Abstract:

No market can remain easy and unchallenging for ever. A market's qualitative and quantitative dimensions are altered with movements in environmental factors. Changes in business opportunities and challenges are a never ending process. Markets in the Gulf are no exception to these rules. They have transformed significantly over the period, and the direction and trends will continue to alter their course in future. The implications and challenges of these aspects of the market are clear. Continued alertness and responsiveness to the market's new realities will make marketing effective in its central function of creating satisfied customers. This paper will discuss the Gulf consumers market in the context of the above theme. The presentation will attempt to portray the trends and challenges in the Gulf markets envisioned against the backdrop of the movements in economic environment towards the end of this decade. The presentation will be in two parts: The first section will discuss the broad characteristics and few quantitative and qualitative dimensions that stand behind the present scene of the Gulf markets. The second part will deal with a few major trends in the environment that are likely to impact on the future of these markets, and the related challenges that are visualised towards the end of this decade. The trends and challenges will be explored in relation to selected major environmental factors namely the economic, demographic, market competition and marketing practices in the Gulf countries