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6 Jul, 2014

Hakuhodo Survey: People of ASEAN Share Four Holistic Lifestyle Attitudes

BANGKOK, July 2 (ANTARA/Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/Travel Impact Newswire) — In preparation for the integrated ASEAN Community in 2015, Japan’s second largest advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc has set up the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living ASEAN (HILL ASEAN), in Bangkok to get deeper, more holistic insights into the minds of ASEAN consumers.

Preliminary results of the first such survey now being finalised shows that four holistic “sei-katsu-sha” attitudes shared by people in  six leading ASEAN commercial-centre cities are: 1) Optimism about the future; 2) Strong family bonds and dedication to family 3)  Strong sense of equality between the genders 4) Devoutness and strong community ties.

The survey findings go well beyond the crass-commercialism of “market forces” and provide strong indicators of both the challenges and opportunities that await ASEAN. Indeed, they also underpin the conclusion that ASEAN’s Socio-Cultural Blueprint will be a far more important determinant of the region’s future than the Economic Blueprint.

According to Hakuhodo Inc. President and CEO, Hirokazu Toda, “Until now, it has been thought that lifestyle perceptions varied among the ASEAN countries because of differences in level of economic development and cultural background. The Hakuhodo survey, however, reveals that the ASEAN countries share much in common.”

He said that the Hakuhodo Group set up HILL ASEAN as part of its Medium-Term Business Plan for FY 2014-2018 to strengthen its business network in emerging markets, particularly in Asia, and boost clients’ business value through the power of integrated marketing management.

The first step taken by the Institute was to start researching the ASEAN region’s sei-katsu-sha — Hakuhodo’s term for the holistic person — which embodies the philosophy of treating people not just as consumers but as fully rounded individuals with their own lifestyles, aspirations, and dreams.

“This move, designed to carve out a position for the Hakuhodo Group as the sei-katsu-sha insight experts in the ASEAN market and hone its competitive edge, will enable us to accelerate development of the ASEAN market,” Mr Toda said.

The ASEAN Fixed Point Survey covers Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila. A localized version of the Seikatsu Teiten Survey conducted by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living in Japan, the survey will monitor changing attitudes and values among the ASEAN region’s sei-katsu-sha.

Hakuhodo Group personnel based in all six ASEAN countries have also been enlisted to visit sei-katsu-sha to ask them questions in the comfort of their homes.

Preliminary findings have been made available at http://www.hakuhodo.jp/pdf/2014/20140702.pdf. Detailed survey results will be unveiled at the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living ASEAN Open Forum to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, in October, 2014.