingredients content and flavor profiles are important when making purchasing decisions after they are comfortable on the price points of the products.
This shows that consumer purchasing decisions have become more complex than ever before moving from price as the main decision factor and then followed by secondary factors like flavor, health and the other attributes.
With rising inflation, consumers are expected to spend more time shopping and carefully browse through supermarket shelves. The pandemic experience has also led to rising health awareness. Consumers are looking for products that are affordable while at the same time healthy and flavorful.
To ensure a ‘winning’ product, manufacturers need to be mindful of the purchasing process and seek a balance between price with flavor, health and other considerations.
