Cross Cultural Analysis of Purchasing Behaviour of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

The consumer's approach towards buying Packaged, Labeled and Open shelf vegetables varies due to many reasons and affects the market and the suppliers. This aspect gets magnified in a country like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which boasts of a multicultural facet with more than 200 nationalities. Most of the fruits and vegetables are imported in the UAE with very limited local produce. The strategic, geographic location of the UAE makes it a hub for importing from East and the West, thereby changing the definition of seasonality. Primary research was conducted using systematic random sampling from different malls from April 2011 to December 2012. The data from 487 samples was analysed using factor analysis method. The behaviour of different gender, nationality groups, age groups, educational groups, monthly income groups, work status, time of stay in the UAE, number of people in the family was analysed with these factors using appropriate statistical analyses. The findings indicated points of parity and points of differences across culture, background and other demographic profile. Based on the findings recommendations are made for further academic research and strategies for industry stakeholders