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Facing the health crisis that COVID has provided has forced many of us to reconsider our personal well being. Coupled with this, we have been restricted to our homes, compelled to prepare our own food. Borderless Access surveyed people living in the Middle East, specifically the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, to see how these factors have affected the type of food people are eating and how people are getting this food.

A rise in health consciousness

Eliminating or reducing the amount of meat products they eat has been the most notable change in people’s diets since the start of the pandemic. Globally, 57% of people have experimented with vegan or vegetarian diets, with a further 20% saying they are consciously trying to eat less meat. Saudi Arabians follow this pattern (with a greater proportion of people opting for vegan as opposed to vegetarian meals). In the UAE there is still a dramatic shift towards meatless options, but to a lesser degree than its neighbour.

Following low-fat, low-sugar or low-carbohydrate diets has been popular everywhere, including in the Middle East, however, this group of people (especially Saudi Arabians) appear to be particularly health-conscious, with many people also trying to reduce gluten, salt and dairy products.

Understanding the market landscape of electric vehicles, intenders’ perception, barriers to adoption & marketing opportunities.

"The only constant in life is change!" When it comes to the automotive industry, one of the most significant changes that we have seen in recent years is the introduction of EVs. We are in the midst of an automotive revolution since Tesla revolutionized the industry with its first mass-produced highway-legal electric vehicle (EV) powered by a lithium-ion battery. As a result, automakers of all sizes have been rushing to launch their electric vehicles in order to provide consumers with an alternative to dealing with environmental concerns, rising fuel prices, and shifting consumer preferences. 

Considering the alarming stage of environmental hazards and soaring fuel prices, EV sales are steadily infiltrating the transportation industry. Are these concerns, however, enough to bring in a complete EV adoption worldwide? 

Even though the EV adoption rate is on a rise, they still constitute a small proportion of all vehicles on the road. But that could change very soon. Many industry observers believe that marketers have already passed the tipping point where EV sales will quickly outnumber those of gasoline and diesel vehicles. With technological capabilities improving and societal demand for sustainable solutions, the EV's time has come. However, it begs the question of whether challenges faced due to various infrastructural issues, high cost and limited options can impact the pace of global EV adoption.

Borderless Access examined the current EV landscape, barriers to adoption, brands to watch, and opportunities to market to potential EV buyers in the US, UK, Germany, France, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Brazil markets. 

Remember the ‘Foodarackacycle’ machine from an episode of the 1962 animated series ‘The Jetsons’ that produced any food item at a click of a button? Back then, the home technology featured in the series was considered absurd. Around five decades later, even though we are yet to see floating buildings or flying cars, smart home technology has arrived and is thriving.

Emerging trends, rising desire for convenient lifestyles, tech-savvy consumers, as well as increased acceptance of cloud-based technologies have made the smart home market appear promising. On the flip side, there exist factors that might slow down the otherwise accelerated adoption rate for smart home devices.

Consumer Healthcare Landscape

Borderless Access research shows that consumer healthcare products such as analgesics, oral healthcare, wound care, skincare, and others are increasing in popularity among customers, which contributes significantly to the growth of the market.

With increasing product awareness and marketing by key players in emerging economies, sales volume in the over-the-counter (OTC) consumer healthcare market will further increase steadily over the coming years.

Buyers are progressively responsible for their choices as they perceive the better results that accompany it. They pay more using cash on hand and have choices that are powered by industry-specific innovation.

Imagine people widely using smartphones and laptops in the 1980s, colour TVs in the 1950s, or motor cars in the early 1900s. These technologies were regarded as futuristic concepts at first, but eventually became the way of life.

Similarly, the idea of operating a vehicle using electricity was conceived in the 19th century. Unfortunately, the concept did not progress beyond just being an amusement or as they say a parlour trick—“Look! No horse or ox, yet it moves!’’. Yet, after several ups and downs, when electric vehicles (EVs) subsequently entered the automobile market as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), they failed to penetrate the market due to multiple reasons.

With rising fuel prices and environmental concerns over the last few years, the automobile industry witnessed the return of EVs (electric vehicles) by new entrants such as Tesla painting a unique picture for the automobile sector with their high-performance EVs that use advanced technology.

This led to a disruption in the automobile sector causing dominant automobile brands to rethink their strategy and evolve. But the big question is, has the industry and brands been able to address the consumer concerns associated with EV adoption?

Hence, Borderless Access conducted a study across 13 markets [US, UK, Germany, France, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Nigeria, and Brazil] to unlock the evolving behaviour, brand preferences, and factors influencing the attitudes and perceptions of EV owners. The insights here would also highlight the opportunities for brand marketers and how can they help drive EV adoption to gain a bigger market share for their brand.

[Bangalore, India, 23 September 2021]: At the ESOMAR Research Effectiveness Awards 2021 last week, Borderless Access and Unilever were honoured with the GOLD award for their collaborative case study based paper, ‘The evolution of brand humanization’ using digital bot-enabled research methodology.

Every year, this prestigious Research Effectiveness Award recognizes the market or social research studies that have contributed significantly to commercial success and society.

Sharing her thoughts on this win, Stacey Grant, Africa CMI Director, Unilever said, “The insights generated by Borderless Access made me strongly reconsider what true purpose and sustainability means for our mainstream citizens in Africa. There is no shortage of opportunities to make a difference in Africa, but there is a shortage of resources to do so. Research like this helps us to identify genuine pain points for the people we serve and build empathy for what will make a real difference in their lives. This understanding is critical in helping us make investment choices.’’

Along with the Gold Award, Borderless Access and Unilever also won prize money of 3000 Euros which both companies have decided to donate it to LIV – An organization devoted to supporting orphans & vulnerable children in South Africa!

Dushyant Gupta, EVP – Borderless Access, extended his wishes saying, “We are proud of our association with Unilever and to effectuate change at such a large scale. The solutions, such as, bot-enabled research, under our research vertical ‘BA Insightz’ are purposed to assist brands with natural consumer interactions that help in insight-driven decision making. We hope to continue supporting brands globally with real human insights to enrich people’s lives”.

About Borderless Access:

Since Covid-19, there has been a dramatic shift in consumers' mindsets globally towards healthier lifestyle habits. Global digital market research company, Borderless Access, set out to find out what South Africans changed about their lifestyles and how food and beverage companies can help support consumers.

Renewed focus on health and fitness

Many South Africans used the weeks of lockdown as an opportunity to reset their health and fitness routines.

Of the 300 South Africans surveyed, 74% said they now consider health and fitness to be very important with eating healthily and exercising being placed at the top of their list of healthy habits. This was followed by eating more fruits and vegetables, drinking more water and more home-cooked food.  

“Covid-19 and the lockdowns over the last year definitely inspired South Africans to focus on being healthy and fit,” says Bev Tigar Bassett, AVP - Business Development at Borderless Access. “The most common changes we found people made during the pandemic was introducing home workouts into their routines and eating more healthily.”

Globally, lockdowns limiting people’s movements, coupled with a genuine fear of contracting COVID-19, have delivered a brutal blow to the hospitality industry. In Sub-Saharan Africa the lockdown rules in some countries have spanned from bans on the sale of alcohol in addition to strict curfews, intensifying the financial predicament for restaurants in particular. 

Borderless Access has done extensive research into the meal-buying habits of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically South Africa and Nigeria. Here we examine data on people’s buying habits, whether short-term or permanent, with regard to visiting restaurants, ordering takeaways, opting for drive-through choices, ordering meal kits to be cooked at home, buying ready-made meals from grocery stores, or choosing to only cook at home.

As Covid-19 has turned the world on its head, few industries have been as shaken up as that of restaurants and hospitality. Worldwide, restaurants and eating establishments have taken a beating as lockdown has resulted in closures, changes and restrictions to what used to be a burgeoning industry.

Borderless Access conducted research to understand eating out and ordering-in habits and how these have been shaped – both temporarily and permanently – by the ongoing global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, ordering in has been by far the most utilized activity in recent times… ordering food for delivery, ordering take-aways from a restaurant and ordering/ collecting food from a fast-food chain have been the top activities globally in the past 3 months, and both of these have been particularly well-utilized in both the UAE and Saudi.

How bot-enabled research can help businesses & brands develop a deeper understanding of personal/household hygiene habits in order to meet the needs of African consumers, and increase their business impact.

Many years ago, in the days of one-way communication, brands dictated their terms to consumers, and consumers had no option but to accept them if they wanted to purchase the brand in question.

With the rise of smartphones, social media and the internet of absolutely everything, the communication channels began to sway, shifting the locus of communication control. Two-way communication between brand and consumer was born, with brands starting to listen to their consumers and hear what they had to say. Taking this a step further, brands are now starting to take on human characteristics, from look-and-feel to tone and personalisation to establish deeper connections with their consumers.