International Journal of Marketing Studies; Vol. 7, No. 5; 2015 ISSN 1918-719X E-ISSN 1918-7203 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 120 The Effect of Attitude, Dimensions of Subjective Norm, and Perceived Behavior Control, on the Intention to Purchase Real Estate in Saudi Arabia Tawfik Salah Al-Nahdi 1 , Shakeel A. Habib 1 , Abu Hassan Abu Bakar 2 , Mohammed Salem Bahklah 2 , Omar Hassan Ghazzawi 1 & Hussein A. Al-Attas 1 1 Prince Sultan College for Business, Al-Faisal University, Saudi Arabia 2 Housing Building and Planning School, University Science of Malaysia, Malaysia Correspondence: Tawfik Salah AL-Nahdi, Prince Sultan College for Business, Al-Faisal University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: t.alnahdi@pscj.edu.sa Received: August 23, 2015 Accepted: September 10, 2015 Online Published: September 29, 2015 doi:10.5539/ijms.v7n5p120 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijms.v7n5p120 Abstract Factors affecting the real estate market are very crucial and of utmost importance worldwide. In previous behavioral research conducted by Al-Nahdi (2014, 2015), Al-Nahdi and Abu Hassan (2014, 2015) and Al-Nahdi et al. (2014, 2015) it was found that subjective norms was the more significant factor for Saudi housing purchasing behavior In Jeddah. This research pursues and tries to understand which particular dimension of the subjective norm has the most significant influence on Saudi purchasers’ behavior when purchasing housing. The study examines the effect of attitude, subjective norm (Spouse, Children, Parents, Friends and Reference group), and perceived behavior control on the intention to purchase real estate. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to respondents in Jeddah. Based on 220 questionnaires collected, the results show that there is a positively significant relationship between Attitude, Children influence, Reference group and Perceived Behavior Control toward the intention to purchase real estate, whereas the Spouse, Parents and Friends studies have not. Keywords: consumer behavior, real estate marketing, purchasing behavior in Saudi Arabia 1. Introduction The focus of the study is on Saudi Arabia’s real estate market for a number of reasons. Firstly, Saudi Arabia is a pivotal country with the largest real estate market in the oil-rich Gulf. In addition, around 45% of the population age is below 20 years old. This and the rapid urbanization rate combined to increase the growth which has already happened and started in the real estate market (Opoku & Abdul-Muhmin, 2010). Traditional Saudi society has been shifted to the lifestyles of developed societies by the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the late 1930s, together with the increasing oil prices during the 1970s (Mubarak, 1995). Prior to 1970, the largest segment of the population was rural. Thereafter, the population of Saudi Arabia had boomed dramatically and experienced a new trend which necessitated the issue of rural-urban migration during which the population shifted from rural to urban areas (Al-Hathloul, 1995); whereby the major urban centers witnessed unmatched growth (Mubarak, 1995). The level of urbanization in Saudi Arabia increased parallel with tremendous growth for the population for the same period between the year 1950 and 1992. For example studies conducted by Al-Hathloul (1995) and Mubarak (1995) found that the rate of population that lived in urban areas increased from 10% to 77%. Economic improvement for the government and its citizens in Saudi Arabia resulted in a jump in urban development which made Jeddah and many other major Saudi cities to be among the largest urban areas in Saudi Arabia (Mubarak, 1995; Alotaibi, 2006). Jeddah’s urban population has grown rapidly from 1970 to 2002 to an estimated population of 2,560,000 with annual growth rates of 12.43% in 1970 and 11.05% in 2000 (Alotaibi, 2006). According to Alotaibi (2006), from 1977 to 2002, there has been a dramatic increased in the rate of ownership from 19% to 35%. And for the same period, there was a decrease in the rate of renters, from 77% to 58%. Consequently, Jeddah being the main economic city, it has provided more jobs which resulted to higher incomes with improved opportunities for a better quality of life. All reports on the Saudi real estate market