With Asia being notorious for traffic and congestion it’s probably not surprising that the people in most countries responded no.

Only two countries out of the twelve countries covered by AIP panels indicated that they usually cross the street regardless of the status of the lights – those countries were Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Colours hold a high significance throughout Asia cultures and can often represent feelings associated with different celebrations or occasions.

We recently asked 2400 respondents across 12 countries throughout Asia about their daily commuting habits. In Japan trains polled as the top choice for commuting, not surprising really considering it hosts some of the busiest railway stations in the world.

Favorable demographics and growing disposable income are fueling growth in the cosmetics and fashion markets in Asia. In January 2011, we surveyed 36,979 female members of AIP’s proprietary panels across Asia about their first experiences of beauty products (skincare and make-up). Who or what influenced them most on their first product and brand choices? In an earlier 2010 study, we surveyed 34,657 females across the same countries to ask them about how they gather information on fashion. Who or what influences their fashion choices today? We bring you the results of both studies in our combined article on Fashion and Beauty.

We recently asked AOS panelists about their preferences for instant noodles that come in cups. You may think instant cup noodles are a particularly Japanese snack/meal, with Nisshin’s “Cup Noodle” eaten the world over, but we found that instant noodles which come in cups are popular across all Asian countries. Moreover, we suspect that while the 40+-year-old instant noodle market is at or near saturation in Japan, there is room to expand in other Asian countries, particularly for brands which offer instant noodles using local spices and ingredients.

Chinese New Year, also as known as Lunar New Year, is the most important and longest holiday of the year in China. It is celebrated for about fifteen days, and it is also one moment in the year in which the nation can feel and share the same enjoyment. In 2011, the Chinese Lunar Year Festival will start from the 3rd of February. As everyone is aware of its significance, many working people in China will even take weeks of holidays in addition to the announced public holidays so that they can go back to the hometown for the family reunion on the Chinese New Year’s Eve, while companies are flexible about their absence from work.

We continue with our adventures running your surveys in the market research jungle of Asia.

Two months ago, we gave you some nifty advice on what NOT to do when running your studies in Asia. Now, we would like to share some hopefully useful information on what you CAN DO to make your studies much more successful.

AIP has been providing HUT (product placement) service in Japan, China, Korea and Hong Kong for several years.
Using AIP’s proprietary panels, we preselect qualified respondents with your specifications for home use test studies.  With AIP’s on-the-ground local employees providing the local expertise and coordination, we ensure the quality of each phase of the product test for a successful project. Most of our HUT projects conducted so far have been for quantitative research usage, and now we would like to share a special experience when we combined an online qualitative study with product placement practice.