DUBAI, UAE, August 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Family and friends are gifted
mostly during Eid; closely followed by charity
with cash the preferred method of gifting
As Eid celebrations dawn and Ramadan draws to a close the world over, the
majority of Muslims living and working overseas wish for peace and
happiness, followed by health and family belonging, over
desire for wealth and success, the second phase of a newly released
Western Union-sponsored study has found.
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Specifically, nearly half of Muslims living and working overseas
said that they valued peace and happiness (48%), followed by health
(17%), family belonging (14%) and wealth and success (9%).
Arab Muslims living across the globe (27%) and Muslims living in
the Middle East (24%) have a
stronger desire for peace relative to Muslims living in
Asia, Europe and US. (Muslims 16%), which is
attributable to a long-standing heightened sense of security
precipitated by recent uprisings.
The Western Union study, "Traditions of Eid by global citizens
of Muslim faith -2", was conducted in July by The Nielsen Company
and covered Muslims of 11 nationalities living in 12 countries in
Asia Pacific, the Middle East, the
United States and Western
Europe.
In the tradition of giving back to family and friends - a key
motivator for many global citizens seeking opportunities to work
and live - Global citizens of Muslim faith gift their loved
ones mostly (three out four or 78%) during Eid, but are just as
generous in donating towards charities, mosque or the needy (two
out of three or 61%).
In giving or gifting back, cash is the most preferred (89%)
delivered through money transfer companies (66%); followed by
clothes (41%), physical gifts (30%) and provisions (23%).
"A vast majority of our consumers are global citizens who travel
across borders to shape a better world of tomorrow for their
families and themselves. We move their money from one end of the
earth to the other for a host of reasons from regular expenses to
religious festivals such as Eid with convenience, reliability and
speed," said Jean Claude Farah,
Senior Vice President, Middle East
and Africa, Western Union.
"Our experience tells us that the economic opportunity and
empowerment realized for families and loved ones through creating a
better tomorrow is priceless wealth that engenders all of the
values aspired for by Global citizens of Muslim faith this Eid, "
he said.
Global highlights of the survey
WISHING:
- Global Muslims who have resided for a shorter period of time
(five years or less) in their host countries tend to place more
importance on wealth and success, than those who have stayed
overseas for an extended period.
SHARING AND GIVING:
- Cash is the popular way of gifting with money transfer
companies preferred (66%); followed by requests for others to carry
it to the recipient, while travelling back home (36%) or sending
through Bank and wires (35%).
- Global Muslims living in Europe and the US donate more towards
charities, mosque or the needy (EU 75%; US 64%) over people they
know during Eid (EU 64%; US 64%). This may be attributed to their
longer established tenure in these countries. Conversely, in
Asia they are more likely to give
back to family (67%).
- Global Muslims, who are more inclined to be generous because
they are away from home (77%), give more towards charity.
EXCHANGING WISHES:
- The majority of family (95%) reciprocating their wishes to
their loved one's working or living abroad opted for the human
touch of phoning despite the myriad of emerging technologies
accessible via the internet or smart phone. SMS (60%) is the
second most favoured channel.
The findings of the study were based on a survey of close to 550
Muslims emigrants originally from the Middle Eastern and North
African countries of Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia and the South Asian countries of
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri
Lanka.
They resided in Bahrain,
Qatar, Kuwait, Oman,
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East; Malaysia and Singapore in Asia; the United
Kingdom, Germany and
France in Europe; and the
United States.
# # #
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global
payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago
Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment
services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with
fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around
the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of
June 30, 2012, the Western Union,
Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded services were offered through a
combined network of approximately 510,000 agent locations in 200
countries and territories. In 2011, The Western Union Company
completed 226 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide,
moving $81 billion of principal
between consumers, and 425 million business payments. For more
information, visit http://www.westernunion.com.
SOURCE Western Union