The internationally published American magazine Reader's Digest Tuesday published the result of its annual consumer survey on Trusted Brands in Asia, and Cathay Pacific Airlines becomes the only Hong Kong brand that earns the trust from Asian consumers.

The survey, organized by Reader's Digest and Nielsen Media Research, an international market research company, sampled a total of 7,000 people in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines through questionnaires and phone interviews.

The results showed that German and Japanese car brands, like BMW and Honda, are still the reliable brands in the heart of Asian consumers, while Japanese brands such as Sony, Canon and Panasonic dominate Asian markets in categories from household appliances to office equipment.

In the fast-growing field of mobile phones, however, Nokia is the brand hard to beat. It is voted the trusted brand in all the countries and regions covered by the survey.

In the category of soft drink, American brands of Coca-Cola and Sunkist continue to dominate the market.

The survey result of skin care category, the most concerned area of female customers, gives a surprise. Nivea, a German brand, beats most of the famous brands from France and the United States and has won the trust of consumers.

Another surprise comes from Hong Kong consumers. The survey results showed that Hong Kong people, who often trust international brands more than homegrown, now are turning their eyes to local brands, especially in service industry.

Cathay Pacific Airlines, which has won many international awards in air transportation industry, not only won the heart of Hong Kong people but also won support of Asian customers this year. It is clearly a trusted choice of air travel in Asia and makes Hong Kong proud every year since the survey started in 1999, according to Reader's Digest.

Besides, Hang Seng Bank is voted the trusted brand in the bank category of Hong Kong. PCCW of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing beats other telecommunication providers in Hong Kong market.

Hong Kong brand also beats international brands in the category of Jewelry shop with Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Fook become the favorite choices of local people.

According to Reader's Digest, this year's survey covers 42 categories of products and services, with investment fund companies, property developers, supermarket chains, paint and biscuit as newly added items, which makes the results a good guide to customers in the market.

However, Simon Cholmeley, Regional Advertising Director of Reader's Digest Asia, admitted that it is a pity that the market of Chinese Mainland, which can be considered as a bench mark in Asia, is not included this year.

He said, "We would like to do it in the Chinese Mainland. We hope to do the survey next year in Beijing and Shanghai."

Source: Xinhua