Bangkok--26 May--SAP
Demonstrating a customer first mindset key to increasing brand trust as businesses map recoveries
Consumers want to hear how companies are responding, and how disruptions directly impact them
As businesses across Thailand begin to map their recovery from the current downturn, new research released today from Qualtrics outlines the biggest drivers of brand trust in this new normal, and how consumers want to be engaged with. Findings from the study provide a framework helping brands build and keep trust and confidence at this uncertain time through effective and meaningful actions.
With lockdown measures continuing to impact how brands position themselves in the market, the study revealed more than 75% of consumers in Thailand believe it’s important for brands to take care of their employees and customers, and go above and beyond the safety standards and recommendations.
Demonstrating a customer-first mindset is key to building trust in the new reality, according to the study. When asked what behaviours increase trust during the crisis, respondents ranked not taking advantage of a crisis (62%) at the top, followed by maintaining reasonable pricing (40%), and taking care of customers (31%).
During the COVID-19 outbreak, almost half (46%) of respondents said their trust in the brands they regularly engage with had increased.
“Trust has a fundamental role to play as businesses begin to reopen their doors and rebuild operations. In these uncertain times, high levels of trust mean consumers can feel confident in choosing to engage with your brand,” said Lisa Khatri, Brand Experience and Research Lead for Qualtrics in APJ.
“While the operational impact of the restrictions is temporary, their influence on consumer behaviours and attitudes will be long lasting. Over the last month we have seen huge changes in the ways consumers engage with brands, and these will continue to evolve each time restrictions change. For businesses to remain relevant, they need to keep a pulse on consumer behaviour, drivers of brand preference, and how their actions at each stage can positively influence how the brand is viewed.
“The Qualtrics study revealed that brand actions in a time of crisis will have a major impact on brand trust for the majority (87%) of respondents. Just 2% said brand actions had no impact. Brands that can show how they are helping and supporting customers in this new normal will cultivate trust and confidence enabling them to not only successfully navigate the recovery phase, but come out the other side stronger too,” added Khatri.
Free tools help business in Thailand focus on what matters
To help businesses understand the drivers of brand trust and focus actions on the most relevant actions to consumers, Qualtrics launched the free solution The COVID-19 Brand Trust Pulse. It is part of a range of free offerings launched by the experience management company over the last month, which have supported more than 31,000 projects across more than 8,500 organisations.
The most recent addition to the free offerings is a Back to Business solution designed to help organisations stay connected with customers, understand their expectations and preferences, and take actions to build customer confidence as businesses reopen their doors.
Green Spot, one of Thailand’s leading beverage manufacturers, is using the Qualtrics COVID-19 Brand Trust Pulse to guide its marketing strategy during the outbreak.
“One of the biggest challenges for all brands in our new reality is finding ways to connect and remain relevant to customers. Overcoming this requires brands to rapidly identify current consumer pain points and focuses, as well as how behaviours are changing. Using the Qualtrics COVID-19 Brand Trust Green Spot is able to engage our customers in the most impactful way for the current environment, and the real-time insights enable us to evolve engagements accordingly. This investment in our brand and customers is critical because it helps retain and increase trust, which are both essential as businesses begin to reopen,” said Sitaphan Srichoo, Consumer Intelligence Manager at Green Spot.
Identifying the right message and medium
When it comes to brand communications, consumers are more interested in the operational impact of COVID-19 compared to sales and promotional marketing. The top three messages respondents wanted to hear were how the business is responding to the crisis (24%), the impact on distribution (22%), and information on products and services (22%).
Findings in the Qualtrics study also revealed how Thai consumers want brands to communicate with them, highlighting a strong preference for online platforms. Facebook came out on top as the most preferred communication channel (23%), followed by online media (20%), and TV advertising (15%). Bottom of the list was Whatsapp (12%), TikTok (12%), and radio (13%).
“Social distancing restrictions have limited the ways businesses can interact with their consumers, which means regular and effective communications is critical to keeping people engaged. For communications to be effective however, brands need to find a balance in how often they are communicating and the topics being discussed. This approach actively demonstrates the value brands bring to keep their customers’ attention in rapidly changing markets.
For more information on Qualtrics please visit: https://www.qualtrics.com/.
About Qualtrics
Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manage and improve the four core experiences of business––customer, employee, product, and brand. Over 11,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data(TM))––the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform(TM) is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.
About the study
Qualtrics surveyed 520 general consumers in Thailand between 29 April - 5 May.