As Twitter goes increasingly mainstream in the UK, as witnessed in its increasing use in radio phone-ins on the BBC it looks like its about to do the same here in Brazil. Or is it? This weeks Epoca magazine devoted it’s cover to the rise of the phenomenon here in Brazil. However, we’re asking a few of Brazil’s most prolific Twitter addicts what this means for the application here…. more to come shortly

…oh and as if you don’t yet know what Twitter is…

Whilst in London Ive been able to meet up with two (young) old friends. Always a pleasure and enlightening to spend time with them. I wanted just to post a few quick clips from an interesting discussion about their media usage and online lives. Here they discuss some of the pros and cons of being constantly connected and its implications on their social relations. The girls have both recently moved into the world of Blackberry, as have a number of their peer group.    

thanks to anacarmen.com

Brazilian consumers are relatively unlikely to be daring at he point of sale, preferring to refer back to past purchase practices as their primary information sources followed by the opinions of their peers, family and friends.
These are the results from a new research study undertaken with approximately 19 thousand Brazilians between the ages of 12 and 64 in the principal metropolitan regions and which analysed products in 200 different categories.
The findings highlighted varied primary information sources for different products; for cars and electronics the internet and newspaper appear to be most influential, health and lifestyle purchases tend to be most influenced by magazines. TV is defined as most influential amongst products for the home, including food and home electronics. Point of sale influencers do appear to be increasingly important especially amongst young people, as does word of mouth – especially in specific markets such as the mobile phone.

Elsewhere an additional research study has highlighted the fact that Brazilians are the most demanding consumers across South America. They are most likely 53% to discuss purchases with others, inlcuding their children. When deciding between products 86% of Brazilians are influenced by brands and 80% by the influence of a professional.

Source: InfoMoney

According to a recent research report from Accenture entitled ‘Television in Transition’, Brazilian consumers are more dissatisfied with their current TV offer than their counte in most other nations. The global survey attempted to offer a detailed investigation into contemporary consumer values towards consuming and interacting with TV content.

Findings of specific relevance to the Brazilian market include the following:

•    The greatest dissatisfaction with ‘live’ TV amongst Brazilian consumers appears to be commercials – as in all of the countries surveyed, although interestingly Brazilians are significantly less dissatisfied than consumers elsewhere

•    Following shortly behind this appears to be a general dissatisfaction (40%) with TV content

•    This perhaps explains why 46% of respondents stated an interest in paying for downloadable TV content and why Brazilians are the most interested in the availability of content on demand

•    Consumer interest in viewing via alternative devices is high in Brazil – 59% by PC and 51% by mobile device

Headline findings from the report point to a number of global trends – include the following:

•    Content offer is driving uptake of consumption across alternative platforms – mobile for news and info, PC for full-length programming

•    The shift towards new modes of consumption is being spearheaded by the Under 35 market who are most dissatisfied with current TV output and more likely to watch content on demand

•    Young consumers are the happiest to pay for content. Consumers are happiest paying for content by means of viewing advertising, ahead of financial payment per show or subscription

•    3 out of 10 adults across the 8 sample nations now watch some content every week via alternative devices such as the mobile or PC.

•    Even TV traditionalists watching in home are changing their habits – stating an interest in enhanced functions and the ability to construct personalised schedules to control their viewing experiences

•    Loyalty continues to shift toward content over supplier source

The Accenture Broadcast Consumer Survey, is a questionnaire led study which involved 7,000 consumers in 8 countries across Europe, the US, Brazil and Mexico.
Research in Brazil was conducted via a telephone survey amongst adults between the ages of 18 and 64.

The video above is from a new project from two web users (one of whom just happens to be our very own Alberto), in which they claim that it is possible to talk for a year only by creating videos on Youtube. They will each week post a public video responding to each other’s questions. A nice way to take a look at a way that might make the experience of talking via the internet a bit more interesting. Let us know what you think of the idea…

A huge thank you to everybody at the 22^nd Florianopolis Book Fair where we conducted a number of interesting interviews with not just members of the public but also editors and organisers of the book fair. Having previously posted about the culture of book purchasing, reading and the Brazilian market, the book fair offered an ideal opportunity to explore some issues around the role of the book and of reading in everyday life. We’ll be posting more material shortly in both English and Portugues but to start with here is a quick clip with a consumer discussing the role of the bookshop. He wasn’t alone in highlighting the often exclusive nature of the book purchasing environment and the fact that the market for buying books seems to lag behind the entertainment culture in which it competes.

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