Dubai: Social media users in the region seem to be extremely protective about domestic brands in their online chatter. And that means global brands have to work that much harder in trying to win them over.

Despite the room sharing app Airbnb making steady inroads into these markets, the social media conversations still have a soft spot for hotel operators.

Social conversation where Airbnb gets a mention has grown 120 per cent since 2015, but it still accounts for “only a fraction [12 per cent in 2016] of the overall conversation about the local hotel industry,” states a report by Crimson Hexagon, which provides consumer insights through social data analysis. In fact, “consumer sentiment towards local hotels is more favourable [17 per cent more positive than negative posts] as compared to Airbnb [9 per cent more positive than negative posts].”

Much the same can be made out in online conversations involving ride-hailing apps. Dubai-based entity Careem garnered 25 per cent more positive views than negative among regional conversations. And specifically within the UAE, sentiments were 35 per cent more positive.

Such social media chats now are integral in the Big Data movement, which tries to understand as much of consumer behaviour as is possible within the public domain. These in turn can help marketers understand how to adapt their messages to these audiences. And with social media emphasising the “echo chamber” — where people who share the same sentiments flock together — brands have to be keenly aware of what is being said about them.

“The mentions about Uber tend to be about the company itself, its Silicon Valley origins, how it’s a big tech phenomenon, etc,” said Chris Bingham, Chief Technology Officer at Crimson Hexagon. “But with Careem, it’s more about the service and the practical nature of its services.”

E-tailers

As for online vendors, there’s good news — the resistance to online shopping is “slowly eroding, with this topic accounting for 75 per cent of the overall conversation on shopping among Mena consumers,” the report finds.

But e-tailers still have work to do on the “last mile” services — “Consumers lack trust in e-commerce with delivery and size issues being the topic of most complaints.” the report adds.

But with digital banking, it is a gradual take-up, based on what can be gleaned from social media. Online/mobile banking accounts for only 10 per cent of the overall social conversation on banking, the report says. “Worryingly, the online banking conversations are primarily written in anger, with consumers complaining about technical issues, support and security.”

Another topic that is trending in virtual space relates to healthy eating — but it is not brought on by health or fitness considerations, but more as following a fad. “That was a bit of surprise — these were conversations driven by fashion and a need to be trendy, especially among women,” said Bingham.

On the plus side, conversations about fast food have declined 62 per cent since 2012 as did the overall favourable sentiment, dropping 16 per cent. In the UAE, consumers have an increased awareness about healthy eating habits as social conversations, up by 23 per cent in 2016 from 2012.

“The desire to adopt a healthier lifestyle and remain “on-trend” has emerged, with the UAE experiencing the highest growth of conversations centred around modern, more fashionable sports — between 2012 and 2016 vs the rest of Mena, 40 per cent of the overall yoga conversation stemmed from the country,” the report adds.

Factbox: Twitter dominates

Crimson Hexagon’s Mena Trends report analysed English and Arabic language conversation across Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and forums in the region between 2012 and 2016. “While the platform favoured varied by country and topics discussed, Twitter was used heavily for talking about news, business and sports,” said Chris Bingham of Crimson Hexagon.”