TGM RESEARCH: BEST PRACTICES

How to conduct market
research projects in Indonesia?

A guideline on best practices how to conduct a successful market research in Indonesia.

Why Indonesia is an interesting market to conduct research?

As one of the top 5 populous country in the world, with a population for more than 270 millions people, Indonesia has the most dynamic economies in the Asia Pacific region. Mostly shielded from the turmoil of the global financial crisis, Indonesia’s economic growth is driven by domestic demand, and with more than 70% of Indonesians in the productive age range of 15 to 50 years, the country has a lot to look forward to.

A rapidly growing economy, particularly in several sectors, makes Indonesia an attractive market for companies related to fast-moving consumer goods, automobiles and many other types of manufacturing. Indonesia continues to show solid growth in any sectors and purchasing power. This has led to increased demand for consumer goods. The long-term outlook for consumer spending in Indonesia is positive, though there are significant structural risks.

As a burgeoning economy, though, Indonesia has a clear need for market research agencies. Therefore, Indonesian market is one that shows growth and exhibits good trading activity. It has one of the largest economies in Southeast Asia. In addition, the consumer base of Indonesia is dynamic. Indonesians tend to be loyal to products that they already know. Yet, they are globally conscious of the various products which are out there. Because of this, investors, both foreign and national, reap incredible rewards, especially within the retail sector of the Indonesian economy.

What is the current state of digital in Indonesia?

Indonesia’s digital innovation sector is rapidly evolving. Indonesia’s internet penetration rate stood at 73.7% of the total population at the start of 2022. Smartphones are the key platform, with 96% of internet users accessing internet via their handheld device. Driven by these facts, Indonesia’s huge population and domestic consumption base make this country a favorable platform for economic growth and investment potential. This makes Indonesia attractive to investors and is one advantage of operating a business in the country.

Technology has a key role to play in overcoming these constraints and boosting future growth. Internationally, advanced and developing economies alike see emerging technologies offering sustainable growth. Adopting new technologies allows industry to become more productive by enabling more efficient resource use, new product development, and entry into new markets.

The next five years are very important for Indonesian market research. With technology and its agile development, market research will be aligned much more with the digital world, as we believe that online research – particularly the possibilities of big data and social media channels – is the future for our industry.

Why to choose online research methods for fielding a research project in Indonesia?

For the past decades, market research in Indonesia has been conducted traditionally. Furthermore, face-to-face interviews are still the dominant methodology used for market research in Indonesia’s rural areas. However, the need to collect faster responses to inform more rapid decision-making, has brought a new wind of change to the market research industry.

With increasing competition and client’s pressure to find a quicker and more cost-efficient method, the mobile survey method presents an attractive alternative part to play. Cost efficiency and shorter project turnaround means this online methodology is gaining popularity, particularly as internet connectivity increases across the country. End users of marketing research demand faster research turnaround and cheaper research budget.

Mobile research method might still be at its infancy stage, but it may be the key to help survival of research agencies in future. With the increasing level of competition faced by clients, the demands of faster project turnaround and cheaper costs will stay and grow more. People as potential respondents will also have their habits changed with the increasing penetration and usage of smartphone. No longer they will have the time to answer a long questionnaire, but would prefer shorter questions as typically found in mobile survey. With TGM, we are at the forefront of this, having built our own proprietary online panel.

Online research in Indonesia might still be in its infancy but it has real potential, particularly as internet penetration in the country is growing rapidly. TGM are looking forward to being at the forefront of this fast-moving development as we seek to meet the evolving needs of our clients.

How to run a successful online survey in Indonesia? Key points.

With that being said, let’s take a look at several important key points to remember when running an online market research in Indonesia.

Attractive incentives. With the high usage of Indonesian e-wallet platforms, it will have successfully used to build a huge customer base. These adoptions are insightful to build online panel and incentivize them to take part in research. A monetary reward, rather than food or shopping vouchers, is much more appealing amongst Indonesian consumers.
Keep it short and simple. When designing the research, the length of the questionnaire should be as short as possible to encourage completion, particularly as many people will be taking part in the research via smartphones. It’s also important to remember that Indonesia is a country with numerous islands and a broad geographical area. Whilst there is internet penetration in rural areas, not all consumers will have the same internet speed or network connection.
Speak Bahasa formally. Create surveys that use language and terminology that people will understand. Take note that Bahasa is the main language where most of Indonesians will understand, and avoid any slangs. Keep the language as plain as possible, avoid technical jargon and keep sentences short. However, beware of oversimplifying a question to the point that its meaning changes.
Ensuring Safety of the Data. A survey is aimed to gather more and more relevant information about the customers and their views. We have to build trust and make them comfortable to do so. The right way to do this is to convey in the initial part of the survey that all the information shared by them would be kept confidential and assure them that you follow the right practices to ensure safety and security of data. This will make them comfortable to share any feedback with you regarding your service, employees or delivery persons etc.

As the leading online data collection agency, TGM Research conducted multiple market research projects in Southeast Asia, pioneering online research in this market. To learn more about the recent projects we did in Indonesia, please contact us.