Brazil sends the most SMS – 30 per day – and makes the most frequent (5+) updates to social networks like Facebook
San Francisco, Calif. – August 20, 2013 – New international research by mobile interaction specialist tyntec and YouGov reveals startling variations in mobile and social usage between the US, UK and emerging countries: Brazil and Russia. In its second annual “Mobile Messaging and Social Networking Survey”, tyntec finds that Brazil is more socially connected, with 77% using social networks via their mobile device; more than any other country. Russia closely follows with 69%, then UK (65%) and lastly the US, with 53% claiming to use social networks via their mobile device. Compared to other countries, Brazil also has the highest daily usage of SMS, with 12% sending at least 30 texts per day.
The July 2013 YouGov survey, sponsored by tyntec, surveyed more than 4,000 participants aged 18-55+ in the US, UK, Brazil and Russia. Accompanying the survey is a fact-filled infographic.
Brazil favors apps over SMS; Russia prefers Skype over Facebook.
In addition to showing the highest mobile social connectedness, Brazil displays the greatest interest, with 71% towards the adoption of free or low-cost calling and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber. Russia follows with 52%, while the UK’s responds is 33% and the US, with the lowest number of respondents showing interest, at 14%. In response to the question of which messaging service is most used, nearly half (48%) of all Russians show the highest degree of favoritism towards Skype over Facebook. Other key findings include:
- Facebook Messenger is the most used smartphone messaging service in Brazil, with 75% usage rate. Whereas in the US, messaging services are split between Facebook Messenger with 32%, followed by Skype (20%) and iMessage (20%).
- Brazilians are most socially engaged, with 23% checking their Facebook via a mobile phone more than five times per day – more than any other country, including the US (17%), UK (16%) and Russia (2%).
- Unlike Russia and UK where SMS remains the most used smartphone feature, besides voice calls, Brazil favors apps with a 36% response rate. For the US, mobile email is the most used feature, with 31%, closely followed by apps (28%) and SMS (24%).
- In Russia, along with Skype (48%), local heroes dominate messaging services with Mail.ru (46%) and VK (45%) showing the highest usage rates. Interestingly, 28% of Russians claim to not use Facebook at all.
Global fun facts: social etiquette variances by country
In addition to looking at country specific mobile/social preferences, tyntec’s survey demonstrates the impact cultural differences have on consumer behavior.
- Brazilians and Russians say the mobile phone ‘bad habit’ they’re most guilty of is sleeping next to their phone, with a 42% response rate in both countries. Conversely, only 15% of US respondents and 21% of UK respondents claim to go to bed with their mobile phone.
- 19% of Brazilians consider texting while in a work meeting to be the most rude scenario, whereas the US (8%) and UK (9%) agree that texting while on a date is the worst. Russians (11%) believe sending an SMS while in a conversation with a friend is considered most impolite.
- 18-24 year olds were asked if they’d be willing to give up alcohol, chocolate, caffeine, exercise or a toothbrush for one week rather than lose the ability to text for year, 44% of US Millennials said they would be willing to make the sacrifice. This pales in comparison to the 71% who were willing to do so in 2012.
- In response to the same question, across all age groups, Brazilians were least willing to give up the ability to text for an entire year. According to the findings, only 24% of Brazilians would be okay with not being able to send SMS for an entire year, compared to Russia (36%), UK (42%), and 55% of the US respondents (55%).
“As a global company, our survey validates many of the mobile usage nuances we see on a daily basis with tyntec’s worldwide customer base, and we are eager to share the findings from this report,” said Thorsten Trapp, Co-Founder and CTO of tyntec. “It’s fascinating to see the rapid pace of adoption of messaging services and the mobile use of social networks in emerging markets like Brazil and Russia. In comparison, in more established countries like the US and UK we are reminded of the impact generational differences can make on mobile/social usage. It’s also very interesting to see that big Internet players like Facebook or WhatsApp are challenged by local heroes when it comes to favorite services for messaging.”
About tyntec
tyntec (www.tyntec.com) is a mobile interaction specialist, enabling businesses to integrate mobile telecom services for a wide range of uses – from enterprise mission-critical applications to internet services. The company reduces the complexity involved in accessing the closed and complex telecoms world by providing a high quality, easy-to-integrate and global offering using universal services such as SMS, voice and numbers.
Founded in 2002, and with more than 150 staff in six offices around the globe, tyntec works with 500+ businesses including mobile service providers, enterprises and internet companies.
