Brand Finance data reveals fewer industries are seeing a decline in sustainability influence compared to 2025, signalling limits to the ‘ESG backlash’
BANGKOK, 22 April 2026 – PTT and Thai Airways are among the leading Thai brands for sustainability perceptions across environmental, social, and governance pillars, according to the Sustainability Perceptions Index 2026 from Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy.
Sustainability perceptions in Thailand are shared across sectors, with different brands standing out across environmental, social, and governance dimensions.
The Sustainability Perceptions Index 2026 reveals which brands are perceived to have the strongest commitment to sustainability globally, the changing role of sustainability in driving demand, and the large amounts of value tied to sustainability for the world’s biggest brands.
Brand Finance data reveals sustainability’s influence as a driver of consumer choice is stabilising across industries globally. Based on the iteration out of 48 sectors analysed, 24 saw a decline in sustainability influence between 2025 and 2026, compared to 38 in the previous cycle.
Thailand Highlights
Thailand’s sustainability perceptions are shaped by a combination of environmental transition, community engagement, and structured ESG governance.
PTT supports environmental sustainability perceptions through its long-term energy transition strategy, advancing carbon capture and storage (CCS) and aligning its operations with national decarbonisation and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Meanwhile, Thai Airways demonstrates strong sustainability perceptions across environmental and social dimensions, supported by responsible sourcing, community engagement, and waste reduction initiatives, including partnerships with local producers and the use of recyclable and reusable materials across its operations.
In governance and 'well-managed’ perceptions', Dusit Thani and Centara Hotels & Resorts are recognised for sustainability frameworks and long-term operational commitments. Dusit Thani embeds ESG practices through its “Tree of Life” programme, which sets clear benchmarks across energy, water, waste, and emissions.
Meanwhile, Centara Hotels & Resorts advances its sustainability positioning through a long-term environmental roadmap, including targets to reduce energy, emissions, water use, and waste, and eliminate single-use plastics.
Alex Haigh, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Brand Finance, commented:
“In Thailand, brands such as PTT and Thai Airways show how a combination of environmental transition initiatives and community programmes can support sustainability perceptions, while hotel brands like Dusit Thani and Centara Hotels & Resorts highlight the importance of structured governance frameworks and operational accountability. While sustainability remains an important driver of brand choice, our data suggests its influence is stabilising globally, with fewer sectors experiencing decline compared to previous years.”
Global Highlights
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
