From being the text-messaging capital of the world, the Philippines has also been recognized as the “Social Networking Capital of the World,” with more than 93% of internet users having their own Facebook account.
The popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites in the country can be traced back to the Filipino culture of “friends helping friends.” But whether it is our love to communicate, to keep in touch with loved ones, or to make new friends, Filipinos have also become the most active and vocal netizens when it comes to sharing their thoughts online.
With a very active social media, and the continued increase in the number online shopping sites, how much has it affected the shopping habits of Filipinos?
This was the question posed by Reader’s Digest as it held its annual Trusted Brands survey.
The survey also asked participants how often they shared their positive and negative brand experiences online.
Now on its 15th consecutive year, the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey has become a marketing institution serving as a barometer in identifying consumer preferences and recommendations and over-all brand appeal of products in various categories.
This year, the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands survey covered 7,000 respondents in seven Asian
countries including the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand, consisting of Reader’s Digest subscribers and Asian quality consumers. 68% of all respondents in the survey agreed that the results of this survey will help them in their purchasing decisions.
Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands will also be awarding a total of 91 awards to companies which scored the highest in the consumer survey under 42 categories. It is considered as one of the most representative and transparent consumer surveys in Asia with trusted brand results brought about solely by consumers’ brand recall and attribute scoring.
The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand 2013 winners come from diverse industries such as food and beverage, personal products, finance, motoring related, consumer electronics, health and personal care, household products, retail, education, transport, travel and telecommunications. They were chosen based on the six attributes of trustworthiness and credibility, quality, value, understanding of customer needs, innovation, and corporate social responsibility.
The survey was conducted by Ipsos, the world’s third largest market research company with offices in 84 countries.
The Readers Digest Trusted Brands will grant the annual prestigious Gold and Platinum awards to the country’s most trusted brands based on the results of a comprehensive consumer survey on May 23, 2012 at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong.
Reader’s Digest Asia Pacific executives from Australia and Singapore are expected to attend to hand over the awards including Ms. Sue Carney, Editor-in-Chief, Reader’s Digest- Asia Pacific and Mr. Ebb Hinchliffe, Executive Director from The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines who will be the guest speaker.
The event will also mark Reader’s Digest 91st anniversary, a milestone for the globally popular magazine founded by Dewitt and Lila Wallace in the US.
The general interest magazine is published in 49 editions and translated in 16 languages.