AUDIENCE STRUCTURE AND READERSHIP PATTERNS OF

Al-BIA WAL-TANMIA

ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Introduction

2) State of the Environment

3) Overall Assessment of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia

4) Analysis of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Audience

A. Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Readership Patterns

B. Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Readership Penetration

5) The Life Style Characteristics of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Audience

6) Readership Profile: Graphic Charts

Readers Survey – Spring 2004, by

PARC, PAN ARAB RESEARCH CENTER W.L.L.

a full member of GALLUP International

P.O. Box 55307, Sin el Fil, Lebanon

1. INTRODUCTION

The following analytical report presents the statistical findings of a survey conducted amongst readers of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia (Environment & Development) magazine.

The survey involved a self-completion questionnaire inserted in the magazine, which readers were requested to complete and then mail to Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia.

In total, 500 replies were received from fourteen Arab countries and another four foreign countries. The survey took place in March and April, 2004.

2. STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

The first section of the questionnaire included four environmental background questions that assess readers’ environmental concerns and outlook.

In terms of assessing the state of the environment over the past five years, 67.4% of the total sample answered that it was better, whereas 29% believed it has gotten worse. However, these numbers differ to a certain degree in different regions, as the percentage of those who said it got better rises to 75.9% in the Gulf then decreases dramatically to 37.5% in Lebanon.

Nevertheless, upon being asked if the readers were ready to do a personal activity to protect the environment and restore its resources, even if this called for a change in their lifestyle, a majority of 98.6% answered in the affirmative.

This commitment was also reflected in the fact that 94.4% said that environmental matters play a role in the products they purchase, such as electrical appliances and energy conserving devices. This shows an increased awareness among readers to make the environmental choice.

Again, this awareness was shown in the fact that 93.4% of the total sample surveyed said that environmental concerns also play a major role in their decision upon purchasing a car. This number rose to an average of 97.2% in the Gulf, whereas in Lebanon it was 86.5% and 90.7% in North Africa.

3. OVERALL ASSESMENT OF Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia

In the second part of the questionnaire, readers were asked to assess Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia itself, in terms of content, design and layout.

Readers’ assessment of the magazine in general was divided between 62.4% who said it was very good and 37.2% who said it was good.

Regarding layout and production, 65.8% of the readers thought it was very good, whereas 33.4% said it was good.

4. ANALYSIS OF Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia AUDIENCE

A. Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Readership Patterns

The monthly magazine readership is assessed based on Total Issue Readership, whereby readership is assessed over the “last six months”

Following this measurement,

o 61.2% have read Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia on a monthly basis, thus defining the Total Issue Readership.

The following table is drawn to highlight the readership in the past 6 months, 5 months, 4 months, 3 months, 2 months and last month:

Based on Total Sample:

Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia	Read past 6 months %	Read past 5 months %	Read past 4 months %	Read past 3 months %	Read past 2 months %	Read last month %
	61.2	17.0	9.2	5.8	4.0	2.2
Base: Total Sample	500	500	500	500	500	500

Loyalty towards a monthly magazine is measured by the number of issues read over a period of six months per audience member. This assessment acts as a determinant factor, quantifying the potential opportunities for contact with advertisements in the publication.

B. Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia Readership Penetration

To assess the effectiveness of a magazine as an advertising medium, it is essential to have an insight into the reach of this publication.

The subsequent table illustrates the readership penetration of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia monthly magazine amongst the various socio-demographic and economic segments of the population.

Penetration	Total Readers Pan-Arab %	Saudi Arabia	UAE	Lebanon	Levant
Sex Male Female	80.6 19.4	97.5 2.5	73.5 26.5	63.5 36.5	75.0 25.0
Age 15 – 24 years 25 – 34 years 35 – 44 years 45 & above	6.6 29.4 41.2 22.8	1.7 29.4 53.8 15.1	2.4 34.9 48.2 14.5	19.8 29.2 26.0 25.0	9.2 21.1 39.5 30.3
Income Above Average Average Below Average	43.4 54.0 2.6	48.7 51.3 -	68.7 31.3 -	16.7 77.1 6.3	39.5 53.9 6.6
Education University Secondary Technical Elementary	89.4 8.0 1.8 0.8	95.0 5.0 - -	98.8 1.2 - -	81.3 10.4 5.2 3.1	82.9 15.8 1.3 -

Penetration	Total Readers Pan-Arab %	Saudi Arabia	UAE	Lebanon	Levant
Occupation Managerial Employee in Public Sector Employee in Private Sector Professor / Researcher Contractor / Engineer Other	26.8 19.8 16.6 20.0 8.6 8.2	39.5 16.0 16.8 16.8 7.5 3.4	34.9 30.1 8.4 13.3 9.6 3.6	15.6 7.3 30.2 21.9 3.1 21.8	19.7 25.0 10.5 26.3 7.9 10.5
Regions* Saudi Arabia UAE Other Gulf North Africa Lebanon Other Levant Other	19.6 14.0 12.0 11.5 19.0 14.0 9.9

* Based on readers survey and CLD circulation figures (Average January – June 2004)

1. Sex

Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia monthly magazine penetrates more amongst male readers than female readers.

2. Age

With respect to age, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia seems to attract almost all ages with a higher skew towards middle ages (35 – 44 years).

3. Income

Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia extensively penetrates amongst readers belonging to upper income brackets.

4. Education

Pertaining to education, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia reaches a very high educated sector of readers, namely those who have a university degree and above, 89.4%.

In terms of foreign languages read by Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers, 91.2% of them can read English, 24% read French, whereas 9.4% can read German and other languages.

5. Occupation

Moreover, it is clear that Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia highly penetrates amongst managers, followed closely by academicians and employees in both public and private sectors.

6. Area

Geographically, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia seems to reach all Arab countries with a considerable penetration in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Lebanon.

5. THE LIFE STYLE CHARACTERISTICS OF Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia AUDIENCE

In general, Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia monthly magazine reaches readers who enjoy an affluent lifestyle and possess a high purchasing power.

Electronic Equipment

Results clearly reveal that Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers are users of major up scale appliances such as: mobile phones 83%, computer desktop 76.2%, video cameras 65.2%, computer printer 64.6%, digital cameras 56.8%, CD player 49.6%, ordinary cameras 48.4%, and laptop 32%.

Moreover, it is noted that 71% of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers who own a computer have an internet subscription at home.

Cars

Another important lifestyle characteristic that Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers were questioned for was the ownership of cars.

Ownership of cars was high among Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers, reaching 83% for the total sample. Percentage rises to 98.8% in the UAE and 98.3% in Saudi Arabia, goes down to 68.8% in Lebanon and 60.5% in the Levant and decreases to 53.5% in North Africa.

In this regard, it is very important to note that 93.4% said that environmental concerns play a major role in their decision upon purchasing a car. This number increases to 97.6% in the Gulf, and 90.7% in North Africa, whereas in the Levant it was 89.5% and in Lebanon 86.5%.

Types of cars owned were distributed among four main manufacturing countries, 27% American, 28.4% European, 33.7% Japanese and 10.8% Korean.

It also appears that Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers go for new cars, with 63.4% owning cars manufactured after the year 2000, which are also most probably environmentally-friendly vehicles. 20% own cars manufactured between 1995-1999, 8.2% own cars manufactured between 1990-1994, and 8.4% own cars manufactured before 1990.

Also important is the choice of fuel. A majority of 94% use unleaded gasoline.

Air Travel

Travel was also a distinctive mark among Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia readers. 29.6% reported traveling 1-5 times in the past year within Arab countries, while 30.2% traveled between 6-9 times and 8% traveled more than 10 times.

As for traveling outside Arab countries, 50% said they had traveled between 1-5 times in the past year, and 12.6% traveled between 6-9 times and 0.4% traveled more than 10 times.

6. READERSHIP PROFILE: Graphic Charts

It is of great significance and value for analysts, media planners and advertisers to study the profile of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia in order to focus on the composition of its audience, in terms of socio economic criteria.

The audience base of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia monthly magazine features certain key characteristics of its readers, thus giving advertisers an insight into the opportunities for reaching a wider audience base.

The readership profile of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia is highlighted in the following graphical presentations: