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Consumer Behavior Information Technology Trend Watching

Mobile Devices in Brazil: 29% of low income families have smartphones

With more affordable models, smartphones more than doubled their share of the population of class C in Brazil in 2013. According to research firm Kantar Worldpanel, the use of these devices has gone from a level of 8% of the population in 2012 to 17% last year […]

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Economics Trend Watching

Economy in Brazil: becoming the world’s 5th largest economy by 2023

Brazil is expected to become the world’s fifth largest economy by 2023, behind only the U.S., China, Japan and India, according to projections by the Center for Economic and Business Research (CEBR, its acronym in English) […]

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Design Readings

IxDA’s 2014 Interaction Awards Shortlist announced

The Interaction Design Association (IxDA) has just announced the shortlist of entries for the 2014 Interaction Awards. Out of the 350 projects submitted from around the world, 91 projects from 18 countries have been elevated for consideration […]

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Consumer Behavior Trend Watching

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: middle class in slums rises from 33% to 65% in 10 years

According to one of those responsible for research, Renato Meirelles, president of Data Popular, a research institute that has existed for 12 years focused in classes C and D, 94% of residents of Brazilian slums say they are happy, nearly the same level of Brazilians in general, which is 95% […]

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Design Innovation Readings

Watch Alastair Parvin’s “Architecture for the people by the people” talk at TED

Designer Alastair Parvin presents a simple but provocative idea: what if, instead of architects creating buildings for those who can afford to commission them, regular citizens could design and build their own houses? The concept is at the heart of WikiHouse, an open source construction kit that means just about anyone can build a house, anywhere. Alastair Parvin believes in making architecture accessible to 100 percent of the population […]

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Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

Consumer Behavior in Brazil: Nearly 80% of new members of the middle class are of African descent

Nearly 80% of new members of the middle class in Brazil are of African descent, according to research from the Strategic Affairs Secretariat (SAE) of the Presidency. The data was released on recently during a ceremony at Planalto Palace in Brasilia […]

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: Chinese middle class to fuel global luxury spending

Millions of consumers entering the middle class in China will help to hold the pace of growth in global luxury spending at 10 percent annually for the next four years despite a slowing economy […]

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Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

Internet in Brazil: Half of the population is included in the digital world, says survey

More than half of the population is included in the digital world, according to a survey of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, which puts Brazil near the world average […]

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China Information Technology Trend Watching

Internet in China: Chinese Social Media Use Surpasses U.S.

Social media isn’t just taking flight in the U.S. A recent research from Netpop examines the social networking environment in China and finds that 92% of the 243 million broadband consumers in China (224 million) ages 13+ contribute to social media. This is compared with only 76% of the American broadband population […]

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: Richer, but not happier

Studies are backing up some of the suspicions I (and many other people who live here): Rising incomes in China are failing to bring greater happiness to broad swathes of the population. Rising prices and growing income inequality appear to be undermining any expected gains, and may be sowing the seeds of social unrest [..]