Introduction
United Arab Emirates (UAE) being an Arab state is subject to unique behavioral traits among its population emanating from the influence of the Arabic culture and Islam. Several studies have been done to investigate the behavior of consumers worldwide and recent statistics have started to incorporate consumer behavior in Arab states. In this regard, statistics show that, UAE has a high consumer confidence when compared to other countries across the globe.
This statistic shows that, UAE consumers are very optimistic about various aspects of the economy such as future employment opportunities, economic growth and such like aspects of the economy. This study explores this unique attribute of UAE consumers, in terms of the cost and benefit analysis concerning the government, society and businesses alike. Finally, this study will show the importance of consumer behavior in the UAE.
Government
Consumer behavior in the UAE is likely to affect the government in several ways. Considering the fact that, UAE consumers have been noted to have a high level of consumer confidence; the government is likely to be under a high pressure to deliver on the expectations of its citizens. In fact, the government is likely to operate under high expectations and increased pressure from consumer groups (and the likes) to meet the expectations of its population.
In this kind of situation, there is very little room for the government to lag in implementing its economic goals because consumers leave very little room for mistakes. The opposite situation would be envisaged when consumers have low consumer confidence because this would mean they have very little confidence in their government and therefore, they are likely to tolerate a lot of government errors and mistakes.
The cost of UAE’s consumer behavior is therefore the high expectations on the government to deliver (this would imply increased efficiency and accuracy in government’s operations) but ultimately, the benefits for such high consumer expectations would be better customer services, increased employment opportunities and the production of better goods and services.
Society
UAE’s consumer behavior is likely to have a significant influence on the society because with high consumer expectations, the society is bound to meet the high expectations through increased man-hours, increased human efficiency (like investment in human resource) and a higher level of accountability from the society to relevant stakeholders.
These factors collectively guarantee a high delivery of quality goods, services and economic prospects for the population. Consequently, these factors define the cost factor of the high consumer confidence in UAE. The benefits for such consumer behavior would be better customer services, increased employment opportunities and the production of better goods and services.
Business
Businesses are likely to incur most of the costs of a high consumer confidence in the UAE because primary focus will be centered on their levels of efficiency to deliver on the high consumer expectations. The costs will therefore be improved investments in human resource, innovation, and such like facets of the production of quality goods and services and the resultant effect (benefits) would be better customer service, increased employment opportunities and the production of better goods and services.
Importance of Consumer behavior in UAE
The importance of consumer behavior in UAE touches on the operations of all sectors of the economy, or sectors engaged in the provision of goods and services. Consumer behavior is vital in ensuring these sectors (such as government, businesses and the likes) perform to their optimum level. Also, consumer behavior provides a benchmark for the provision of goods and services in UAE with adamant consumer behaviors warranting better quality goods and services.
Conclusion
This study identifies that, since consumers in the UAE have a high level of confidence for future economic prospects; the government, society and businesses have to improve their level of efficiency and investments in the provision of goods and services because these are the costs of a high consumer confidence. As a result, consumers are bound to enjoy better customer service, increased employment opportunities and the production of better goods and services.