Impacts, Concerns, & Adaptation of Remote Students – the Pandemic in South East Asia

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The education sector has experienced a major upheaval during the pandemic. Arguably, those most affected have been the students themselves. From university to primary school pupils, classes and activities have transitioned to online (remote) Learning Management Systems (LMSs). InsightzClub, a tech-based market research start-up, investigated the impacts of remote learning on students and guardians in South East Asia.

Remote Learning Experience

The government mandated online learning and the temporary closure of education institutions in the first wave of the pandemic in March of 2020. Since then, there have been sporadic reopening of campuses and schools, with 2021 seeing most students having to study from home. Over 56% of our respondents reported that they have been confined to e-learning since the beginning of the pandemic. A further 37% of those studying from home have only begun to do so in 2021, a result of the rise in reported COVID-19 infections.

It has become a challenging task for the government to outline SOPs for schools and universities, limiting infections with high levels of physical interaction. The majority of our study’s participants reported being satisfied or highly satisfied with the government’s management of the education sector.

Concerns & Adaptation

Remote learning can be especially difficult; psychological research has found that it may result in fatigue, burnout, and lower moods. The lack of physical activity is a major concern of health professionals and students alike, followed by socialization. Our respondents confirm this hypothesis – 40% and 33% reporting reduced physical activity and socialization respectively. Conversely, individuals are adapting to the ‘new normal’ and the effects may be less pronounced. Many respondents claimed that learning from home has made them more independent (40%), and that the pandemic has not negatively impacted their learning in a substantial manner.

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To know more about InsightzClub and our solutions to understand consumer behaviour reach out to InsightzClub.

Rising Consumer Confidence Encouraging for Travel Industry Recovery

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Introduction

The pandemic’s upheaval of the global tourism industry has reduced consumer confidence in travel, be it international or domestic. Rapid and widespread vaccination programmes, namely in Malaysia and Singapore, have contributed to a rising demand and trust in travel during the abating COVID-19 pandemic. In a two-part study, InsightzClub investigated changing consumer perception in travel as restrictions were lifted, and travel re-established in South East Asia. 

Lifted Restrictions 

As of October 13th 2021, 66.6% of the Malaysian population are fully vaccinated; those individuals are afforded liberties that unvaccinated individuals are not. Among them is the permission to travel abroad and across state lines without approval from authorities. In InsightzClub’s first study, a minor percentage of participants reported dissent with the exclusive travel rights awarded to fully vaccinated individuals (16%). Those in agreement totalled 66%, indicating that unvaccinated individuals may be dissatisfied with the current restrictions for them. AirAsia, the world’s best low-cost airline announced that they will no longer be boarding unvaccinated passengers. This reflects industry-wide approach to reviving consumer interest in travel, while maintaining high levels of consumer confidence. 

Type of Travel

Domestic is touted to be the reviver of the global industry as individuals are more confident in travelling across state lines, instead of exposing themselves to the risk of contracting the coronavirus or encountering logistical issues while travelling abroad. Participants reported that they were most comfortable, and likely, to travel using private means of travel, (54%) as compared to flying (27%) and bus rides (43%). There may be safety and cost concerns among potential travellers, thus encouraging them to travel using their own means. 

In the second study, participants stated that the first type destination they plan on travelling to would be the beach and/or coastal resorts (52%). The remainder were interested in winter holidays and theme parks, 25% and 17% respectively.  

Consumer Confidence 

As consumers become more confident in the safety measures for the travel and tourism industry, it is highly likely to predict an uptick in demand for travel services. Per the findings in study 1 and 2, consumers are highly informed of the restrictions and travel requirements at 71% and 62% respectively. This is strongly correlated with the high degree of confidence in current measures (55%).Rising travel confidence is further corroborated by analysis indicating that 63% of the participants travelled since the first study.  

Motivators 

It is now more important than ever that travel companies maintain hygienic practices and consumer satisfaction. InsightzClub’s participants reported that cheaper fares, discounts, and special deals would definitely encourage them to start travelling again (69%). Along with the aforementioned evidence, consumers are motivated by perks and safety. 

To know more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to InsightzClub to know more about our solutions.

What brand marketeers can learn from the success of Squid Games- An InsightzClub Study

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Squid Games is a South Korean survival drama television series streaming on Netflix. Within a week of its release, it became one of Netflix’s most-watched programs in several regional markets; within its first 28 days of release, it attracted more than 111 million viewers. 

InsightzClub, a technology-based market research start up, conducted an analysis on the astounding popularity of Squid Games and what marketeers can learn from it.

  1. Word of Mouth  is more successful than the largest paid campaign:   Most people who saw squid games could not stop talking about. It almost forces you to want to watch the show so you can relate to the community around you and understand the jokes being told.
  2.  When your brand has a viral TikTok trend, its bound for success:  Squid Game picked up a fascinating amount of traction on the platform, almost forming an army of viewers that advocate and share the inside jokes. 
  3. Manage your marketing budgets optimally: While all 456 players came from various walks of life, they all have something in common. That is – ‘’Debt’’. An important lesson for brands to always live within the means and optimize marketing spending continuously.
  4. Brands should always be agile: One of the most interesting games in the show was the tug of war where competitors had to form a team of 10 and assign roles based on strengths. Being agile emerged as a key takeaway in this game. Brands need to be every changing i.e. dynamic and adapting continuously to the situation.
  5. Brands should play to its strength: Every brand will have some key strengths and some not so key strengths. For a brand to win, its critical for it to play towards its strength.

To know more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to InsightzClub to know more about our solutions

Live Commerce is here to stay- an InsightzClub study

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InsightzClub, a technology-based market research start up, conducted an analysis on the growing trends of Live commerce.

Live commerce is talk of the town these days. Engaging people of all age groups with the various forms of content being displayed over the feature. Right from entertainment all the way to advertising. It is an incredibly powerful tool if used in the right way. 

With the feature being incredibly easy to use, it can prove to be fruitful in many ways for brands. 

For brands seeking to explore this fast-growing channel, here are three ways to take live-commerce strategy to the next level:

Integrate AI and mobile-friendly technology

Coming on board a new digital trend isn’t just about the technology available to the business, it’s also about the technology conveniently placed at customers’ fingertips.

An everyday technological tool that has completely revolutionised retail is the smartphone. Superapps across Asia – such as China’s WeChat, India’s Paytm and South Korea’s Kakao – have consolidated banking, shopping and social media into one place, making it easier for customers to shop and connect with brands. 

Leverage micro-influencers

In the social space, Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) can have a strong influence over their followers. And it doesn’t have to be superstar celebrities. Micro-influencers are an under-tapped resource but their thousands of followers are highly engaged.

Due to their streamlined following, micro-influencers are also better able to react and respond to individual fans, which helps to build trust and rapport with their audiences. By working with micro-influencers to host livestreams, businesses engage professional storytellers and expand their reach to new audiences – audiences that know and trust the recommendations of their favourite KOLs.

Ramp up shoppertainment

With emerging new channels come many opportunities. Once businesses are equipped with the technology to enable their tasks and have zoomed in on the right influencers to represent their products, they can focus on creating engaging experiences across every touchpoint. 
To know more about consumer behaviour and trends reach out to InsightzClub to know more about our solutions.

Rising dimensions of health consciousness – An InsightzClub Study

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With obesity rates reaching an all-time high than in the last 40 years, many people have assumed that food marketing is to blame. Although are people with obesity really the ones who are succumbing to food marketing?. The focus and importance of health has become even more pronounced during these covid-19 times.

InsightzClub conducted a study to understand the role, dimensions and the ever increasing role of health consciousness.

A study by UBC Sauder School states that people with obesity do respond more to food marketing, but when their weight drops significantly, so does their responsiveness to marketing.

To support this study, three groups of patients were employed – one with severe obesity before gastric bypass, people who did not undergo bariatric surgery and those who were not obese. 

To see how they respond to food marketing, researchers evaluated something called framing effects – how branding, advertising, and labeling “frame” influence food evaluations and choices. In one study, participants were asked to estimate calorie content in well-known snacks and drinks which are supposedly “healthy” and others which are called “not healthy”.

Researchers found that everyone underestimated the calorie content in the healthy, but the effect was more pronounced In those with obesity.

To further this, researchers asked participants to choose a portion of French fries from a fast-food restaurant while giving them nutritional information helping them to make an informed decision. There were three options – 71g, 117g and 154g, same were labelled as mini, small and medium (a tactic to make larger portions seem reasonable).

After measuring how sensitive the participants were, they understood that people with obesity were likely to follow the labeling and not the actual information about quantity, hence choose the “medium” option even though that’s large.

Overall, the study found that people with obesity tended to be more responsive to food marketing, but when losing a significant amount of weight because of bariatric surgery, their responsiveness to food marketing dropped significantly.

People with obesity going through bariatric surgery become less responsiveness to marketing over time. After 12 months, their responsiveness to marketing reaches people with more medically-recommended weight.

It is not clear whether they become less responsive to marketing because of psychological changes following surgery, neurological shifts or changes to the gut microbiota. However, it can be concluded that their responsiveness to marketing did not remain high after weight loss.

These findings are very important for years because researchers assumed that marketing messages especially for foods that are high calorie and low nutrition are partly responsible for the obesity epidemic, but there wasn’t empirical evidence. Hence, these results provides insights for policy-makers in charge of regulating food marketing in order to curb obesity.

InsightzClub is a tech consumer  insights firm with multiple consumer insights solutions using active and passive data.

To know more about InsightzClub and our solutions to understand consumer behaviour reach out to InsightzClub.

How is the Pandemic Changing the Way Consumers Think and Behave?

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Since the pandemic shook leaving businesses and consumers in a frenzy, consumer behavior has never looked so different. It has changed the way people work, travel, communicate, shop and more. It has entirely changed the way consumers browse online and their shopping patterns while paving way to focus on important issues like sustainability and health. The digital world has seen a roaring uprising in many parts of the world since the pandemic. But which new habits will stick permanently?

In this article InsightzClub reviews the role and impact of pandemic on consumer behaviour.

Increased familiarity with WFH mode

The new normal has pushed people towards a ‘WFH’ model of working. Almost all companies have adopted various digital technologies to support their employees including video-conferencing apps, task and work-flow management, hardware devices, and much more. Many companies have decided to employ this model henceforth forever for their staff. Hence, consumers have become accustomed to the adoption of the new digital era.

Consumers online shopping is resilient 

Many retailers and small store owners have gone digital due to the pandemic. Hence, the pandemic has resulted in consumers switching over to online shopping for their grocery and household items.

Health awareness is the new buzz in town

People are becoming increasingly aware and conscious of their personal health and safety. People have imbibed the double mask theory and incorporated the use of various pharmaceutical products like sanitizers, first-aid medicines, etc. into their daily lives. They have additionally realized the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and incorporating exercise regimes into their daily activities.

Change in purchasing behavior patterns

Surveys have helped us arrive to the conclusion that regions worldwide are shifting towards a more value-based purchasing which prioritizes obtaining maximum value for the money spent by the consumer. Consumers have drastically reduced discretionary spending. Another observation is the shock to brand loyalty. Consumers are trying out new brands that provide them with better value for their money and are likely to stick to the new brand. Additionally, there has been a higher love for sticking to local brands.

The pandemic has changed the way we all live and our behaviors. This could lead to positive experiences which will last longer especially those driven by convenience and well-being like digital adoption, increased health awareness, and value-based purchasing. The pandemic has definitely changed consumers’ behaviors, priorities, and purchasing habits, which has led to changes in the business world, many of which we can expect to be permanent.

InsightzClub is a tech consumer  insights firm with multiple consumer insights solutions using active and passive data.

To know more about InsightzClub and our solutions to understand consumer behaviour reach out to InsightzClub.