Thailand's Affluent, by Synovate

Synovate has launched 'Asia's first local upscale media survey', tracking the spending patterns and media habits of Bangkok's most affluent people. The 'Media Atlas' survey is supported by the Media Agency Club (MAC) of Thailand and by leading publishers, Advance Agro.

The survey covers the A, B and C levels of Bangkok's socio-economic pyramid: these make up around 75% of society in terms of household income. Respondents are adults aged 18 to 64 in households earning over Baht 20,000 per month - a total of c.4.1m people. Local media consumption, product and service ownership, future intention to purchase and lifestyle are all included.

The study builds on the existing Synovate PAX media study which covers 11 cities across Asia. Steve Garton, Synovate's Media Director for Asia Pacific, says the proven methodology of telephone research from PAX 'optimises access to these rich consumers' and has been used to give Media Atlas the same robustness. 'It is very satisfying to be able to offer rich insights into the rising affluence of Bangkok to advertisers in Thailand' says Garton. 'These insights should give media specialists and advertisers confidence to realign their advertising budgets, to integrate magazines and upscale newspapers into multimedia campaigns'.

According to Maz Amirahmadi, MD of Synovate in Thailand, 'There are signs of affluence wherever you look across Bangkok - construction, new cars and new shops springing up on every corner. The Media Atlas survey has tapped into this, showing there are more well-off people than ever before and discovering more about their consumption patterns and intentions'.

Among the surprises, Amirahmadi says there is 'a far larger audience for quality newspapers and magazines than was previously known... four in ten of this middle and upper class say they like looking though the advertisements in magazines'. In addition, the ABC socio group itself is 'much larger' than previously measured.

Among the findings of this first wave:

• 73% of men and women read a Thai mass circulation newspaper, while 19% of men and women read a Thai business newspaper
• 29% of men read automotive magazines and 28% of men and women read decoration magazines
• 14% of men read men's titles; 50% of women read women's titles - but so do 28% of men!
• Technology: 46% have access to the Internet from one or more locations; 63% have a DVD player and 51% have a flat screen TV, while 34% own a MP3 player. Almost everyone has a mobile phone.
• Automotive: 53% have a passenger car, whilst fully 40% have a pickup truck of some type; 27% plan to purchase a vehicle in the next 12 months (Bangkok's streets are already congested)
• Finance and Property: 28% of men and 20% of women have a personal bank loan; 42% of the ABC socio group own property, but with males ahead of women at 50% and 36% respectively; 54% have a retirement savings plan, while 36% have a charge or credit card
• sport, health and social: 53% (69% of men) rate football / soccer as their number one sporting interest, with swimming second on 49%; men are far more likely to say they enjoy married life. Seven out of 10 agree that married life is better...but just half of women agree; half of all respondents say they are prepared to sacrifice time for career advancement, and one quarter say their lives are now very stressful. Eight in 10 claim to eat healthy food.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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