Consumer Insights into Changing Water Consumption Behavior: A Social Marketing Formative Study

Background and Situation Analysis The United Nations has announced serious global water crises at the beginning of the 21st century. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the problem of water shortage is more significant than in other parts of the world, due to lack of the natural freshwater resources and extremely harsh weather. All of this compounded with the highest individual water consumption in the world; the average consumption per capita is 500 L a day, around 82% above the global average. Focus of the Article The main objectives of this study were to gain insights about factors that might impact residents water consumption behavior and open more avenues for using social marketing to influence residents’ behaviors. Research question The research questions are: RQ1: What beliefs are held about the UAEs current water situation? RQ2: What are the current water consumption behaviors of UoS residents? RQ3: What would facilitate lower water consumption? Importance to the Social Marketing Field The importance of this study is to develop a model which may be employed to change individual water consumption behavior using social marketing principles Method A case study methodology was applied to collect data from the University of Sharjah for this study, using the focus groups method. A convenience sample of six focus groups with a total of 39 participants of students, faculty members, administrative staff, and other stakeholders formed the basis of the current study. Results This study revealed that the residents lacked accurate knowledge about the water situation inside the country. In addition, consumers showed mismatch between their religious beliefs and actual consumption behaviors. Recommendations for research/or practice More studies and research should take place in this field, especially in connection with personal behavior issues where individuals need encouragement and incentives to change underlying habits, such as over-consumption of water, obesity, and road accidents.