The United Arab Emirates is a located on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf. The UAE was founded in 1971, making it one of the youngest countries in the world. The UAE is made up of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al Quwain. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are by far the most important emirates in economic terms.
The UAE is rich in natural resources, making the nation’s economy heavily reliant on oil and gas exports (it is one of the top 10 oil exporters wordwide). Dubai has much smaller reserves than Abu Dhabi and consequently it has acted more quickly to diversify its economy. The UAE’s services sectors also contribute 48% towards GDP, with transportation, real estate, finance, hospitality and tourism all being notable industries. Today Dubai is a major transport and logistics hub, not just for the Gulf region but for the whole of the Middle East and Africa. It is also an important financial centre and a major tourist destination.
Dubai is the centre for most market research in the UAE but FieldworkHub also has capabilities in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. When conducting research in the UAE it is important to bear in mind that Emiratis make up fewer than one in five of the population and the proportion of Emiratis in Dubai is even lower. The largest expat communities are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, followed by the Philippines. Western expats are estimated to account for around 8% of the total 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 successfully recruited B2B profiles responsible for online advertising budgets at large brands and well-known advertising agencies across Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the UAE for focus groups and IDIs.
Our client was developing a new digital service to simplify the process of applying for international travel visas and wanted to conduct in- depth interviews with people who had recently applied for a UK visa and travel agency employees who assisted their customers with applications.
A Middle Eastern corporation wanted to carry out ethnographic research in the UAE on topics relating to personal mobility. Our work involved finding respondents with very particular B2C and B2B profiles. We recruited around 100 respondents which included Emiratis, Expats and high earners.
A management consultancy was assisting a client in Abu Dhabi with a project relating to health insurance for diabetics and patients with other common chronic conditions. We were asked to recruit Emirati patients, ex-pat patients who live in Abu Dhabi, and younger Emiratis for online interviews.
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.
A well-known audio streaming platform wanted to understand the audio consumption habits of members of Gen Z in 14 different countries. FieldworkHub was tasked with finding 30 participants in total who all spoke English and listened to some form of audio at least once per week on the client’s platform.
