REPORT
Consumer Trends for 2020: APAC Edition
We bring together survey and social data from thousands of people around the world to find the biggest consumer trends as we approach 2020
Predicting the future is impossible, but research is less work than guess work.
In this special APAC edition of the global Consumer Trends for 2020 report, we’ll look at social insights alongside global survey data, to answer the following questions:
- What technology do consumers think will change the world most in 2020?
- What’s driving buying decisions around the world?
- What attributes do consumers look for across different industries, and what do people love and hate about brands within those industries? (APAC-specific social insights)
Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn:
- When making predictions about 2020, countries in the APAC region have a unique idea of what technologies will change the world.
- Survey respondents in Singapore valued online reviews over the opinions of their family, friends, or colleagues when making a purchase decision. Singapore was the only country we studied to vote this way.
- Those in Australia under-index for ‘Fast customer service’ when evaluating brand attributes compared to other countries.
- A plethora of other fascinating insights on how brands across 10 different industries are discussed on social in the APAC region.
To find out more about the methodology click here, or get scrolling to read all about our consumer trends for 2020.
1. What technology do consumers think will change the world most in 2020?
We wanted to know how people felt about the emerging or growing technologies that are going to have the biggest impact in 2020.
We chose a bunch of different kinds of tech, and compared social media conversation around them with 8,000 global survey responses on what would be changing the world most. For this survey, respondents had to pick one technology.
Social media mentions of transformative technology for 2020
5G was the winner for social media (followed by AI and self-driving cars), while renewable energy was the winner for our survey respondents (followed by 5G).
The what and the why
The cool thing about comparing survey data with social conversation around the tech is that we can start to look at both what people think and why they think it.
5G
We found a lot of positive mentions on social media making predictions about cities that will have 5G coverage in 2020, as well as the tech that will make use of it. It feels very much within reach for many countries around the world, and is probably a sensible choice for a transformative theme in 2020.
Renewable energy
Online conversation is driven by climate change fear, as well as big pledges made by politicians and particular countries (India and Australia). This is clearly a global issue, and while the effects of climate change may feel a long way off for many of our survey respondents, they’re still putting renewable energy high up the list in terms of transformative tech for 2020.
AI
Given the breadth of technology AI can add to, there’s a lot to pick out of the online conversation around it. One of the biggest stories coming from the social data we analyzed was around how Hong Kong protestors were using lasers to avoid AI-driven facial recognition technology – one popular tweet termed this “cyber warfare”.
Self-driving cars
Self-driving cars has been a big topic for a long time in future-gazing speculation. Will they become a widespread reality in 2020? Much of the conversation we found related to 5G, which is understood to be the tech that will enable self-driving cars to become a reality in all our lives. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics is rumored to be using autonomous vehicles to help with accessibility, as well as other AI-powered technology.
Regional nuances
Looking at our survey data in Qriousy, we broke down each of the technologies by the countries that favored them most as a technology that would change the world in 2020. The results varied from country to country.
Which technology will transform society most in 2020?
| Country | The highest % of votes from this country went to... | Notes on where this country over- and under-indexed |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 'Renewable energy' | Responses from Australia were least likely of all the countries to select 'Robots'. They were more likely than respondents in other countries to vote for 'None of the above'. |
| France | 'Renewable energy' | Responses from France were least likely of all the countries to vote for '5G' and 'Cryptocurrency'. They were more likely than respondents in other countries to vote for 'Renewable energy'. |
| Germany | 'Renewable energy' | Responses from Germany were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'AR or VR'. |
| Malaysia | '5G' | Responses from Malaysia were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'None of the above'. They were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'Internet of Things', 'Cryptocurrency', and 'Blockchain'. They tied with Spain as being most likely to vote for '5G'. |
| Mexico | 'Renewable energy' | Responses from Mexico were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'AR or VR'. |
| Singapore | '5G' | Responses from Singapore were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'Blockchain' or 'Renewable energy'. They were more likely than those in other countries to select 'robots'. |
| Spain | '5G' | Responses from Spain were least of all the countries likely to vote for 'Self-driving cars. They tied with Malaysia as being most likely to vote for '5G'. |
| UK | 'Renewable energy' | Responses from the UK were fairly evenly split – they were not most or least likely of any country to vote for any of the technologies. |
| US | 'None of the above' | Responses from the US were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'Self-driving cars'. They were second least likely of all the countries to vote for '5G' and 'None of the above.' |
Demographic differences
Age
- We found that older respondents (55+) were more likely to pick ‘Renewable energy’ than any other age group
- 45-54-year-olds were more likely to pick ‘Internet of things’ than any other age group
- 25-34-year-olds picked ‘5G’ and ‘Cryptocurrency’ more than any other age group
- 18-24-year-olds were more likely than other age groups to pick ‘AI’, ‘Robots’, and ‘VR or AR’
Gender
- Women were more likely than men to pick ‘Renewable energy’, ‘Internet of things’, ‘Self-driving cars’, ‘Robots’, and ‘None of the above’.
- Men were more likely than women to pick ‘5G’, ‘AI’, ‘Cryptocurrency’, and ‘Blockchain’.
- Men and women were equally likely to pick ‘VR or AR’.
2. What’s driving buying decisions around the world?
We wanted to know which factors consumers consider as most important when they make decisions about what they spend their money on.
For this survey, the respondent could select as many options as they wanted to.
Our respondents clearly indicated that the opinions of those closest to them were more important than other factors, although pre-purchase customer experience and online reviews also proved pretty popular.
Consumers perceive the opinions of their peers to be influential in their buying behavior, although very few thought that online influencer posts had an effect. This is an interesting conundrum for online marketers – while many report that the ROI on influencer marketing outperforms other channels, this survey seems to suggest that influencer marketing isn’t particularly effective at all. There are a few important distinctions to be made, though – firstly, what we think influences us and what does influence us aren’t always the same. Secondly, we did not specify the kinds of influencers that might affect your buying decision here. It might be that our respondents read this to mean celebrity influencers, not micro influencers (who seem to be adding a lot of value these days).
Regional nuances
Looking at our survey data in Qriousy, we broke down each of the buying decision factors by the countries that felt most strongly about each.
What might affect your decision to buy from a brand?
| Country | The highest % of votes from this country went to... | Notes on where this country over- and under-indexed |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from Australia were fairly evenly split – they were not most or least likely of any country to vote for any of the factors. |
| France | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from France were more likely than those in other countries to vote for 'Approach to sustainability' and 'Behavior of senior staff'. |
| Germany | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from Germany were more likely than those from other countries to vote for 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues'. |
| Malaysia | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from Malaysia were least likely of all countries to vote for 'None of the above' and 'Pre-purchase customer experience' (tied with Singapore). They were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'Advertising' and 'Sponsored Influencer posts'. |
| Mexico | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from Mexico were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'Influencer posts' (sponsored or non-sponsored) and 'Online reviews'. They were most likely to vote for 'Pre-Purchase Customer Experience'. |
| Singapore | 'Online reviews' | Responses from Singapore were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'Online reviews' and 'Non-sponsored online influencer posts'. They were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'Pre-purchase customer experience' (tied with Malaysia). |
| Spain | 'None of the above' | Responses from Spain were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues.' They were most likely of all the countries to vote for 'None of the above' or 'Behavior of senior staff'. |
| UK | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from the UK were fairly evenly split – they were not most or least likely of any country to vote for any of the factors. |
| US | 'Experiences of family, friends, or colleagues' | Responses from the US were least likely of all the countries to vote for 'Approach to sustainability'. They were more likely than the other countries to vote for 'Its political stance'. |
Demographic differences
Age
- All age groups cared more about their family, friends, and colleagues’ experiences than any other factor
- Those in the 65+ category were more likely to pick ‘None of the above’ than any other age group. They tied with 18-24-year-olds as finding ‘Behavior of senior staff’ more important than other age groups
- 45-54-year-olds were more likely to pick ‘Pre-purchase customer experience’ than any other age group
- 25-34-year-olds and 18-24-year-olds picked ‘Online reviews’ more than any other age group
- 18-24-year-olds were more likely than other groups to pick ‘Influencer posts’, ‘Approach to sustainability’, and, surprisingly, ‘Advertising
Gender
- Generally, things were pretty evenly split between men and women, although we noticed that women were more likely to select ‘Online reviews’ and ‘Experience of family, friends, and colleagues.’ Men were more likely to select ‘Political stance’.
3. Industry spotlights: What do people love and hate, and what attributes are most important?
You can scroll through, or click an industry to skip to the insights you’d like to see.
Airlines (luxury and budget)
Social generated insights: Budget airlines (APAC only)
- Looking at prominent discussion topics, many customers discussed the length of the flight and cost-savings.
- Within the cost-saving conversation, customers debate whether or not the savings are worth the quality of the flight. Some point out that flight delays and lack of amenities may push them to consider more expensive airlines.
- The discussion about budget airlines is dominated by males, who make up 70 percent of the conversation.
Survey generated insights: Budget airlines (Global)
- Every country, except Germany, Spain, and Mexico, cared more about ‘Affordability’ than ‘Quality’.
- Germany scored particularly highly for ‘Quality’, as well as ‘Friendly customer service’, ‘Sustainability’, and ‘Innovative products or services’ compared to other countries.
- The UK and Mexico scored highest compared to other countries for ‘Convenience’.
Social generated insights: Luxury airlines (from APAC based conversation)
- Those discussing luxury airlines on social media show interests in cruises, cricket (the sport), and vacations compared to the average interests of Twitter users.
- Looking at the most popular discussion topics, people research luxury airlines when they want to treat themselves for a New Year’s trip, look into round trip tickets, and compare costs.
- The discussion volume for luxury airlines has two notable peaks, with the first one at the beginning of the year in January as people talk about start-of-the-year vacations. The second peak occurs in June, for summer vacation.
Survey generated insights: Luxury airlines
- Sustainability was not a big concern at all for air travellers, with the least votes for this attribute globally. That said, those in the 18-24 age bracket were twice as likely than other respondents to choose this option.
- Respondents from most countries opted for quality over affordability, although some made it clear wanted luxury airlines to be more affordable (see table in slider below)
- Consumers in the UK and Singapore scored highly for wanting friendly customer service
- People in the 65+ age bracket were far more likely than other age groups to choose ‘Convenience’ here. They were also less likely to choose affordability. Generally, this age group is more likely than others to pick a luxury airline, according to our survey – they’re clearly up for paying, if the service is convenient enough.
Global survey results
Alcohol
Social generated insights: Alcohol brands (from APAC based conversation)
- The negative effects of alcohol are pretty big in the conversation. The word ‘drugs’ is often used alongside alcohol, and we found around 25,000 mentions referring to the ‘ban’ of alcohol. Many feel strongly that’s it’s a negative force.
- That said, joy is the most common emotion within APAC conversations around alcohol.
- ‘Wine’ was associated with words like ‘best’ and ‘fine’. Meanwhile, ‘beer’ was associated with words like ‘man’ and ‘drunk’.
Survey generated insights: Alcohol brands (Global)
- Consumers across all countries we studied care far more about ‘Quality’ than any other factor when it came to alcohol.
- Respondents in Germany were more likely than those in other countries to choose ‘None of the above’, suggesting this country has its own specialist criteria for selecting alcohol brands.
- Respondents in Singapore and Malaysia cared more than those in other countries about ‘Convenience’ and ‘Fast customer service’, respectively.
- Consumers in Australia cared more than any other country about ‘Affordability’ and least (drawing with Singapore) about ‘Quality’ (although, note that ‘Quality’ was the most voted for attribute across all countries).
- Globally, those in the 18-24 category were more likely than other respondents to opt for ‘Affordability’, and less likely than other respondents to opt for ‘Quality’.
Automotive
Social generated insights: Automotive brands (from APAC based conversation)
- Anger is the most prominent emotion associated with cars (31% share of voice), followed by joy (30% share of voice). Anger is driven by insurance problems and customer service concerns, with many customers calling out some automotive brands for their inattentive customer service. Joy, on the other hand, is motivated by environmentally friendly cars and luxury cars.
- Within the eco-friendly cars and sustainability conversation, electric cars is one of the most popular topics, along with solar-powered vehicles.
- The connected and smart cars conversation is also significant, generating 25.4k posts. Popular hashtags associated with the conversation include IoT (2.2k posts) and AI (1.3k posts).
Survey generated insights: Automotive brands (Global)
- Respondents from Malaysia and Singapore cared more about ‘Innovative products or services’ in auto brands than those in other countries.
- Respondents from Mexico cared more about ‘Personalization’ than those in other countries.
- Respondents from France cared more about ‘Sustainability’ than those in other countries.
- Respondents from the UK cared more about ‘Affordability’ than those in other countries.
Banking
Social insights: Banking brands (APAC only)
- The majority of conversation about banking in APAC came from male authors (72%, compared to 28% female). The age group 35+ was far more likely than other age groups to be a part of the overall conversation.
- #Blockchain was in the top five most used hashtags around banking this year. In our transformative tech survey above, respondents in Malaysia were more likely than those in other countries to vote it as the most transformative tech of 2020.
- Anger and sadness were the most prominent emotions in the conversation, suggesting there is an opportunity to create better experiences.
Survey generated insights: Banking brands (Global)
- ‘Security’ is the most important attribute consumers want to see in banking brands globally. Consumers in Mexico were most concerned with this.
- Consumers in France cared more than respondents in other countries about ‘Friendly customer service’ and the ‘Quality’ of the offering, as well as ‘Convenience’. They were least likely of all the countries to pick ‘Security’, suggesting customer experience is the biggest factor in choosing a provider in this market.
- Respondents in the UK and Australia were most likely to pick ‘None of the above’, suggesting these countries have their own specialist criteria for selecting financial services brands.
- Respondents in Malaysia were most likely to choose ‘Fast customer service’ and scored highly for ‘Convenience’, suggesting consumers in this country want to conduct their financial business quickly.
Consumer Tech
Social generated insights: Consumer tech brands (from APAC based conversation)
- The conversation about consumer tech is dominated by those 35 and older (66% share of voice), followed by those 17 and under (28% share of voice).
- Image analysis shows that the future of consumer tech is mobile. Looking at the top objects appearing in consumer tech related images, “mobile phone” is the most prominent.
- Smart homes and voice assistants have risen to prominence in APAC, generating 137.3k posts. Common hashtags associated with the topic include #IoT (20k), #AI (11k), #BigData (5.1k), and #SmartCity (4.8k).
Survey generated insights: Consumer tech brands (Global)
- Respondents from all countries seemed to care more about ‘Quality’ than ‘Affordability’ – they’re willing to splash the cash on tech they like.
- That said, respondents in the US scored highest out of all the countries for ‘Affordability’. This links with our English language social data (above) that suggests money is a big issue around tech.
- Germany, Spain, and Mexico scored highest for ‘Security’ compared to other countries.
- German respondents also scored particularly highly for ‘Friendly customer service’, suggesting they really value a warm experience when interacting with their favorite tech brands.
Entertainment
Social generated insights: Entertainment brands (from APAC based conversation)
- Consumers evaluate streaming services based on the catalog of movies and TV shows and original shows offered.
- When it comes to music streaming services, consumers are interested in streaming parties and the ability to watch music videos on the platform.
- Gaming is widely embraced in APAC, with 5.7m posts. Blockchain occupies a significant portion of that conversation, with consumers discussing blockchain and cryptocurrency in gaming.
Survey generated insights: Entertainment brands (Global)
- Generally speaking, ‘Affordability’, ‘Quality’, and ‘Convenience’ were the most popular attributes our respondents wanted to see in an entertainment brand. People want good content, at a good price, and they want it now.
- Respondents in Mexico and Spain care most about ‘Quality’ and least about ‘Affordability’, compared to the other countries we studied.
- Respondents in the US cared most about ‘Affordability’ compared to those in other countries.
Fashion (luxury and streetwear)
For the fashion section, we surveyed our respondents generally about fashion brands, but we also segmented our social data by luxury and streetwear.
Survey generated insights: All fashion brands (Global)
- All countries cared more about ‘Quality’ than ‘Affordability’, although France and the US scored higher than other countries for ‘Affordability’.
- Respondents in Malaysia and Singapore scored highly for ‘Personalization’ as an attribute they value highly in fashion brands.
- Respondents in Spain and Mexico value ‘Convenience’ far more than other countries when it comes to fashion.
- Respondents in Germany cared slightly more than other countries about ‘Sustainability’ in fashion, although this topic was not a priority generally.
Social generated insights: Luxury fashion brands (from APAC based conversation)
- In the luxury fashion industry, rentals and subscriptions show growth potential. Consumers pointed out that runway fashion can be made affordable, though temporary, through rental services.
- Geo analysis shows that Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and New Delhi are the luxury fashion capitals.
- Other interests of those discussing luxury fashion include vacations (1000x more than Twitter) and art festivals (1000x more than Twitter).
Social generated insights: Streetwear/sports apparel brands (from APAC based conversation)
- Two prominent trends include sustainable fashion and e-commerce, which diversifies the number of apparel options APAC consumers have.
- Unisex fashion is well-received within the streetwear/sports apparel discussion. It’s one of the most popular trends with 61.8k posts with overwhelmingly positive sentiment.
- Geo analysis shows that Manila, Bangkok, and Tokyo are the streetwear capitals.
Grocery
Social generated insights: Grocery brands (APAC only)
- Negative mentions outweighed positive mentions and anger appeared as the most prominent emotion in the conversation, suggesting people are far more likely to share stories of negative experiences about grocery shopping than positive ones.
- People in the 35+ age range were most likely to talk about their thoughts on grocery shopping online.
- People like to tell stories about their moms in the context of grocery stores online, whether it’s how they approach shopping or telling a funny story about their mom and a grocery store.
Survey generated insights: Grocery brands (Global)
- France, Australia, the US and the UK cared more for ‘Affordability’ than ‘Quality’.
- Germany and Mexico score highly for ‘Friendly customer service’, although Mexico was also most likely to vote for ‘Fast customer service’.
- Singapore and Australia scored higher than other countries for ‘Convenience’.
- Meanwhile, while it was low on the priority list, Germany and France scored higher than other countries for ‘Sustainability’.
Hospitality (luxury and budget)
For the hospitality section, we looked at general conversation in APAC around hotels, but we also segmented our survey data by luxury and budget hotels.
Social generated insights: Hotel conversation (APAC only)
- Food is incredibly important in hotel-related conversation in APAC. Mentions of breakfast and restaurants appeared in high volumes.
- Image analysis revealed the scale at which people share images of their hotels from the outside and inside, with interesting architecture and luxury hotel rooms particularly popular. The Instagram generation wants a high quality experience while staying away from home, but also one that is aesthetically pleasing enough to generate jealousy on their social feeds.
- #CustomerExperience was a popular hashtag – novel moments where staff delighted customers won praise online.
Survey generated insights: Budget hotel brands (Global)
- Priorities vary widely between countries.
- For Mexico and Spain, ‘Convenience’ is most important for budget hotels.
- For the UK and the US, it’s ‘Affordability’.
- For France and Malaysia, it’s ‘Quality’ (despite the low prices).
- Respondents in Singapore cared less than all other countries about ‘Friendly customer service’.
Survey generated insights: Luxury hotel brands (Global)
- ‘Quality’ was by far the winner here, but there were a lot of different takes on what luxury brands should be across different countries.
- Germany cared far more than other countries about ‘Convenience’, while the US favored ‘Affordability’ far more than others.
- French respondents felt particularly strongly about ‘Innovative products or services’ in the luxury hotel business compared to those in different countries.
- 18-24-year-olds were more likely than other respondents to choose ‘Convenience’ as an important option.
Restaurants (fast food and restaurant chains)
Social generated insights: Fast food brands (APAC only)
- We found that a popular trend in the conversation was to generate engagement by comparing items across different fast food restaurants (like fries) or to compare popular chains’ food options to home cooked food.
- Image analysis revealed that dessert was one of the most popular things to appear in images related to fast food. Aesthetically pleasing sweet treats are clearly popular online.
- Speaking of sweet treats and comparisons, one of the most popular tweets we found in the conversation was about different kinds of Milo (a chocolate-based drink that’s served in multiple forms and in multiple fast food restaurants). The author argued they weren’t all the same and this sparked debate and conversation about the many places Milo appears in the world.
Survey generated insights: Fast food brands (Global)
- Malaysian consumers scored higher than other countries for both ‘Friendly customer service’ and ‘Personalization’. A warm welcome and the ability to customise items is clearly important.
- ‘Quality’ and ‘Convenience’ trumped affordability for almost every country. Those in Mexico, Spain, and the UK felt particularly strongly that ‘Quality’ was preferable to ‘Affordability’ compared to other countries.
- Meanwhile, Australian respondents seemed to feel particularly strongly about the importance of ‘Convenience’ over ‘Affordability’.
- The youngest age bracket we studied (18-24) were more likely than other age groups to choose ‘Affordability’, and less likely to choose ‘Quality’.
Social generated insights: Restaurant chain brands (APAC only)
- Conversation around restaurants was more positive than that around fast food chains, suggesting there are less online complaints about experiences here.
- We found lots of conversation about dining alone, which was boosted by ways restaurants treated diners sitting by themselves. Popular examples included bringing a teddy bear or even a live fish in a bowl to the table to accompany the diner.
- Looking at image analysis, pictures of food were expectedly common. Also very popular was interior design – clearly the food needs to look good, but if restaurants want their guests to share their experiences they also need to make sure surroundings are aesthetically pleasing.
Survey generated insights: Restaurant chain brands (Global)
- ‘Quality’ was top for all countries, with France and Spain most likely to vote for this attribute.
- Germany and the UK scored higher than other countries for ‘Friendly customer service’.
- Singapore and Malaysia scored higher than other countries for ‘Affordability’ and lower for ‘Quality’, suggesting that for these consumers a restaurant meal shouldn’t be too expensive to come by.
- Malaysia and Mexico scored higher than other countries for ‘Fast customer service’ and ‘Convenience’.
Bonus data: Regional characteristics across industries
Looking at survey results for industries generally, we were able to see the attributes each country over- and under-indexed for.
What brand attributes did countries over- and under- index for in our survey?
| Country | Over-indexed for: | Under-indexed for: |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | - | 'Fast customer service' |
| France | 'Sustainability', 'Affordability' | 'Security' |
| Germany | 'Friendly customer service' (tied with Malaysia) | 'Convenience' |
| Malaysia | 'Fast customer service', 'Friendly customer service' (tied with Germany) | - |
| Mexico | 'Security', 'Convenience' | 'Affordability' |
| Singapore | - | 'Quality' |
| Spain | 'Quality' | 'Friendly customer service' |
| UK | - | - |
| US | - | 'Sustainability' |
Methodology
Survey data
We used Qriously to survey of 8,000 people across Australia, France, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, UK, and US. This research took place in August 2019.
You can read more about Qriously here.
Social data
For this report, we used Brandwatch to analyze public social media mentions posted in August 2019 in English.
For the transformative technology graph, we looked at global mentions (in English).
For the industry-specific data, we looked at public social media mentions of industry-related keywords coming from the APAC region in English.
