Majority of APAC consumers now prefer product value over promotions when shopping

Singapore – Around 79% of consumers in APAC are influenced by non-promotional content that shows a product’s value rather than discounts, a report from TikTok revealed.

The report showed that content factors such as product benefits, reviews, demonstrations, and visuals now hold greater value on a consumer’s decision journey. With this, almost 79% of APAC consumers are shifting their focus from price to value instead. Meanwhile, only 21% of consumers are influenced by promotions in their buying decision journey.

This number ranges for different countries in APAC, with Indonesia hitting as high as 41%, 27% in Japan, and 12% in South Korea and Thailand.

With changing consumer habits, APAC consumers are also now split into two distinct consumer categories: social-oriented and product-oriented.

Social-oriented consumers are those that rely on content recommendations from creators. They are less promotion-sensitive and have a higher degree of trust in their intuitions when buying something. Vietnam, Thailand, and Korea’s consumers tend to lean more towards this category.

On the other hand, consumers in Japan and Indonesia are found to be more likely to be product-oriented in nature. They prioritise product information and benefits in their content consumption, are more responsive to discounts, and tend to rely less on their intuition when making purchase decisions.

TikTok’s report also revealed that APAC consumers are increasingly looking for more content-driven video platforms that drive content-triggered shopping and facilitate intent-driven buying through search.

The report recorded that 1.9x more consumers regularly search for products on content-driven video platforms than on traditional search engines. Furthermore, a staggering 93% want to continue or increase their discovery, consideration, and purchase of products on these content-driven platforms in the next 1-2 years.

And while there are only 22% of consumers that are influenced by brands, 48% are actually influenced by ‘Content Communities’ or networks of brand and product content that drive interaction and co-creation among consumers and brands.

The concept of content co-creation has already become as integrated and concurrent as the consumption of content itself, with 73% of consumers now creating content in rather ‘fluid’ ways through trends, contributing in comment sections, and more.

Shant Oknayan, head of global business solutions for Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia at TikTok, said, “TikTok delivers content-led commerce to consumers. As technology continues to develop and economic factors influence consumer habits, brands must look to engage with their consumers in ways that provide them not only the best deal but also an entertaining, seamless experience that does not disrupt their task flow. The clear lines between shopping and other activities are beginning to blur, and so it’s even more crucial for brands to deliver content that helps consumers buy what they want, when they want to, and how they want to.”

Speaking on the report, Arthur Altounian, VP of client strategy and growth for APAC at GroupM (The Goat Agency), also said, “In this era of content and evolving consumer behaviours, it’s imperative for brands to facilitate intuitive decision-making and establish rapport with their audiences by striking the right balance between long-term relationship building and short-term promotions. Brands should remain consumer-first and mindful of creating a seamless experience, which includes engaging content and sales strategies that emphasise the product benefits and offer value.”