Mr. Abdo Ali Ahmed Al-Sufi ‎ ‎was awarded a PhD degree in Public Relations and Advertising for his dissertation titled: Marketing Strategies Used in Advertising Local and Foreign Products and Their Relationship to Consumer Preferences for Their Brands, which was submitted to the Faculty of Mass Communication – Sana’a University. The dissertation defense was held on Wednesday, December 24, 2025.

The PhD Viva-Voce Committee, which was formed based on a resolution issued by the Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Council, consisted of the following:

Committee Members Designation Position

1 Prof. Hassan Abdullah Dojrah External Examiner Chair
2 Prof. Omar Abarin Main Supervisor Member
3 Prof. Abdulrahim Al-Shaweri Internal Examiner Member

The study aimed to:
 Identify the marketing strategies used in advertising local and foreign products.
 Determine the level of Yemeni consumers’ preferences for local and foreign brand names.
 Measure the relationship between the marketing strategies used in advertising and consumer brand preferences.

The study yielded a number of key findings summarized as follows:

 Social media platforms are the most widely used channels in advertising activities for both local and foreign brands.
 Informational strategies were most frequently used in service advertisements, while habit-creation strategies were predominant in goods advertisements.
 Yemeni consumers’ preferences for local and foreign brands were moderate overall.
 Quality and efficiency of foreign products were among the most important factors influencing consumer preference for foreign brands.
 There is a significant relationship between product attributes and form strategies and consumer preferences.

In light of these findings, the researcher recommended:

 Improving the quality of local products to enhance their competitiveness with foreign products and better meet consumer needs.
 Conducting longitudinal (tracking) studies by companies to monitor changes in consumer brand preferences over time in response to marketing conditions and competition levels.
 Undertaking further research on marketing strategies for local and foreign products across different brands and time periods.

At the end of the dissertation defense session, the PhD Viva-Voce Committee awarded the researcher First-Class Honors, with a recommendation that the dissertation be printed and circulated among other universities.

The dissertation defense was attended by a number of academics, researchers, and specialists, students, colleagues, and the researcher’s family.