Browse
related articles
The above purchase behavior leads us to another question of the extent that promotions play in driving peoples' brand choice. From our tracking research, we have asked people whether promotions are an important criterion for brand selection.
Table 2 below suggests that promotions play a bigger role in the choice of brands in the UAE, especially amongst Asians. Maybe, this could be the reason why supermarkets and hypermarkets are popular destinations for shopping. By their very role, supermarkets and hypermarkets have wider catchments than a specialised store.
In the process of doing the weekly shop, people will stroll over to the mobile and electronic sections to check out the display, perhaps leading to a higher probability of purchase due to higher numbers in this process.
Promotions thus are an important consideration amongst Asians to purchase IT/electronic items, accounting to 56 per cent, though the reading may be treated with caution given small base.
Retailers should note that supermarkets/hypermarkets in Abu Dhabi play a relatively larger role in purchase of IT/ electronic items in comparison to the other two locations. People in Dubai relatively prefer to purchase mobile phones and electronic items while people in Sharjah prefer to purchase electronic items only.
To summarise, we have seen that purchase behavior of IT/electronic items are different in KSA & UAE, maybe due to the differing population composition. The differing populations have different needs of retail outlets when purchasing IT/ electronic items and hence promotions play an important part in decision making between them.
Methodology
Field work is conducted monthly amongst a fixed target audience. Data for reporting is rolled over three months and the reporting sample sizes are 600 in KSA and 450 in UAE.
