Facebook and Instagram are the most popular platforms for shopping in Latin America

Instagram and Facebooks are the platforms with the most reliable payment methods according to a recent survey.

Social media users consider Facebook a marketplace.

What are the most popular social networks?

A quarter of Latin Americans (24.9%) say that none of the main social networks have reliable payment methods, while just under a quarter (24%) chose Instagram and a slightly smaller proportion (22.4%) chose Facebook as the social media platform with the most reliable payment methods, according to a new survey conducted by the firm LatAm Intersect PR, which has operations throughout Latin America.

“By asking a series of detailed questions, we can see how the most popular social media platforms are performing in the region as a whole and from country to country,” says Livia Gammardella, Digital Planning and Strategy Coordinator for LatAm Intersect PR. This is a wide-ranging survey conducted by the LatAm Intersect PR research and intelligence team from March 23-29, 2022, among 1,800 respondents in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.

Instagram and Facebook are the most popular platforms

Photo: AP

Comparing the most popular social media platforms among consumers in six of the seven most populous nations in Latin America, the survey reveals that Instagram and Facebook tend to be the most popular overall in terms of consumer engagement and satisfaction, with YouTube and WhatsApp performing particularly well in some areas, reported El universal.

«Beyond the broader trends, these comparisons offer the public the opportunity to examine and appreciate the unique specificities of each platform and population, rather than just viewing ‘social media’ or ‘Latin America’ as a homogeneous whole.» Livia adds.

Which social media platforms are used most to make purchases?

Photo: AP

As for the most popular platforms to facilitate shopping, Facebook and Instagram are consistently the best. More than half (60.6%) of Latin Americans have already purchased a product through Facebook (34.1%) or Instagram (26.5%). Mexico follows this trend with half (49.8%) of all consumers considering Facebook as their preferred social media platform for online shopping.

However, there are some surprises between the different countries. WhatsApp, for example, is much more popular for facilitating purchases among Peruvian and Colombian consumers, with a quarter (24%) of people in these two countries having already purchased something through this social network, compared to an average of 16.9% from the rest of the four countries surveyed.

What is the best platform to inform yourself before a purchase?

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YouTube is significantly more popular in Brazil, with one in ten (11.4%) Brazilian consumers having already made a purchase using this platform, and they are twice as likely as Colombians to choose YouTube as the platform whose posts impact them the most, commercially speaking, compared to just 3.7% of consumers in Argentina.

“There were also a surprising number of Latin Americans who have not yet bought anything through any of the major social networks, including 14.3% of Argentine consumers and, perhaps more surprisingly, 12.2% of Brazilian consumers, the two highest proportions among the populations surveyed,” says Livia. Filed Under: Facebook payment methods

Twitter is the “most serious” platform

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The truth is that social media users have classified each platform with a different purpose. Twitter is considered the “most serious” platform and the place to find “news”. WhatsApp is associated with ‘personalization’ and ‘security’. Facebook is seen as a ‘marketplace’ and a ‘traditional’ platform that suffers from a ‘generation gap’, although it is also seen as having ‘assertive advertising’. Instagram is associated with ‘consumerism’, ‘eye appeal’ and is the network most associated with influencers. Pinterest brings to mind ‘inspiration’ and ‘how-to guides for products’. TikTok is most associated with ‘real people’ and ‘non-influencers’, as well as being seen as the most ‘addictive’. And finally, Youtube is associated with being ‘detailed’ and a place to ‘research before you buy’.

«However, in terms of commercial influence, there are two clear winners: Instagram and Facebook» says Livia. “For questions ranging from: What social media has influenced you to buy something you hadn’t planned on? to Which social networks make you want to buy things the most?, there are always about a third of Latin American respondents who choose Instagram (30% and 32.8% for these two questions, respectively), followed by about a quarter choosing Facebook (26.7% and 29% for the same two questions, respectively), with the other major platforms trailing a bit.” Filed Under: Facebook payment methods