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Published on March 15, 2008

The survey entitled "Lanna Lives Research" was conducted in Chiang Mai last November, through interviews and spending time with 64 northern consumers - teenagers, university students, working people and housewives - both in urban and rural areas, in order to learn their lifestyle in depth.

"The northern region is still rich in heritage and culture," said Varidda Voraakorn, the company's consumer insights manager. "They speak the Lanna language (the northern dialect of Thai), eat northern food which has vegetables as its main component, wear northern costume during important occasions, attend northern festivals and never forget to follow northern traditions during important family events."

In the meantime, they welcome people from different places. A sense of welcome and service is very strong. Yet, they do not totally absorb those different cultures into their lifestyle, unlike Bangkok consumers. Rather, they adapt different cultures and make them fit in with own their culture and lifestyle.

The Wawee coffee shop chain is an example of a good mix of modernisation and northern culture and, compared to Starbucks, it is very successful in gaining brand awareness and strong loyalty among northern consumers.

Other than the coffee-shop chain, Varidda has not seen any brand that can really make products and services relevant to northern consumers.

Five main characteristics of the northern way of life that the survey found are a sufficiency economy, abundance of food, rich heritage and culture, a less competitive community and a simple yet sophisticated lifestyle.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation