Harsha Jethnani Straits Times 20 May 11;
SINGAPOREAN consumers are less concerned than their Asian counterparts about having their trusted brands take on corporate social responsibility efforts, a new survey shows.
Less than half - 48 per cent - of the 1,000 respondents polled here, thought it was important for a trusted brand to carry out environmental actions. This was below the 62 per cent average across seven other Asian markets polled in the annual Reader's Digest Trusted Brands Survey 2011.
Released on Thursday, the study polled 8,000 consumers in Asia including markets like China, India, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Other findings included Singapore's number four ranking in the willingness to reconsider a product within one year of a quality scandal. Malaysia, India and the Phillipines were the least tolerant of such scandals while Taiwan emerged the most tolerant.
Aside from the year-to-year findings, the survey's main crux is to identify brands which appeal most to Asian consumers. All respondents were asked to name their most trusted brands across 11 industries and 42 product categories.
In 2011, 40 out of the 99 top names were local Singaporean brands. Of these 40, 13 were given platinum status - applicable only to brands that score three times more than their nearest competitor or gained four out of five points for quality. The remaining were given the gold status, meaning that they managed to score above competitors.
Leading the platinum pack were NTUC FairPrice - a fourth win for the brand in the supermarket chains category - and Chan Brothers with its third platinum win in the travel agency category. Other Platinum winners included Singapore Airlines, National University of Singapore, Gardenia and King Koil. Awards were handed out on Thursday evening at a gala dinner held at the St Regis Hotel.
