brazilian internet users behaviour patterns in social media

Use and behavioral habits of Brazilian internet users in social mediaOctober 2009

The research Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media has managed to discover first hand who are the active Brazilians in social media.

We also discovered which tools they use the most, the specific role of each and their relative influence as an information source.

Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media

Whowe interviewed?

METHODOLOGY

E.Life has developed, in association with InPress Porter Novelli, a questionnaire related to the user’s use and behavior in social media.

The questionnaire was sent to profiles monitored by E.Life in the second semester of 2008 and first semester of 2009 and these users were encouraged to send the research to their friends.

The research was held during the months of August and September of 2009 and a total of 1,277 sample base were applied.

Who we interviewed?

Who we interviewed?

Gender:Age

* TIC household classification.Basis: 1,277 sample base

Family income*:

Average: 28 years old

Who we interviewed?

30.9% of the interviewed are from the city of Sao Paulo

9.6% are from the city of Rio de Janeiro

4.9% are from Belo Horizonte

Geographic distribution of respondent

Base: 1,277 sample base

Who we interviewed?

Of those who work:

16.9% work in Marketing/Communication Agencies

7.3% work with Internet Services/ Software Development

Education:

Work and study:

Basis: 1,277 sample base

Who we interviewed?

Twitter 38.5%Orkut 26.9%Blogs 14.2%E-mail groups 3.6%Facebook 3.1%YouTube 2.7%Windows LiveSpaces 2.7%LinkedIn 2.1%Flickr/ Fotolog 1.6%Forums 0.9%Others 3.6%

Performance in social media:

Basis: 1,277 sample base

Among the social services that you use, which one do you consider being the primary service?

As we observed in other E.Life projects, the social media service used by internet users reflects distinct behavioral patterns. e.g. those who use Orkut search and behave in a different way from Twitter users.

Who we interviewed?

Mass media used at least once a week?

Basis: 1,277 sample base

74.2% read newspapers at least once a week

72.2% listen to the radio at least once a week

85.6% watch TV at least once a week

70.2% watch cable TV at least once a week

77.3% read magazines at least once a week

Our respondents are young people with high incomes who live in the main urban capitals.

Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media

habitsInternet use

Internet use habits

The respondents are internet heavy users.

People who use services like blog hosting or microblogs spend more time online.

63.2% of Twitter users**and 44.7% of bloggers** are online more than 41 hours per week.

28.8% of Orkut users**are online less than 16 hours per week.

How many hours do you spend on the internet per week?

Basis: 1,277 sample base**Answerers whose main social media service is Twitter, Blog and Orkut, respectively.

Internet use habits

From which device do you access the internet? * (RM)

*Three most used devices. **Answerers whose main social media service is Twitter. Basis: 1,277 sample base

Appart from home and at work access, the percentage of access through 3G, WAP or Wi-Fi by mobile phones was significant.

Mobile phones (which includes smartphones and iPhones) are used

to access the internet by 42.6% of the respondents. Netbooks are also used by 6.3% of the participants.

51.0% Of Twitter users** access the internet through their mobile phones.

A large proportion of users spend over 40 hours a week on the internet. Access to the internet through mobile phones was significant.

Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media

habits

Social media use

Social media use habits

In which online services/social media do you have an account/login? (TOP 15 - RM)

*As it was the first attempt in a self-filling questionnaire, the percentage may be inflated **Service pointed spontaneously by 1.2% of the respondentsBasis: 1,277 sample base

Orkut is the service which has the higher number of accounts among the respondents.

Twitter ranks second, with 80.1% of participants among the respondents.

Facebook has the fifth highest number of accounts.

Social media use habits

Among the services in which you have an account, which do you use the most? *

*Three most used services. Basis: 1,277 sample base

When asked which was the most used service,

Twitter ranked first.

Facebook is the fifth most used service among the respondents.

Social media use habits

Among the services selected as the most used, how frequently do you use them?

Twitter basis: 868 sample base. Orkut basis: 806 sample base.YouTube basis: 367 sample base. Blogspot basis: 331 sample base.

Social media use habits

Among the reasons below, which one(s) made you use this service? (RM)

Twitter basis: 868 sample base. Orkut basis: 806 sample base.YouTube basis: 367 sample base. Blogspot basis: 331 sample base.

Information is the main attraction in Twitter.

Besides twitting, respondents use it

specially to read news and search for information of their interest.

27.8% state that they use it to complain about products.

Social media use habits

Among the reasons below, which one(s) made you use this service? (RM)

Twitter basis: 868 sample base. Orkut basis: 806 sample base.YouTube basis: 367 sample base. Blogspot basis: 331 sample base.

Maintaining contact with friends is the main attraction on Orkut, followed by meeting new people.

20.0% research on products and services in Orkut.

Social media use habits

Among the reasons below, which one(s) made you use this service? (RM)

Twitter basis: 868 sample base. Orkut basis: 806 sample base.YouTube basis: 367 sample base. Blogspot basis: 331 sample base.

YouTube attract those who look to have fun and want information on leisure and entertainment.

26.2% publish their own content.

Social media use habits

Among the reasons below, which one(s) made you use this service? (RM)

Twitter basis: 868 sample base. Orkut basis: 806 sample base.YouTube basis: 367 sample base. Blogspot basis: 331 sample base.

Besides being a way to publish your own content, blogspot is a

source of information and news for the respondents.

20.5% of the respondents research on products and services on blogs.

Social media use habits

In the last three months, did you create an account in a new online/social media service? Which one? (TOP 12 - RM)

Basis: 1,277 sample base

In the last three months, Twitter was the service with the highest number of new accounts among the respondents. 43.6% claim to have created an account in this period.

Facebook and LinkedIn were other recently adopted services.

Today, Orkut and Twitter are the most adopted and recognised services by the internet users interviewed. Although, the motivations for use are different: Twitter keeps the internet user informed, Orkut keeps the user connected to their social network.

The most used services are influential in forming an opinion on products and services.

Social media use habits

Which activities have you done on the internet? (RM)

Basis: 1,277 sample base

Social media use habits

Basis: 1,277 sample base*Basis of those who own blogs: 836 sample base

65.5% of the people interviewed own a blog currently

34.1% own more than one blog (9.3% own 3 blogs)*

2 years is the average existence of a main blog*

b b bOut of the bloggers*:

30.3% have up to 100 daily

visitors.

20.7% have from 100 to 1,000 daily visitors.

6.8% have over 1,000 daily visitors.

66.1% Of bloggers have some king of ad in their blog (banner, Google AdSense, etc).

The percentage of buzz generators is high on the internet. Almost 90% make comments and 73% have already written their own blog. They can be purchase influentials.

Social media use habits

When you are shopping, you use the internet to:

Basis: 1,277 sample base

90.1% research the product/services options available for purchase before buying/hiring

79.3% buy products/services online

42.9% recommend to other internet users the product/service acquired

Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media

Credibility and media

Credibility

With a grade from 1 to 5, 1 being “little trustworthy” and 5 being “very trustworthy”, evaluate the following services on credibility of content available:

Basis: 1,277 sample base

News coverage in magazines and newspapers 3,7

News coverage on TV 3,5

News coverage in portals 3,4

Results in search websites 3,4

Articles in free encyclopedias 3,4

Corporate website of a company 3,3

News coverage in blogs 3,0

Posts in corporate blogs 3,0

Paid posts in personal blogs 2,5

Content in social networks 2,4

Despite the high performance of social media, traditional media still has more credibility. However, grades are still relatively low.

There is no big difference in the credibility index between those who use and those who do not use traditional media.

Media

*Basis of those who own blogs: 836 sample baseBasis of those who were asked: 219 sample baseBasis of those who were never asked: 617 sample base

17.1% were already asked by a company or agency to publish paid content on products, services or campaigns.

Out of those who were asked, 68.0% accepted to publish media (banners, marketing pieces or paid posts) in their blogs.

Out of those who own blogs:*:

Out of those who were never asked, 80.9% would accept publishing media (banners, marketing pieces or paid posts) in their blogs.

Despite relatively strong credibility scores for social media, there is still room for improvement.

Use and behavior habits of Brazilian internet users in social media

Conclusions of the study

Conclusions of the study

Consistent with the overall profile of Brazilian internet users, our respondent was young people with high income who live in the major urban capitals.

A large proportion are internet heavy user and spends over 40 hours online per week. The high number of internet use through mobile phones is significant.

Conclusions of the study

Orkut, Twitter, YouTube and Blogspot are the most popular social media services among the respondents and are used almost everyday.

Reasons to use each services are different.

While most people use Twitter searching for information and news, Orkut is mostly used to keep in touch with friends, relatives and colleagues. YouTube and Blogspot are used as a source of fun and as a way of publishing their personal content, respectively.

The respondents are actively using the services to research and complain about products and services.

Conclusions od the study

The percentage of respondents who own a blog is high. 65.5% of them own a blog.

The number of respondents who make suggestions to other internet users is considerable (34,0%) and those who recommend products and servicesthat they have acquired (42.9%).

Despite the large performance of social media, there is still a question of credibility to be worked onin social media. Paid posts are seen with more insecurity.

Monitoring and Analysis of Word of Mouth CommunicationPaulista Avenue 2300, Pilotis floorSao Paulo – SP – BRAZIL – 01310-300Phone/Fax: (+55) 11 2847 4938http://www.elife.com.br