Ogilvy PR: Believability is now a commercial signal for APAC brands

APAC consumers are more likely to silently disengage when brand belief is lost, according to Ogilvy PR’s 2026 APAC Believability Index: The Power of Proof.

The report examines how consumers across Asia Pacific decide what - and who - is worth believing in at a time of synthetic content, misinformation, and rising scepticism. Its central finding is clear: believability is no longer just a reputation measure, but a commercial signal.

The report found that 93 per cent of dissatisfied consumers across the region silently disengage when brand believability is lost. Only 10 per cent say they would post about a negative brand experience on social media.

Ogilvy PR partnered with YouGov to collect data between April and May 2026. The report surveyed 7,176 respondents, with data weighted to provide a representative cross-section of adult populations aged 18 and older across seven markets: Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Mainland China, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

The agency first launched the Believability Index in 2019 with Kantar to assess what it means for people to believe in business and political leaders. The 2026 edition extends that lens to brand behaviour, consumer trust and the commercial impact of lost belief.

Key findings from the report

• Silent reputational fallout is a prominent risk - when belief is lost, consumers are more likely to take private action than public action. Across the region, 48 per cent stop buying and 28 per cent quietly switch to a competitor.

• Competence now carries more weight than purpose - across APAC, 42 per cent of consumers abandoned a brand in the past 12 months because its product or service did not deliver what was promised. That was higher than the 29 per cent who left because of poor business ethics and the 18 per cent who left because of greenwashing or misleading sustainability claims.

• Different APAC markets need different forms of proof - the report identifies two different belief systems operating across the region: institutional authority and relational authority. In institutional-leaning markets such as Singapore, Mainland China, and Hong Kong SAR, consumers place more weight on official sources, mainstream media, and corporate channels. In Singapore, 61 per cent find government or official sources the most believable on important issues. In relational-leaning markets such as Australia and the Philippines, lived experience and word-of-mouth carry more weight. In Australia, 54 per cent cite people with lived experience as highly believable.

• Action matters more than apology - the outlook for reputation recovery remains positive in the APAC region, with 85 per cent of respondents saying lost belief can be regained, while 11 per cent say it is lost forever. However, consumers demand active, operational correction (57 per cent) over public acknowledgement (46 per cent).

• Generations leave and return in different ways - Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to disengage due to lost belief (75 per cent), compared with 58 per cent of Baby Boomers. However, younger consumers are also more open to recovery. Across APAC, 89 per cent of Gen Z say belief can be restored, compared with 78 per cent of Baby Boomers. What they need from brands differs. Gen Z and Millennials place more weight on business ethics and the credibility of associated influencers, while Baby Boomers and Gen X are more likely to be pushed away by product failure and unresponsiveness.

Why it matters for communications professionals

• Reputation strategy has to go beyond monitoring social media sentiment and public complaints. Brands need to spot silent disengagement before it results in long-term revenue loss.

• Communicators can bridge internal departments, including PR, corporate affairs, customer experience, and sales, to support a stronger integrated reputation strategy.

• Strong delivery of core products and services must come before purpose-led advocacy. Authenticity without foundational competence is increasingly viewed as a credibility liability.

• Reputation strategy needs to account for differences by market and generation. Effective strategy depends on understanding different expectations around sources, evidence, and recovery.

• Prioritise action in crisis response. Acknowledgement matters, but operational correction matters more.