Jessica Brereton

1. Cultural Implications of the Fast Food Industry
in the United Arab Emirates – Zambrero’s
By: Jessica Brereton

2. Country Profile snapshot of UAE
• Healthy economy with an optimal
GDP growth rate of three percent
• Population of 9.3 million
• Population density of 110/sqkm
• Free trade zones
• Expanding tourism
(WorldBank, 2016)

3. PESTEL
• Seven Emirates with their own
governments
• High GDP growth rate
• Low unemployment rate
• Mixture of cultures
• Religion has a strong presence
• Technologically advanced
(Bush, 2016)

4. Cultural Elements of UAE
• Food
• Language
• Social
• Clothing
• Gender roles
• Family
• Etiquette
• Religion

5. Food & Language
• Halal approved meat only
• No pork
• Alcohol is forbidden according to
religion for nationals
• Official language is Arabic
• English is the language of
commerce
(Government, 2016)

6. Social & Clothing
• Social classes are evident
and separate the
community
• Males wear white robes
• Women wear long dresses
with a head cover and
black cloak
(Government, 2015)

7. Gender Roles & Family
• High value on female roles
• Women get equal opportunities,
however normally opt for marriage
and children
• Most women are employed
• Equal rights
• Marriages are normally arranged
• Young men who are nationals will
receive a large payment for
marrying another national
(Government, 2015)

8. Etiquette & Religion
• Due to there being a mixed ethnic
presence, other social customs are
tolerated
• Man to woman contact is normally
reserved
• Most matters are affected by Sharia
Law
• Other religions are tolerated
• Muslim religion involves praying five
times per day
(Government, 2015)

9. Culture Contexts
(Wilson, 2013),
(Riel, 2012)

10. Hofstede – Australia vs. UAE
(Hofstede, 2016)

11. Corporate Attractiveness and
Ramifications
• International travel stop over for Australians travelling to
Europe
• Wealthy and large population
• Open culture
• Evidence of strong trade &
• Cultural diversity
• Product appropriateness
• Laws
(Riel,2012)

12. • Positives far outweigh negatives
• Other fast food franchises have
expanded successfully, especially
Australian companies
• Based on the PESTEL analysis,
there is room for strong economic
growth
• Free trade agreement with Australia
• Accepting of foreign cultures,
making business easy
An option for market expansion?

13. Conclusions
• Zambrero have a primary marketing strategy that
involves charity that could be marketed further to create
positive relationships
• Product lines could be expanded to compensate for the
less popular products
• Adapting uniform will also create a more socially and
culturally acceptable image
• Multilingual menu for tourists and locals

14. Thank you, and I hope you have
enjoyed this information session!

15. References
• Bush, T. (2016, June 10). A PESTEL Analysis of the UAE. Retrieved from Pestel Analysis:
http://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-of-uae/
• Government, A. (2015). United Arab Emirates Country Brief. Retrieved from Australian Government Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade: http://dfat.gov.au/geo/united-arab-emirates/pages/united-arab-emirates-
country-brief.aspx
• Hofstede, G. (2016). Cultural Dimensions. Retrieved from Geert Hofstede: https://www.geert-
hofstede.com/australia.html
• Riel, B. (2012). The Cultural Context - The United Arab Emirates. Eaton Consulting Group, 4. Retrieved from
Bob Riel: http://www.bobriel.com/pdf%20files/cultural%20context%20-%20uae.pdf
• Wilson, B. (2013). High Context and Low Context Styles. Retrieved from College of Marin:
http://www.marin.edu/buscom/index_files/Page605.htm
• WorldBank. (2016). Population density (people per sq. km of land area). Retrieved from The World Bank:
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.POP.DNST
• Zambrero. (2016). Story. Retrieved from Zambrero: http://www.zambrero.com/zambrero-au/story