Arabstarts

Summary of EMS Middle East 2012 Media and Marketing Surveys by Ipsos Synovate.

Image provided as part of the EMS Middle East Survey (Ipsos Synovate)

EMS Middle East is a city based survey report representing the behaviour of 1.9 million of the region’s most affluent individuals. Although their findings are generic at times, the full report lends insight into how the Middle East's most affluent population compares with Europe's affluent. Key highlights of Middle Eastern findings follow:

Expat base

Among the EMS respondents (most affluent Middle Easterners) ex-Pats represent 24%, who primarily live in the Gulf Region.

Education and English Fluency

"Compared to their European counterparts, the EMS Middle East respondents are more likely to be male, live in larger households, are very well educated and with a high propensity to understand English well enough to read an English paper or watch TV."

Shopping

Respondents prefer to buy well known brands (93%), enjoy the fun of shopping (88%), and are early adopters of technologically innovative products (92%).

Mobile

Communications infrastructure in many of the Middle Eastern countries is not as sophisticated as Europe. Penetration of smart phones and tablets is much higher than in Europe, however. Smart phones penetration is strong in both the Gulf and non-Gulf regions but tablet usage is highest in the Gulf.

Media literate

The Middle Eastern respondents are heavy media consumers in comparison to the average European respondent. They are particularly heavy users of the internet, with 65% spending at least 8+ hours per week online.