Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East. Located in West Asia, Saudi Arabia (officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is one of the few absolute monarchies left in the world. The population is relatively young, with approximately half of all Saudi people being under 25 years old. The Saudi economy is the largest in the Middle East, the centre of which is the capital and largest city, Riyadh.
Home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam, the country is an important destination for religious tourists following the Hajj pilgrimage or looking to visit the birthplace of Islam, the world’s second-largest religion.
Petroleum was discovered in the country in 1938, which has since shot the nation into becoming the second-largest oil producer, the leading oil exporter, and controllers of the globe’s second-largest oil reserves. The oil industry accounts for around 47% of Saudi GDP, but the nation does possess a growing services sector.
Retail and wholesale (such as Cenomi Retail and BinDawood Holding), financial services and professional and real estate services account for 43% of Saudi GDP. Vision 2030 has influenced a significant investment in agriculture (3% of GDP) in the hopes that domestic food production could achieve food self-sufficiency for the country’s population.
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Focus groups allow participants to combine experiences and perspectives to explore ideas in depth. Commonly used during creative and conceptual development, they help you understand your customers’ needs, perceptions, and beliefs.
In-depth interviews (IDIs), where a moderator interviews a single respondent, can be conducted face-to-face, online, or over the phone. They are ideal for B2B research and for exploring delicate subjects with consumers and hard-to-reach groups.
Ethnographic research is a qualitative research method in which the researchers observe participants using a product or service, or carrying out other activities, in their own environment, typically at work or at home.
An online bulletin board (OBB) is an online forum for qualitative market research that enables participants to log into to carry out research tasks or reply to questions asked by a moderator at their own pace, typically over a period of a few days.
A market research online community (MROC) is similar to an online bulletin board (OBB). However, unlike an OBB, on online community may be used to serve multiple purposes, and the community may remain active for weeks, months or even years.
User experience (UX) testing is a qualitative research methodology which involves directly observing and interviewing a participant using a product or service. It is widely used for testing new versions of apps and websites before they are launched.
Customer experience (CX) testing evaluates how customers interact with a product, service, or digital platform. It helps identify usability issues and overall satisfaction to improve the customer journey and ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience.
A video survey is a type of unmoderated qualitative research in which survey takers respond to a series of instructions or questions by making short videos using their smartphone, either in ‘selfie’ mode or to record an activity.
Vox pop research involves making recordings of people, usually members of the public, responding to questions. These clips are often used in research to illustrate public opinion on widely known topics, brands, or products.
Online surveys are a cost-effective research method with great flexibility in design. Automated data handling allows the results to be available quickly and many online surveys can be completed on smartphones, helping to improve the response rate.
CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) leverages technology to reach those who aren’t online. CATI interviews follow an electronic script with built in routing and type in the respondent’s answers to each question as the interview proceeds.
CAPI (computer-assisted personal interviewing) is a form of face-to-face interviewing where the interviewer reads the survey questions from a tablet device and inputs the respondent’s answers directly to the device.
FieldworkHub supported a research project to encourage the recycling of plastic packaging by consumers in Saudi Araba by conducting face-to-face quantitative interviews (CAPI) with 400 adults outside supermarkets and shopping malls in major Saudi Arabian cites (Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Medina and Dammam) over a period of five days.
A global energy leader who runs multiple rounds of in-person focus groups around the world each year tasked us with arranging research in Saudi Arabia. We were asked to find senior decision makers in Jeddah, Al-Khobar and Riyadh, all with an interest in, and working knowledge of, the energy industry in the country.
Our client was working for Toyota and Lexus in the Middle East and wanted to explore topics around car ownership, car servicing and personal mobility in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. We were asked to recruit 60 car owners, car drivers and people who used other personal mobility solutions for 90-minute online and face-to-face IDIs.
