Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated was presented by Dushyant Gupta - SVP, Borderless Access alongside Hector Paris from Etihad Airways at ESOMAR MENAP 2017. The keynote elaborated on how staying online has become a way of life today and how respondents are mostly accessible via mobile/digital as social dynamics and other gated communities have taken over the respondent attention in market research.

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3. Digital Revolution – Assimilation over 5 decades
3
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2016

4. Digital Revolution – Assimilation over 5 decades
4
70 inches 7 inches
1960 2016

5. Digital Revolution – Assimilation over 5 decades
5
70 inches 7 inches
1960 2016
Reverse Aging –
Devices are Smaller & Lighter & Faster

6. Digital Revolution – Assimilation In Middle East region
6
Source of Data : www.emarketer.com
# Internet users almost
doubled in the last 5 years
2012 2017
258
435

7. Digital Revolution – Assimilation In Middle East region
7
Source of Data : www.emarketer.com
The smartphone penetration in the gulf rose to 93%
93%
# Internet users almost
doubled in the last 5 years
Average # of apps on device
95
Unique interactions in a day with the
web
102
Average # of apps used in a day
39

8. Number of activities done & time spent on an average
smartphone
8
Total time spent is 160 minsAll data is in mins / Via passive meter on Android
18
11
9
8 6
5
5
5
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
1
19
22
30
125
28
5

9. All This, But We Are Resisting
9
Offline Methods94%
Online Methods6%

10. Reality Check
10
Are non digital survey
method still relevant for
Middle East Region ?
• F2F - Assimilation or
Annihilation?
Do different survey
mediums reach different
audiences?
Which method is able to
access the hard to reach
audiences and at what
day/time/occasion?
How can digital insights
help brands like Etihad
meet customer needs
and drive breakthrough
innovation?

11. The Hypothesis: Does Methodology Matter
11
Accuracy of
claimed behavior
The Target
Audience reached
Response
Patterns

12. Research Methodology
• Quantitative Survey – CAPI
(interviewer assisted)
• Quantitative Survey – CAWI
Method Mobile and
Desktop (Self-administered)
• Passive Meter – (Via
Smartphones)
• Longitudinal Behavioural
Analysis – (Via Online Panel
Community)
Our research to understand how digital adoption in Middle East is going to
significantly change the way we understand consumers going forward
12
Target Audience
Age: 18 years & above
• Those who have travelled
internationally in past 12
months
• Smartphone Owners
Interviewed via 3 methods
• Interviewer Assisted CAPI
• Self administered via
Desktop CAWI
• Self Administered via
Mobile CAWI
Sample Coverage
N = 900
Across 3
Minimum N = 75 in each cell
across methods to maintain
statistical significance

13. Identifying most active hours during day and part of the week allowing deep insights
on consumer’s activity
13

14. Identifying most active hours during day and part of the week allowing deep
insights on consumer’s activity
14
Online PC Online Mobile

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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat
Week Days Weekends
Response distribution weekdays and weekend
66% 52%
19%
81%
48%34%

16. Survey Taken
Next Survey
5 Days
10 Days
15 Days
The Survey Hangover - by methodology
16
15 Days
5 Days
3 Days
PC Face to FaceMobile

17. PC
Mobile
F2F
11
29
13
40
37
28
33
26
33
13
5
13
4
2
13
Response distribution by Age groups
17
18-24 years 24-34 years 35-44 years 45-55 years Over 55 years

18. 18
Electronic products
Travel tickets
Apparel and accessories
Home appliance and
furniture’s
Food and beverages
Consumer packaged goods
Medicines
83%
79%
53%
46%
36%
29%
14%
82%
78%
59%
42%
41%
29%
18%
64%
66%
53%
41%
34%
34%
9%
Whether purchase online?
91% 95% 83%
Online PC Online Mobile Face to Face

19. 10 13 15
Survey engagement– Agile Attributes
19
Online PC Online Mobile Face to Face
Average # of
Brands
Recorded
LOI in
Minutes
1 10
8
1 10
8
1 10
5

20. Mind Measure : Brand Awareness Ranking
20
Online PC Online Mobile Face to Face
1
2
3
4
5

21. Mind Metrics : Spontaneous + Aided Awareness
21
Online PC Online Mobile Face to Face
89%
77%
71%
57%
51%
90%
75%
72%
61%
52%
72%
59%
65%
40%
37%

22. Engagement with Survey – Durable Attributes
22
Online PC Online Mobile Face to Face
Standard Deviation
across 16 importance
factors within each of
the methodologies
Average # of attributes
associated
1 10 1 10 1 10
2.4 2.9 2.1
5.6 5.5 4.9

23. Does All This Really Matter
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Researchers and Marketers
Know
• We are poor witness to our own
behavior
• Involuntary and voluntary lying
exists
Researchers and Marketers
Need
• Understanding of Behavior is
important for clients and
researchers

24. A knowhow of when to target the email or push notification, 40-60% increase in
response rate via digital methods.
24
Response Density
Without Time
Channel Targeting
Response Density
With Time Channel
Targeting
Response Complete Dropout
+40%
MobilePC
+63% +10%
Face to Face

25. Behaviour of online Vs traditional shoppers
25
Although # of international travels done are similar across online
and traditional shoppers, their behaviour on type of travel is
different.
Shop
Online
Not Shop
Online
4.6 3.9
First /Business Class
Shop
Online
3.4 4.1
Not Shop
Online
Premium Economy/Economy Class

26. Behaviour of online Vs traditional shoppers
26
Data suggests that the younger age group are moving and moving
rapidly towards digital consumption while the older age group are
still inclined towards traditional medium
18-24 24-34 35-44 45-55 55+
16%
14%
40%
23%
32%
29%
9%
26%
3%
8%
Mean
(In Years)
33.89
38.38
Online
Shopper
Traditional
Shopper
41%
27%
Frequent
Flyers
Infrequent
Flyers
59%
73%

27. Mismatch of claimed survey data Vs Behaviour data
27
PC
App Usage
Shopping
Time Spent Online
Claimed Actual
3.2X
3X
2.2X
1.8X
2.2X
1.5X
Mobile

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Learnings and
Recommendation

29. Learning and Recommendation : Impact on Research Design
29
Right time
right device
TG reach
by device
Study
Design
What can we achieve?
• Improve Audience Reach
• 28% improvement on survey engagement index.
• Lower Cost & TAT.
• Nearly 50% boost on Response Rate
Field
Planning
Sampling
Analysis &
reporting
Topic of
interest
by device
Right
channel

30. MobileWeb
Learning and Recommendation : Impact on Marketing
30
Market Readiness
(High digital penetration)
Transaction with airlines
industry differ among
different target audiences
Marketing implications for
Etihad
Leisure
Biz/1st class
Frequent flyer
Millennials & Youth
Non Leisure
Biz, eco & premium
Older age groups
Talk to young audience with youthful
messages
Use digital channels
Promote Biz & 1st class
Long lengthy ads used for brand
building
Group Discounts
Conventional media channels used
for promos
Short tactical campaign
Online Offline

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Recap

32. Summary
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If we are to understand people, we have to go where they are
Alongside that the battle for screen estate is massive
More engagement = more accurate and honest, spontaneous
answers when it comes to research

33. Summary
33
People lie (often unintentionally). That is just as important as the
truth, because self-belief / self-delusion is that individual’s reality –
especially in the Middle East

34. Digital is clearly the most representative route; combine with the clever targeting we
have just described. For Etihad this means we have a desire to do everything
according to where the consumer is.
This is genuinely device agnostic, digital first and involves the consumer. This is not
typical research, sometimes co-creation, sometimes small samples. Consumer
intimacy is the key.
If you do not move with the times, we are inviting to be assimilated, subsumed and
destroyed.
Seismic changes are dramatically impacting the Middle East region, and with this,
digital medium for all marketing elements including consumer understanding is on
the cusp of exploding into the fray. As the Borg said in Star Trek, “Resistance is
futile. You will be assimilated.”
Summary
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Dushyant Gupta
@guptadushyant
Paris Hector
@hectorparis