Nearly 40% of Thai consumers are dubbed "invisible", meaning they rarely engage in the digital world, according to a new survey by Media Intelligence (MI) Group.
The agency advised marketers to rely on more than engagement metrics when evaluating campaign effectiveness.
The online survey had 1,200 respondents nationwide and categorised Thai digital consumers into three groups.
Visible consumers are active digital media users who regularly engage with content such as liking, sharing, commenting, or even creating their own content. This is the largest segment, accounting for 56.5% of respondents.
In contrast, invisible consumers frequently use digital media, but seldom interact with content through visible actions such as likes, shares or comments. This group makes up 39% of respondents.
Another 4.5% are low-presence digital consumers who limit their digital activity and leave minimal digital footprints.
To understand invisible consumers, the company conducted an additional survey involving 252 respondents and found that Gen X and Gen Z respondents are more likely to belong to this segment.
The survey identified 82% of invisible consumers developed an interest in products they discovered online, and 90% reported searching for information online before making a purchase.
Although marketers have sophisticated tools to track campaign performance, these primarily measure visible engagement. Consumer decisions are also influenced by brand familiarity, memory and independent research, meaning marketers should look beyond engagement metrics alone, said Warin Tinprapa, chief growth officer at MI Group.
Kamolwan Kreutzner, research and data specialist and senior manager of MI Group, said invisible consumers can be divided into two subgroups. The first may not engage with digital media, and the brand information they see will gradually build familiarity and recall.
The other subgroup shows their awareness only for topics of interest. They tend to search, compare, and review information before making a decision.
MI Group recommends brands strengthen their search presence using tools such as search engine optimisation and artificial intelligence search, enabling consumers to easily find reliable information when researching products, said Posatorn Sukamporn, the company's business development director.
He suggested increasing natural brand exposure through channels such as out-of-home advertising, point-of-sale displays, and other offline media to build familiarity before consumers make purchasing decisions.
