Report: Consumer behavior in Singapore, Philippines influenced the most by Western celebs

Consumers in Singapore and the Philippines are influenced the most by Western celebrity and influencer endorsements compared to other Southeast Asian audiences, according to new research from iPrice Group.

Using Google data tracking major events from May 2019 to April 2021, the study showed that searches from users in both countries significantly increased for the following products after certain celebrity engagements: Crocs by Questlove and Nicki Minaj, Yeezy by Kanye West, green hair by Billie Eilish, and cryptocurrency by various personalities.

Musical director Questlove appeared on the Oscars awards show with gold Crocs in April, while singer Minaj posted a pink pair on Instagram in May. Both events triggered an increase in Google searches for the brand globally, with Singapore and the Philippines seeing an increase of more than 240%. Searches for the brand would similarly increase in both countries for every celebrity engagement, iPrice noted.

“Surprisingly, the Western celebrity style influence wasn’t as huge in other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand,” said the report. “For instance, searches reached only over 37,000 in Indonesia, a country with more than 8x Singapore’s Google population.”

The footwear love continues with Yeezy, which saw a search boost of over 120% in both countries in December 2019, after Kanye West announced his new line of footwear. In December 2020, brand interest also rose by 58% in Singapore and 37% in the Philippines, following another product release from Yeezy.

Cryptocurrency also captured interest in Southeast Asia after Kanye West’s podcast with comedian Joe Rogan in 2020. This saw a 143% and 53% search increase in Singapore and the Philippines, respectively. Since then, searches blew up by 775% and 542% as of April 2021.

The higher rate of searches in the studied events are unique to Singapore and the Philippines, according to iPrice, a product meta-search platform for online shoppers in Southeast Asia.