Malaysia

Data collection and market research in Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is our head office base, providing analysis, project management and reporting for all countries and multi-country studies. Data collection is carried out locally in each country by our local field force and field supervisors. However this page summarises our market research and data collection services specifically for Malaysia

Our Malaysian office has carried our industry research for the construction and travel and tourism industries, and consumer research for the financial, educational, telecommunications, aviation, entertainment, software and retail industries. This has included brand and market research including both qualitative and quantitative methods such as focus groups, street and mall intercepts, telephone surveys (CATI and traditional), and face to face and industry depth interviews.

Our office is located in the Golden Triangle business heart of Kuala Lumpur, two to five minutes walk from the Petronas Twin Towers and the Mandarin, Renaissance, New World, Hyatt, Park Plaza, Sheraton, Shangri-La and Concorde hotels in Jalan Ampang. We always welcome our clients and interested parties to discuss your market research needs in the comfort of our office or your own.

Malaysia has a growing and vibrant consumer market of well over 20,000,000, distinguished by a multi cultural mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian and many other smaller populations of Western and Japanese expatriates. Market segmentation according to ethnicity and language is common, as this can have a significant effect on consumer behaviour. English is spoken widely, in Malaysia, though Bahasa Melayu, Chinese dialects and Tamil are the mother tongue of many. Bahasa Melayu is the national language, which all Malaysians are expected to master. Depending on the project, translation is often required.

Malaysia has relatively little poverty, and as a whole, those living in cities are highly brand conscious, with a curious love of overseas brands. The middle class have a large degree of discretionary income. While prices are generally lower than in neighbouring Singapore for many consumer items, living costs are also lower. There are strict laws relating to the advertising code, competition, quality standards and ethnic and religious discrimination which need to be taken into account in market and consumer research undertakings in Malaysia.

Research costs in Malaysia are generally significantly lower than Singapore, and higher than in Thailand, commensurate with living and overhead costs. Malaysian consumer spending will rise considerably in the next few years, making the already thriving Malaysian market for consumer and industrial goods even more promising. The ASEAN free trade agreement is already heralding welcome competition is some areas, including Malaysia's significant auto market.