Ogilvy has released its first APAC 2026 Believability Index, a new study looking at how consumers across Asia-Pacific decide which brands and organizations they trust. The research, done with YouGov, surveyed 7,176 people in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Hong Kong SAR, and Mainland China.
The report highlights what Ogilvy calls a major reputational blind spot: when consumers stop believing a brand, they tend to leave quietly rather than complain publicly. Overall, 93 percent of APAC consumers said they disengage silently when belief is lost, and 48 percent stop buying from the brand entirely. Only 10 percent said they would post about a negative experience on social media, while 55 percent might disengage publicly in some form. The study also found that performance matters more than purpose. Across the region, 42 percent of consumers stopped engaging with an organization in the past year because a product or service didn’t deliver on its core promise, compared to 29 percent who left due to poor business ethics.
Consumer trust works differently across markets. Singapore and Malaysia tend to trust institutional authority and official sources, while Australia and the Philippines rely more on peer experiences and word-of-mouth. This means a single regional communications approach is unlikely to work. When it comes to repairing trust, action beats apologies. While 85 percent of consumers said lost belief can be regained, 57 percent said the most important step is actively fixing the problem before issuing an apology.
In response, Ogilvy has launched its Believability Agent, a predictive AI diagnostic tool built in WPP Open. The tool analyzes the gap between what a brand says and what it actually does by comparing corporate messaging with customer and employee sentiment. It uses seven years of Ogilvy’s proprietary data and a behavioral science model to calculate a brand’s “Believability Elasticity,” aiming to help C-Suite leaders spot and prevent silent customer churn before it hits revenue.
Richard Brett, President of Ogilvy PR APAC, said that with AI-generated content changing communications, believability has become a commercial issue, not just a PR one. He noted that the biggest risks are now invisible, and the real cost of lost belief shows up in lost sales rather than bad headlines. According to Brett, organizations that succeed in 2026 will focus on operational action over traditional holding statements.
