Growth in the market research industry is expected to tumble from an annual rate of more than 15 per cent to less than 10 per cent this year, according to international agency Ipsos.

The agency says the economic slowdown  has affected many companies, which have postponed product launches and slashed spending on market research.

Ipsos (Thailand) Ltd's managing director Jerome Hervio said yesterday that consumers, with less money in their pockets, had cut back spending, particularly on packaged goods and fast-moving consumer products.

However, luxury goods, financial services and telecommunications are still doing well.

"We expect the market research industry to grow by only 8-9 per cent this year," Hervio said.

Despite the economic gloom, Thailand's market research industry is enjoying higher growth than the global average, which was between 6-7 per cent per year.

Hervio said the industry in Thailand was worth US$35 million (Bt1.3 billion) last year and, until the economic slowdown, it enjoyed growth of 15 per cent per year.

After one year of operations, Ipsos holds a 5-per-cent share of the market.

Co-chairman and chief executive Didier Truchot said many firms had begun to use Thailand as a base for market research throughout Southeast Asia.

Ipsos (Thailand) has 15 business clients and 10 of them are international firms, including L'Oreal, Nestle and Kraft. The agency specialises in marketing, customer satisfaction and advertising research.

Truchot said there were only eight global market research agencies with operations in the US, Europe and Asia. Ipsos, which was founded in France in 1975, is one of them. It has offices in more than 100 cities in 45 countries.

"The global market for market research was worth almost Bt1 trillion [US$25 billion] last year, and the eight international market research agencies represented about 40 per cent of that market," Truchot said.

Asia accounted for about 14 per cent of worldwide market research and one-third of market research activities in Asia were in Japan.

"However, activities are moving more and more from Japan and Korea to China and Southeast Asia," he added.

"Business firms need to understand people and what they are doing, how they are thinking and how they react to marketing and communications activities.

"China and Southeast Asia have become the largest growth markets for market research, with annual growth of more than 20 per cent."

China is expected to be among the world's top three locations for market research within three to four years.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation