Buying behaviour around the world has changed significantly, accelerated by the pandemic. Within the Asia Pacific region, marketers and sellers must be prepared to adapt to these changes and deliver what their buyers demand.

Every year, Forrester fields a global survey to purchase decision-makers to find out what it is that makes them buy. We take this data and analyse it in detail to bring you the differences in buying behaviour of APAC buyers vs. the rest of the world (RoW), as well as to provide you recommendations on what to do with those insights.

Just like how desserts are different all around the world, the word “desserts” also triggers different imagery when you use it in different countries within the Asia Pacific region. What constitutes dessert in India is vastly different from China and, again, vastly different in Australia. The same goes for buyers within Asia Pacific: They are all buyers, but they are different in their purchasing triggers and drivers from country to country.

This year, our focus is on China, India, and Australia. We are delving into these three big economies of the Asia Pacific region to pinpoint how different it is to market into these countries and the nuances to be aware of for the buyers there. We look at four categories:

  1. Business priorities.
  2. Purchase drivers.
  3. Triggers for engagement with vendors.
  4. Vendor selection criteria.

Some interesting insights have emerged from this research, such as the fact that China is the country that relies on website content the most in the world in order to trigger provider engagement (11% more than the next highest country) and that India is the most progressive and aggressive in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as in improving environmental sustainability (31% vs. RoW at 23%).

Join me at Forrester’s B2B Summit APAC on September 20, where my colleague Barry Vasudevan and I will elaborate on the data from Forrester’s Buyers’ Journey Survey, 2022, and identify key differences of the APAC region versus the rest of the world. This session will provide the following benefits:

  • Understand the drivers of engagement and purchase decisions.
  • Understand what you need to do to respond to these evolving buyer behaviours.

So whilst we started off talking about the differences in desserts around Asia Pacific, the reality is that it is the full-course meal that is significantly different. And we have to look at addressing these differences, from the start of the meal all the way to the dessert, in order to engage successfully with our buyers.

Forrester’s B2B Summit APAC will deliver unique, APAC-focused and actionable, best-practice-enabled guidance to support our clients to take bolder, bigger, more impactful actions for their organisations but also for their personal growth and success. Our sessions are in line with our theme of “Align, Advance, Accelerate” to ensure that we are equipping you with not just the “what to do” but also the “how to do it” as you take these learnings back to your organisation.

We are excited to share these new strategic and operational insights and best practices at our 2022 B2B Summit APAC event and to continue to be by the side of our clients in APAC. We can’t wait to see you there!