Out of the 18 metro areas tested on the reliability metric, a clear “leader” exists in just four areas, while in 10 of the circles, there is a tie for first place.  In the remaining four areas, there is neither a clear leader nor a tie.   Further, the leader in network reliability is not always the leader in market share.  For example, Reliance is the “clear lead” in the Andhra Pradesh area (whose capital and largest city Hyderabad), while Airtel has the most market share.  Reliance had the highest network reliability in three areas (Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry), while TATA was top in UP and Uttaranchal.

“As Indian consumers consider network performance as a major selection and retention criterion, there is a huge opportunity for network leaders to educate consumers about the superiority of their network performance to gain subscriber base.  This can be a huge marketing differentiator in an industry that is reeling under hyper competition,” said Shankari Panchapakesan, Executive Director, Telecom Practice at The Nielsen Company.

India’s wireless market potential is second only to China – and is rapidly threatening to overtake it.  With 12 service providers across 23 wireless “circles” (metro areas), and six to eight providers in each circle, competition for customers is fierce.  It is expected to heat up even more with the auction of new 3G licenses and the introduction of mobile number portability.

Overall, Canadians were more confident than their neighbors to the south, with more positive outlooks regarding job prospects, the state of their personal finances and their willingness to spend.  With respect to jobs, 46 percent of Canadians say that local prospects will be “good” or “excellent” over the next 12 months, compared to just 28 percent in the U.S.  More than half (55%) feel that the state of their personal finances will be “good” or “excellent,” up three points since July and compared to 51 percent of Americans who said the same.  More than two-fifths of Canadians feel it is a good time to buy the things they want and need, compared to 33 percent of Americans. All of that said, a strong majority (82%) of Canadians feel that the country is still in a recession, despite the fact that the Bank of Canada announced that the recession was over.  Nine in ten Americans said that they felt their country was still in a recession.

In a sign that the consumer’s obsession with all things economic and recession is starting to recede, Canadians are once again showing concern with other issues such as work-life balance and health.  But despite these positive signs, Canadians remain cautious about spending.  Paying off debt is the top use for spare cash (with 39% saying that is their priority) followed by socking away money into savings (26%).  When they are spending, holidays and vacations is the top category (26%) with out-of-home entertainment (23%) and home improvements (20%) rounding out the top three.  Canadian men indicated that they are more likely to spend on outside entertainment and new technology, while responsible Canadian women are focused on paying off debt.

Read the full report.

So what are Brits doing with their smartphones?  Mobile web browsing was the fastest growing activity, with 10.4 million using that function in the third quarter, up from 8.8 million in the second quarter.  Downloading applications was the second fastest growing activity, with 1 million new users in the third quarter to 4.1 million.

“Although there have been sizable increases in the take-up of new mobile technologies such as video and location-based services, they remain niche forms of behavior,” said Edward Kershaw, Vice President of Mobile Media at Nielsen.  “The era of the handset as a truly multi-media device on a mass-market level lies somewhere on the horizon, and the key for companies to successfully harness mobile lies in a realistic understanding of what activities people on a large-scale are actually doing with their handsets now.”

Doug Anderson, SVP, Research & Development, The Nielsen Company

SUMMARY: The U.S. added nearly 1.2 million persons of Hispanic origin to the population between 2007 and 2008, raising the Hispanic population from 15.1% to 15.4%. And new Hispanic immigrants are expected to continue to come in large numbers for the foreseeable future. Since a large share of the Hispanic population in the U.S. will continue to be new immigrants and their second generation children, the acculturation process may not happen has quickly or as thoroughly as with past immigrant groups. Marketers need to be acutely aware of both language and acculturation matters when crafting marketing strategies.

Marketers looking to tap into high-growth population segments should turn their attention to the U.S. Hispanic segment, which grew at a rate 3.4 times higher than the total population between 2007 and 2008 and nearly ten times higher than the non-Hispanic white population. Over half of all U.S. population growth during this time came from Hispanics, raising Hispanics to 15.4% of total U.S. population—a year-over-year growth rate of more than 2.6%.

Continued growth
In fact, that trend is expected to continue. Projections show the Hispanic population will reach nearly 20% by 2020 and over 30% by 2050—making Hispanics no longer a niche market, but a mainstream one. And unlike immigrant populations from the first part of the 20th century—when immigration laws stopped the inflow of people from countries such as Italy, Ireland and Poland—new Hispanic immigrants are expected to continue to come in large numbers for the foreseeable future, making the acculturation process much slower than it was for previous generations.

For marketers, careful attention around both language and acculturation are essential to success. While these concepts are closely related, they are quite different. Language may be necessary for acculturation, but even Hispanics with excellent English-language skills may still respond more favorably to advertising that is in the Spanish language or messaging that shows various aspects of Hispanic culture. Marketers must shift their focus from thinking about whether Hispanics can understand their advertising to creating campaigns that speak to the heart of the Hispanic consumer in the U.S.

Language and acculturation
To accurately understand acculturation matters, language and acculturation need to be analyzed separately in ways that can be applied across categories and geographies so the purchasing behavior of both Hispanics and non-Hispanics can be compared and contrasted. Nielsen has created a measure of behavioral acculturation that tracks purchase data across nearly 700 different categories to determine how similar the purchases of Hispanic households are to the purchases of non-Hispanic households with the same overall demographic characteristics. Hispanic households are considered “behaviorally acculturated” when purchasing patterns match the behavior of non-Hispanic households.

The chart below shows the index of the behavioral acculturation measure for U.S. Hispanics with varying language preferences. A low index shows high acculturation—purchasing behavior is similar for Hispanic and non-Hispanic households. The higher the index, the more dissimilar Hispanic behavior is as compared to non-Hispanic behavior and the more behaviorally unacculturated the segment is. Not surprisingly, households that only speak Spanish are the least behaviorally acculturated.

Additionally, when U.S. Hispanic members of the Nielsen Homescan Hispanic Panel were asked to rate their personal level of acculturation, those who defined themselves as following only Hispanic or Latino culture purchased products very differently from demographically similar non-Hispanics. In this survey, the word “American” refers specifically to United States culture.

Other predictors of behavioral acculturation include:

• Length of time in the U.S.—recent immigrants are the least behaviorally acculturated, while those who have been in the U.S. for more than 20 years are just as behaviorally acculturated as those born in the U.S.
• Language at home—those who speak Spanish at home are less behaviorally acculturated than those who commonly speak English, but even those who prefer to use Spanish at home are more behaviorally acculturated than those who only speak Spanish. For many Hispanic households who speak English well, but still use Spanish at home, Spanish-language advertising may resonate better.
• Relationships—those whose friends are also Hispanic are less behaviorally acculturated than those with mainly or solely non-Hispanic friends.
• Education—those with higher levels of education are more behaviorally acculturated than those with lower levels.

Closing the gap
The income distribution of Hispanics compared to the non-Hispanic population of the U.S. is marked by large gaps at the top end of the income spectrum. While Hispanics are more concentrated in the lower annual income ranges below $50k, there is parity between Hispanic and non-Hispanic households in the $50-75k annual income range.

Levels of educational attainment also lag for Hispanics in the U.S., but there is evidence among younger Hispanics that these levels might change substantially in the future. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, 86% of Hispanics between the ages of 16 and 25 are either in school or in the labor force—both skill-building activities that will pay dividends in income further down the road. Overall, Hispanics are nearly four times more likely to have no high school (9th grade or less), and over two times more likely than average to have dropped out of high school.

And while the incidence of advanced college degrees for Hispanics is 60% below the national norm, this level has been on the increase for decades—driven substantially by changes in the behaviors of young Hispanic women. In 1980, 35% of Hispanic women between the ages of 16 and 25 were in school (with 40% of those in school and working). By 2007, this level had increased to 50%. There has also been a marked decline in early pregnancy among young Hispanic women—24% were not in school or the labor force and were mothers in 1970. By 2007, only 9% had the same status. Young Hispanic men have also seen increases in the percentage in school, but not nearly to the degree as for women.

When it comes to education, the intent of Hispanic youths is often sidetracked by economic realities. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, nearly 90% of Hispanics between the ages of 16 and 25 believe that a college education is important to success in life—versus 74% of the general public. That sentiment is echoed by parents with more than three-quarters agreeing that college is the most important thing to do after high school. However, just under half of Hispanics plan to get a college degree versus 60% of the total population in the same age ranges.

Much of this gap can be explained by differences between U.S.-born Hispanics and the foreign-born young Hispanics who make up around one-third of this age cohort. Less than half of foreign-born Hispanics plan to go to college—often citing the need to work to support family either in the U.S. or in their native countries. Nearly two-thirds of foreign-born Hispanics sent money to family in their native countries versus 21% for those born in the U.S. And a much higher share of foreign-born young Hispanic women are mothers—29% versus 17% for U.S.-born Hispanic women.

Seize the moment now
The pace of Hispanic acculturation in the U.S. will depend on many factors. However, it will likely never mirror the same assimilation patterns of immigrants from past generations. The ready availability of Spanish media (television, radio, newspapers, websites, etc.) and the easy ability to communicate with friends and family who have not come to the U.S. slows the pace of acculturation, as does the continuing influx of new immigrants who reinforce the native cultural experience in Hispanic communities. Unlike immigrants from earlier in the history of the U.S., Hispanics today can participate in society while still retaining strong aspects of their Latino culture—including a preference for speaking Spanish at home or with their families and friends.

While Hispanics will become more acculturated over time and over generations—particularly in their purchasing behavior—they are not likely to leave their Latino culture behind. Marketers who wait around for Hispanics to acculturate rather than actively reaching out to this growing market now will be left waiting.

Sources:
The Nielsen Company, Homescan Hispanic Panel
Pew Hispanic Center—Latinos and Education: Explaining the Attainment Gap (October, 2009)
Pew Hispanic Center—The Changing Pathways of Hispanic Youths Into Adulthood (October, 2009)
U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement 2008 (released September 2009)

Sentiment = Sales
“A nine-point surge in consumer confidence signifies a welcome return to positive territory. It really demonstrates that in the last six months, a majority of consumer sentiment across the globe has shifted gears from recession to recovery — the tide has turned,” said James Russo, Vice President, Global Consumer Insights at The Nielsen Company. “In this economic climate, sentiment is closely correlated to actual sales. For example, in Australia, consumer confidence was up 11 points in the third quarter, and strong economic conditions prompted the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise rates, becoming the first G20 country to do so. Correspondingly, we have seen sales increase 2 percent in each of the last two months in defined fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories while online sentiment (buzz) regarding the recession is at the lowest levels since we began tracking that dynamic in January 2009.”

• Read additional insights on global spending trends in the Nielsen Economic Current

Majority of countries show gains
Consumer confidence rose in 45 out of the 52 countries compared to six months ago (Ukraine and Saudi Arabia were added in the latest round of the survey).  In April, the Index hit its lowest point of 77 index points, but as massive stimulus plans began to take effect around the world during the second quarter, consumer confidence slowly began to recover.

Key Highlights

• Consumers in India, Indonesia and Norway topped the confidence index, while the most pessimistic consumers were in Latvia and Japan.
• Hong Kong posted the largest consumer confidence increase in the third quarter compared to Q2, up 14 points from 79 to 93 index points, followed by South Korea (+13 points) and Brazil (+12 points).
• Among other BRIC nations, consumer confidence rose 8 points in India, 6 points in China and 4 points in Russia compared to the previous quarter.
• Consumer confidence fell in only two countries in the third quarter: Spain (-4) and Japan (-2).
• Australia and New Zealand also posted double-digit increases during the last quarter, while Europe’s two largest economies, France and Germany, posted the highest increases in the Eurozone, up 7 and 5 points, respectively.

Nielsen’s global consumer confidence in October rebounded to almost the same level as the first half of 2008 before the very worst of the financial crisis hit global markets. “The survey shows how much the pace of economic recovery has accelerated in the last six months, especially in Brazil and some Asian markets,” said Russo.  “Nielsen consumer, retail and media data also shows a trend of consumers shifting gears from recessionary into recovery mode.”

The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending habits among more than 30,500 Internet users in 54 countries. The latest round of the survey was conducted between 28 September and 16 October 2009.

“It was resoundingly clear from the presentations that we have a new consumer on our hands, one that has emerged from the financial crisis with what could be a permanent shift in their values, spending habits and lifestyle choices and affecting the way they consumer and purchase alcohol.  They are more frugal and demanding value.  Investing in new product development should be an essential part of any suppliers’ strategy in counteracting consumers’ heavy reliance on price discounts as a key purchase driver,” said Michael Walton, Executive Director, Nielsen Liquor Group in the Pacific.

Nielsen’s regional experts also provided a snapshot of trends in their respective markets.  The four key topics that were common across regions were:

• Low carb and low sugar: new products and brand extensions in this category are performing relatively well.
• Marketing to the over 50s demographic: This group makes up between 40-50 percent of alcohol consumers in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, yet are often overlooked when it comes to marketing in favor of a millennial focus.
• Online consumers: New ways and approaches to marketing to the technologically savvy consumer.
• New product development: A critical pathway to improve returns and drive real category growth.

Gavin Humphreys noted that just 57 percent of British beer drinkers popped over to the pub in 2009, compared to 70.5 percent in 1998.  In fact, the off-trade sector looks set to overtake share of beer consumption over the next two years.  While beer remains the favorite, wine is rapidly gaining share, driven by its link with in-home entertaining and also the availability of cheaper South African, Italian and Chilean varietals.

In the U.S., Danny Brager noted that more than 50 percent of Americans choose to entertain and eat at home more often.  Consumers are often trading down in an effort to find the best value, favoring domestic offerings and sticking with brands they know and trust.

Paul Kirby said that almost half of Australian drinkers claimed to be going out less often compared to last year, but are actually trading up when they do go out, sparking growth in premium and super premium alcohol segments (imported beer, international wine and bottled wine priced over $20).  Almost half of all packaged liquor was sold on promotion and 77 percent of alcohol consumers selecting their choice of outlet because it offered great promotions.

Just to the southeast, 60 percent of New Zealanders claimed to be going out less often compared to last year, according to David Hanson.  Annual sales for the off-premise market grew by 10 percent in value terms and 7 percent in volume.  More than three-quarters (77%) of all beer sales were sold on promotion.

While this growth is impressive, seven countries still recorded declines in ad spending in the second quarter of 2009, including South Korea (-17%) and Taiwan (-16%).

“Although declines in advertising activity were still evident across free to air TV, newspapers and magazines in a number of markets, there were clear signs of a reversal of contracting activity.    In the more dynamic markets of China and India, both of which saw sharp cutbacks in advertising activity in the first quarter, advertising bounced back strongly with double digit growth over the same quarter in 2008,” said Richard Basil-Jones, Managing Director, Asia Pacific at Nielsen.  “Positive economic signs across the region suggest that the recovery to pre-financial crisis advertising activity may occur earlier than industry observers had forecast at the beginning of the year.”

On a year-to-year basis, ad spend was up 9 percent, reaching an estimated $112 billion (US).  Television was the only main media to record growth (10%), while newspapers and magazines showed modest declines (-1% and -3%, respectively).

Value has become a main focus for Asian shoppers, partly driven by the economic situation and partly as a result of increased retailer activity focused around price and promotions. According to Nielsen’s Asia Pacific Retail and Shopper Trends 2009 Report, more than 70 percent of shoppers claim to have become more price sensitive compared to last year. The effect: shoppers are more inclined to buy only what they need, spending their money on essentials rather than on treats or what they now consider ‘nice-to-haves’. They’re also consciously trying to cut down on the quantity purchased and are actively seeking out products on promotion.

Over the course of 2008 in Asia, grocery markets continued to show volume growth, led by India (+9%), China (+9%) and Vietnam (+18%), with only Taiwan (-7%) experiencing a decline in sales. Value sales increased by double figures in many markets on the back of high inflation for key food categories. But with inflation falling in all markets, we have seen value growth drop sharply in 2009, although overall volume growth in many markets has held up reasonably well with shoppers not cutting back significantly on grocery categories.

Traditional trade continues to lose share

As expected, the traditional counter service trade continued to lose share in Asia, with overall share of trade dropping another percentage point to 47 percent in 2008. At the same time, the absolute number of traditional grocery stores in the region grew by one percent to over 12.3 million stores. In most developed countries, traditional store numbers fell by five percentage points or more. In Korea, where traditional store numbers dropped by nine percentage points, the share of trade decreased from 15.9 to 13.9 percent, while in Taiwan the traditional trade now accounts for just over six percent of sales, having lost 1.5 percent share in the last 12 months.

The retail landscape looks very different in Southeast and South Asia, however, where traditional store numbers actually grew year on year, and even though share of total grocery sales continues to decline slowly, the majority of shoppers in all markets continue to shop at this trade channel. The traditional channel continues to meets shoppers’ needs for everyday convenience, personal service and affordability – being able to buy the smallest sizes and quantities.

Growth of small modern trade outlets

Globally, many large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour have embraced a multi-format strategy that includes the development of smaller neighborhood stores. Similar growth in small modern trade outlets is also being seen across Asia, with mini-markets/small supermarket store numbers increasing by 17 percent in 2008 to over 100,000 stores.

Indonesia has led the way over the last 10 years and in 2008 more than 1,500 new stores opened, taking the total to over 10,500. These stores now account for more than 16 percent of total packaged grocery sales. Shoppers in Indonesia are continuing to embrace the convenient location, relatively good service and acceptably low prices offered at mini-markets.

Retailers in China are also investing in this store format, with store numbers growing by 22 percent in 2008 to more than 70,000 stores, accounting for more than three-quarters of all modern self-service outlets.

In South Korea we are also seeing the leading Hypermarket operators expanding into small supermarket formats, or ‘Super Supermarkets’ as they are known in South Korea. Samsung Tesco is now operating over 150 SSM Homeplus Express stores and E-mart is planning to open 30 or 40 small, 300 square meter E-Mart Everyday stores. The expansion of these large chains into the small store arena has led to concerns regarding competition with small store owners, and the South Korean government is considering introducing a bill to regulate the opening of small supermarkets.

With hopes for a full economic recovery accelerating in 26 out of the 28 major global markets surveyed as part of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index in late June, consumers around the world might be expected to return to their previous spending patterns.  But according to a new report from Nielsen, some consumers may find it hard to shake recessionary habits.  The severity of the recession has brought about a change in consumer values, spending habits and lifestyle choices in some parts of the world, and the indication is some consumers in the West will continue to refrain from excessive or unnecessary spending across all aspects, at least in the short term.

Highlights from the report include:

• Nearly one-third (29%) of consumers will continue to economize on gas and electricity, with 48 percent of Americans saying that they will continue to save on utility bills.
• One in six global consumers will continue to cut back on take-away meals, with 22 percent of Australians indicating that’s one area they will continue to reduce spending. Significant numbers of New Zealanders, Japanese, Irish, South Africans, Brazilians and Americans also indicated they would stay away from take-away.
• One in six global consumers say that they will continue purchasing cheaper grocery products, spend less on new clothes and cut down on out-of-home entertainment.

The findings were not all cautious, however.  Consumers in the BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are generally looking forward to putting recent recessionary behaviors behind them and returning to their previous spending patterns.  Buoyed by rising stock markets and continued (if slower) economic growth, these consumers offer marketers, retailers and others some hope in the short term.

Findings included:

• Chinese remain the most confident of an economic rebound in the near future, and sales of consumer goods products remained robust last year – up 21 percent.
• One in six Russians said that they would not retain any of their recessionary habits once the economy improves, and are particularly eager to spend their money on clothing.
• Technology such as home computers and mobile phones look to be early winners: consumers in Japan, Korea and the Philippines are looking forward to upgrading their current gear.
• More than 40 percent of Americans say they expect to increase their spending on travel and holidays, dining out and out-of-home entertainment in the coming months.

As economic recovery gather pace, consumption and spending will increase, but the post-recession consumer is likely to consume very differently.  She will think twice – and maybe thrice – about making purchases big or small.  It’s now fashionable in the West to be frugal and trendy to be thrifty.  But marketers that are able to convey the value of their products and services will likely continue to grow and prosper.

Download the full report: Consumers in a Post-Recession World

In Latin America, Nielsen reports sales of mobile phones have had a noteworthy increase in the last years, even though they are starting to have a diminution in the growth rate. Comparing the first quarter of 2009 against the same period of 2008, the sales rate has slowed down to 12%.

Countries such as Mexico and Brazil—where the density of devices per inhabitant is still smaller than that of the regional average—prompted sales with double digit unit gains of 20% and 16% respectively. Corresponding U.S. dollar sales rates were more modest, at 3% for Mexico and 6% for Brazil. Together, given their relative size, mobile device sales in these two countries offset the combined unit sales losses unilaterally in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela.

Considering the market size in the region, if each mobile phone owner has at least one line, it is estimated that there are 460 million active lines in Latin America. This represents an important new growth channel and significant opportunities for the Telecom industry. It is estimated that in the next few years, sales of Smartphones will continue to increase, giving rise to the growth of the Value Added Services (VAS) penetration.

Like their North American counterparts, Latin Americans were interested in mobile phone features. In the last year, handsets sold in the region included camera (61%), radio (55%) and MP3 player (35%). All of these features showed considerable growth when compared to the previous year.

Motivating factors
An in-depth segmentation analysis in Brazil was conducted to understand what cell phone users in the region were looking for—convergence, greater connectivity, more entertainment or features. Four distinct segments of cell phone consumers were identified: 16% of Brazilian subscribers use only voice features, 28% use voice and SMS capabilities, 37% use features offline (such as; camera, MP3 player, etc.) and finally, 19% use value-added services, which include Internet access, ringtone downloads, etc.

Value-added service users accrue greater expenses—bills are typically 20% more than the average voice-only mobile user’s tab. These consumers tend to be younger (almost two-thirds are under age 34) and 40% reside in more affluent socio-economic levels, which makes the middle class an important market opportunity for expansion.

In Brazil, the VAS consumers are using the device as a downloader tool, when going online.

Understanding the particular segmentations in each market becomes crucial in order to reach the consumer with the most appropriate offer. This kind of analysis provides a more complete and insightful look into subscribers to understand motivations that drive the decision-making process.