Emiratis students more brand-conscious than expats, says survey

Three-quarters of UAE parents claim they have spent between 5-10 per cent more on back-to-school purchases in 2015 compared to last year, according to new findings from market research company, YouGov.

The research reveals parents tend to stick to familiar brands if the deal is right with half (51 per cent) claiming to purchase from known-brands that are discounted or reasonably priced. This sentiment was particularly prevalent among expat parents (53 per cent vs. 40 per cent of Emiratis).

Relatively speaking, Emirati parents appear to be somewhat more brand-driven with over one-third (35 per cent) claiming they buy a specific known brand regardless of price (35 per cent vs. 20 per cent of expats).

The vast majority (81 per cent) of school parents interviewed online by YouGov took advantage of promotional deals and sales when making purchases for the new school year with 41 per cent of these claiming they took advantage of ‘many’ such deals.

Parents with children attending public (or state-run) schools were most likely to have taken advantage of promotions and deals (88 per cent).

Research for the study was conducted online amongst 507 UAE parents with children at school, between August 25 and September 2, 2015.

The majority of parents tend to ‘delay’ major school purchases with over two-thirds (68 per cent) claiming they made their purchases in the month leading up to school. Indeed 40 per cent of respondents claimed they actually only shopped 1 to 2 weeks prior to the school start date.

When asked where they first looked for back-to-school items, the largest proportion (31 per cent) of parents claimed they did not have to look as there were promotions everywhere.

Hypermarket and supermarket flyers also emerged as important sources of information for 15 per cent of parents. Another 14 per cent of parents relied on referrals from other parents/friends on what is good to purchase or have a preferred store they are loyal to.

The use of digital resources to both search for and buy back-to-school items was minimal with just 9 per cent of parents searching online for their next purchase before going in-store to buy and only 8 per cent both searching and purchasing back-to-school items online.  

School uniform and stationary emerged as the most important back-to-school purchases for parents (32 per cent and 26 per cent of parents, respectively). Only 14 per cent of the interviewed sample claimed school technology and gadgets (such as an iPad or a Kindle) were their most important school purchase. 

Considering the key drivers of back to school purchases, parents feel the most pressure to purchase new school items from their children (42 per cent). Self-imposed pressure is also considerable with 36% of parents surveyed selecting themselves as the main source of pressure. This is driven by their desire to offer their children the best.   

Despite an overall increase in spend compared to last year, many parents try to be resourceful with 31 per cent claiming they keep last year’s school items and re-use them and another 27 per cent claiming they hand them down to their next child.

As may have been expected, the tendency to re-use items was lowest among parents in the most affluent income group (47 per cent of those with a monthly household income of $5,333 and above re-use school items from the previous year).

“Back to school time is an extremely busy and stressful period for many parents, with many having just returned from long (and often expensive) summer holidays. This means many parents tend to leave school purchases to the last minute, keeping on the look-out for the best deals and promotions,” said Joao Neves, YouGov’s Senior Research Director for Education.

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