Capturing the Expats

Out of a population of 5.6 million, roughly one and a half million are foreign workers or expats*. An interesting group from a consumer sales perspective. Especially when taking into account that a good part of this group of expats has more purchasing power than the average population in Singapore. It would be wise to include this group in market research that is focused on the consumer in Singapore.

Little to no insights

Unfortunately, statistics on expat spending are very hard to come by. This is even more so when specifically looking more detailed into the Singapore expat population. There’s surprisingly little out there in terms of research papers either. So when a client approached us to do an Expatriate consumers targeted research just before the festive season… we decided to take on this challenge!

Our Approach

After agreeing on the qualitative research approach and respondent criteria, we developed a discussion guide with the client. The whole team then really pushed during the last days before the holiday break to find the expat respondents. With the help of our expansive expats networks in the region, we were able to reach them. Just before the (well deserved) break, the targeted amount of In-Depth-Interviews were reached. Followed by the delivery of a concise and insightful report. SPARC managed to interview expats from 8 different nationalities (from US, Europe, North, South & South-East Asia) spread across different ages, family status and length of stay in Singapore.

Insights

The insights derived from the data collected helped to shape the strategy with the client for a specific product aimed at expats. SPARC was awarded the follow up quantitative research that will be delivered over the coming weeks. We’ll surely share some of the insights here about that expats research soon. Keep checking this section of our web page if you’re looking for more SPARCs in 2017!

*According to Singapore Government Statistics in 2014