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THE 2014 ASIA RESEARCH BUYER
SURVEY – INDONESIA
A
sia Research completed its annual survey of market research
buyers in Indonesia in April 2014. This is a parallel survey
to that undertaken in Singapore to track buying behaviour,
agency usage and ratings among corporations who use external
vendors for their market research.
SURVEY
although with more access to panels the take up of DIY research is
more dramatic – now common among half of clients in Singapore.
However, there has been an increase in the use of online panel
companies in Indonesia (about one-in-six clients now engage
them directly) and even the emergence of community panels
(proprietary consumer panels built from clients’ own customer
databases).
Based on a total of 115 interviews conducted by telephone, the
survey demonstrates that the Indonesian research industry has
become more mature in the last few years, with the number of
clients holding “research specific” job titles (e.g. Market Research
Manager or Insight Manager) now at 60%.
Research budgets in Indonesia are still increasing, with 45% of
clients reporting larger budgets for research compared to 2013
and just 9% reporting a decline. However, this also shows that the
rate of increase has slowed somewhat, with over 60% in 2012 and
2013 reporting an increase.
With only 25% of clients in Indonesia receiving sales calls from
agencies (compared to about half in Singapore), it can be argued
that Indonesia is a relatively undersupplied market, and only about
30 different suppliers were encountered in the survey, compared
to 60 in Singapore.
Through their networking activity, however, Indonesian clients
are expanding their repertoire of agencies, and an average of 4.3
different suppliers of research are now being used compared to
just 2.8 in 2012. The key beneficiaries of this have been local
agencies, which are now being used by 84% of clients compared
to 68% a year ago. The use of multinational agencies, which has
been almost universal, has dropped back slightly to 94%.
Notably, with more client organisations having dedicated research
functions, they are internalising research more, with 29% undertaking DIY research. This reflects a trend seen in Singapore,
Despite more “shopping around” for agencies, clients in Singapore
still have many complaints about their agencies. Most of this dissatisfaction relates to the quality of analysis and reporting, but
also to some client servicing and fieldwork quality issues.
Evidence suggests that there is still little differentiation between
research suppliers in Indonesia, with very few of the current differentiators deemed significant. Compared to Singapore, Indonesia
has been a market often ignored by foreign agencies, and the
market is well primed to receive new entrants. ■
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5 ASIA RESEARCH | Q3 2014
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