The Nielsen Company recently measured and compared connection speeds on home computers during February 2011 across nine countries and analyzed whether speed affects the amount of time consumers spend online.

Undoubtedly on the minds of many Vietnamese are the surging prices for food and other goods that the country has experienced over the last 12 months.

Russia is easing its way out of the global recession, and its economy is exhibiting signs of recovery. In fact, with a large and expanding middle class, a youthful population, and vast natural resources, most observers agree that Russia is poised to experience strong economic growth.

Economic power is clearly moving east. According to the International Monetary Fund, GDP is expected to grow within the BRIC countries 61.3 percent between 2008 and 2012, compared with just 12.8 percent for the G7 nations. Today, global consumption patterns clearly favor developing markets and in Russia, the growth potential is tremendous.

Russia is a huge economic powerhouse with significant room to grow. Its growing middle class, high education level and developed technology infrastructure make it ripe for opportunity. But innovation myths about Russia are impacting full growth realization.

Canadians are much more confident about their finances and the economy than Americans, but that doesn’t mean they are spending with abandon. More than half of Canadians believe that the country is still in a recession and they continue to carefully watch how they spend. Retailers and consumer-packaged goods manufacturers who know how to connect with consumers will emerge ahead of the rest.

The 2010 World Cup brought the attention of hundreds of millions of soccer fans on South Africa, and unsurprisingly, advertisers followed with significant spending, according to new research from The Nielsen Company.

According to the latest Chinese New Year (CNY) Gala Show cross-platform study, while TV still played a major role in this special occasion, consumers used other media platforms much more than during the last Chinese New Year’s Gala show.

Given the recent economic slowdown in developed markets, the ‘value-conscious’ shopper is more visible across store aisles than every before.

While food contributed more than half (52%) of the total fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales in India last year, key products within the non-foods segment around impulse, health and wellness, lifestyle and convenience themes registered more than 20 percent growth and are set to define the shape and direction of the future.