NFO announces a major new study of Saudi consumers

NFO Middle East & Africa has launched a major quantitative follow-up to its successful Arab As Consumer 2001 qualitative study.

30 April 2002 PRESS RELEASE

NFO launches quantitative follow-up to Arab As Consumer

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- NFO Middle East & Africa, the largest custom marketing research company in the Middle East and part of NFO WorldGroup has recently launched a large scale quantitative study in Saudi Arabia as a follow-up to its well-received qualitative study entitled 'THE ARAB AS CONSUMER 2001. That survey provided an in-depth look at the Gulf Arab consumer psyche and gave insights into their modern lifestyles and how they relate to marketing and brand communications. It identified 4 major consumer clusters:

•   Muhafizeen (Conservatives)
•   Mutazineen (Well-balanced)
•   Osaryeen (Family-oriented)
•   Motamarideen (Rebels)

The new quantitative study is based on 3150 face to face interviews with Saudis across 13 cities. It profiles Saudi consumers in the following ways:
        Demographics 
   Psychographics 
   Media habits 
   Regular brand across 47 categories 

The data will be provided with a desktop software that will allow clients to interrogate the database and run cross-tabulations. These will allow complete profiles of BMW drivers, Coke drinkers, Saudi American bank users -- just to name a few examples - in terms of their demographic, psychographic and media profiles as well as information on other brands that they personally use.

Psychographic section

This includes:

•   Extent of agreement or disagreement with 20 life attitude statements
•   Perceptions of how they are seen by people who know them
•   Ideally, how they would like to be seen by others
•   Key guiding principles in life
•   Famous personalities they admire

Media section

This is a comprehensive section including:

•   Television channels watched regularly
•   Frequency of watching TV channels
•   Types of TV programmes watched yesterday by time slot
•   TV programmes they make a point of watching regularly
•   Enjoyment of diiferent types of TV programmes
•   Frequency of listening to the radio
•   Radio stations listened to in last 3 months and frequency of listening to each
•   Newspapers read nowadays and frequency of reading
•   Monthly and weekly magazines read nowadays and frequency of reading
•   Whether the Internet is used
•   Frequency of going online
•   Length of average online section

47 product categories covered:

Fresh milk            
Laban
Yoghurt
UHT milk            
Milk powder      
Square cheese portions
Cheese triangles         
Jar Cheese      
Mozzarella cheese
White cream cheese in tubs      
Tinned cheese      
Cheese singles and slices
Brick feta cheese         
Labneh         
Breakfast Cream (Qashta)
Evaporated milk          
Sweet condensed milk   
Butter
Infant formula            
Infant cereals      
Other baby food
Diapers            
Detergents      
Fabric Softener
Carbonated Soft Drinks         
Powdered Soft Drinks   
Packet soup and stock cubes
Ketchup               
Tea         
Instant coffee
Toilet Soap            
Shampoo      
Cigarettes
Hair spray             
Hair mousse      
Hair gel
Hair colourings            
Watches      
Mobiles
Analgesics            
Toothpaste      
Chocolates -- adult
Household Cleaners         
Banks         
Credit Cards
Cars               
Engine Oil         

NFO Middle East & Africa         
An NFO WorldGroup company, NFO Middle East & Africa has a specialized knowledge of the Arabian culture and markets, providing added value research solutions to a wide range of international clients.

About NFO
NFO WorldGroup is one of the worlds leading providers of research-based marketing information and counsel. Marketing minds specializing in research" TM, NFO has facilitated Fortune 500 clients business decisions for more than 50 years by providing in-depth knowledge and understanding of consumers and brands through research. Their services include comprehensive counsel on market evaluation, product development, brand management, customer satisfaction, pricing, distribution and advertising effectiveness. NFO is a worldwide leader in Internet-based research and maintains one of the worlds largest interactive panel communities. They are one of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE:IPG), and have majority-owned operations in 40 countries. Visit NFO WorldGroup on the web (www.nfow.com).

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For more information, please contact:

Ken McDermott (Mohammed Suhaib), Director- Special Projects
NFO Middle East & Africa, Dubai, UAE
Tel: + 9714 2822688 ext. 260, Fax: +9714 2822711
E-mail: kenmcd@nfomea.com