Synovate PAX reveals in-flight readership and entertainment habits of affluent Asian travellers
28 June 2007
HONG KONG — Leading global research company Synovate, today released results from its first Synovate PAX in-flight survey in Asia, revealing healthy readership rates for seven leading in-flight magazines across five major Asian markets and providing comprehensive data on in-flight consumer behaviour.
Synovate PAX covers the media consumption, product and service ownership, purchase intention, lifestyle and attitudes of affluent Asians and now also examines the in-flight magazine readership, entertainment habits and duty free shopping behaviour of affluent Asian travellers.
Synovate Director Media Research Asia Pacific, Craig Harvey, said the new results provided marketers, media buyers, planners and advertisers with an accurate measure of the power of in-flight magazines and entertainment, as well as insights into the Asian in-flight audience.
"While the industry has always assumed the captive power of in-flight magazines, Synovate PAX in-flight data now provides solid, credible information to enable agencies and marketers to plan against such titles more efficiently," he said.
The survey shows healthy readership rates for in-flight magazines across the five markets covered, with more than 20% of respondents who have travelled at least once in the past year having read one or more in-flight magazines in the previous month, and one quarter of business travellers (26.6%) having read at least one of the titles measured in the past month.
Results are even stronger among frequent fliers, with readership at 28.5% for those who have travelled for either business or leisure at least three times or more in the past year and 38% for those who have travelled at least six times or more in the past 12 months.
"Synovate PAX now provides a rich profile of Asia's affluent travellers, showing that readers of in-flight magazines own more luxury goods and have higher ownership rates for laptops and mobile phones with internet access than those travellers who don't read such publications," Mr Harvey said.
"With information on in-flight entertainment habits and duty free purchases also included, Synovate PAX provides savvy marketers with the knowledge they need to plan targeted, integrated in-flight marketing campaigns in Asia."
In-flight magazines
Covering seven in-flight magazine titles including Discovery, Dynasty, Going Places, Gulf Air, Krisworld, Sawasdee and Silkroad across the markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Bangkok, Synovate PAX revealed strong in-flight magazine readership among elite Asian travellers. Results include:
- 21.5% of all respondents across the five Asian markets surveyed who have travelled at least once in the past year have read one or more of the surveyed titles in the past month
- Business travellers are most likely to read in-flight magazines, with 26.6% of those who have travelled for business at least once in the past year having read one or more of the publications in the past month
- 26.1% of business travellers flying in economy class have read one of the in-flight magazines measured in the past month
- 28.8% of business travellers flying in business class have read one of the in-flight magazines measured in the past month
- Male travellers are more likely to read in-flight magazines than females travellers, with 24% of males who have travelled at least once in the past year having read one or more of the in-flight titles in the past month
In-flight entertainment
Travellers in ten Asian markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India and Australia were asked which in-flight entertainment options they use on their average trip.
- More than two thirds of travellers, or 69.4% of respondents, watch an in-flight movie or film on an average trip, with this form of entertainment slightly more popular among business travellers (71.6%)
- News is also a popular form of in-flight entertainment, with 45.5% of business travellers watching in-flight news on an average trip
- 40.4% of travellers listen to in-flight audio channels on an average flight
Duty free shopping
Travellers in ten Asian markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India and Australia were asked about their duty free purchases in the past twelve months.
- 69% of travellers across all ten markets had purchased a product from a duty free store in the last year
- Alcohol is the most popular duty free purchase, with 48.2% of duty free shoppers having bought some type of alcohol from a duty free store in the past year
- Business travellers are more likely to purchase alcohol than leisure travellers, with 51.8% having purchased duty free alcohol in the past year
- Cosmetics was the second most popular duty free purchase, with 29.2% of duty free shoppers having purchased cosmetics from a duty free store in the past year, followed by perfumes (25.5%) and tobacco (23.8%)
- Indians are the most frequent purchasers of duty free alcohol with 77.7% of Indian duty free shoppers having purchased duty free alcohol in the past year, while Taiwanese are the largest buyers of duty free tobacco (43.9%)
Contact(s) for this press release
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Georgia McCafferty
Marketing and Communications Manager Asia |
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9/F Leighton Centre |
Telephone: +852 2837 8277 |
Since 1996, Synovate PAX has been tracking media, prosperity and influence in 11 markets across Asia Pacific – Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India, Australia and Japan. In 2004 the survey commenced in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and was extended to cover eight markets across the Middle East in 2006. PAX Latin America was launched in June 2007, covering Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, the three largest media markets in the region.
Synovate PAX has expanded to provide credible data on the in-flight readership, entertainment and duty free habits of affluent Asian business and leisure travellers. Magazine readership covers the five key Asian markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Bangkok while information on in-flight entertainment habits and duty free purchases covers 10 PAX markets in the Asia Pacific including Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, India and Australia.
PAX allows marketers to get a full picture of affluent consumers in their target markets – what they watch, read, buy and how they feel about advertising and branding – enabling them to more accurately focus their marketing efforts.
More information about Synovate PAX can be found at www.synovate.com/pax.
About Synovate
Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 6,000 staff across 62 countries.
For more information on Synovate visit www.synovate.com.