Brands have been falling over themselves trying to get consumers to participate in online and social media campaigns. But just because technology creates new avenues and opportunities for consumers to participate with brands online doesn’t mean people want to.

There’s a lot of hype around consumer participation but what’s the truth?

While brands are interested in interacting with and participating with consumers, people aren’t as interested in actively participating with brands. People would still far rather consume content than actively participate with it.

In a new report “Participation – Beyond the Hype”, J. Walter Thompson Asia Pacific and market research and market information group Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) present the argument that the hype around participation, today’s big buzzword in marketing, is based on a flawed assumption of the level of interest consumers have in engaging with brands online.

Many marketers look at participation as an end in itself, focusing on amassing likes and shares. But according to the new report, that’s been a distraction.

Analysis by J Walter Thompson Asia Pacific, based on a study of online behaviors and attitudes of 5,600 people across seven countries in Asia Pacific conducted by TNS, shows consumers across the region are hesitant, or even suspicious, about engaging with brands online, and resent doing anything that appears to benefit the brand more than in benefits them.

The report explains that, in fact we’ve been looking at participation all wrong: Participation is not why people connect; it’s a response when people make a connection. This report, supported with a range of events and seminars across the APAC region, looks into how consumers engage with brands online and offers suggestions of how to maximize commercial outcomes through a focus on creative ideas that build deep connections with consumers.

Angela Morris, Executive Planning Director at J. Walter Thompson Australia, and Alistair Leathwood, Executive Director for TNS, took the stage at Spikes Asia to introduce the study today in a session that gave audience members four big takeaways:

•    Create content for people, not brands.

•    Remember content without strategy is not marketing. Have a strong reason for doing what you do.

•    Don’t ask things of your consumer, but give back instead. Understand their pain points and delights.

•    Be true to brand ideas: They are a way of creating meaning over and above product/service benefits.