Enormous from the Inside, Small from the Outside? Brazil’s Role in the Flow of Emerging Consumer Behaviors

At Zeitgeist, we often conduct studies for international clients. As a result, discussing and explaining Brazil—its culture and peculiarities—to people who are almost always from the developed world has become routine. It’s a fantastic opportunity to understand how others see us and to learn more about their cultures. Building bridges between cultures and subcultures has always been part of our DNA, and it’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of the work we do.

It’s always frustrating (and unfortunately common) when the people receiving these projects pay little attention to our local and regional characteristics—especially when these elements are often the key to understanding the results. For example, they may explain why a specific product is perceived in a certain way. Without understanding the culture, you risk missing things that are obvious to those who live within it.

The U.S. and the U.K., originators of so many global studies, see themselves as complex and diverse markets (and they are!) that are impenetrable to outsiders (but are they really?). Meanwhile, Brazil is often seen—through ignorance or disinterest—as a cohesive and homogeneous whole. One of the barriers to giving proper importance to Brazil’s nuances is that, for many multinational companies, Brazil represents a relatively small revenue line. As a result, the effort required to dive deeper into these intricacies may seem unjustifiable. But isn’t this a self-fulfilling prophecy—or worse, a costly mistake? If the market offerings were more tailored, wouldn’t results improve?

Beyond the usual ethnocentrism, this worldview shapes discussions about behavior and trends even within Brazil. Some of the better known names in the field, both inside and outside the country, continue to treat highly specific circumstances of affluent nations as if they were “global.” Do they really think that quiet quitting is relevant in a country where the constant struggle for survival that involves entrepreneurship, improvisation, communal connections and dealing with very limited resources, popularly known as “o corre”, defines peripheral existence and where the purchasing power of a fast-food employee in the developed world can rival that of our corporate middle management, depending on exchange rates?

On the other hand, there is greater recognition for brands that understand and respect local cultural adaptations, such what happened with Lacoste here or McDonald’s, which officially incorporates its local nicknames in various countries worldwide. This is a reflection not only of increased autonomy in decision-making among local marketing and insights teams (something to celebrate and encourage) but also of a more democratic, two-way approach to brand management that values context.

Neither a Colony Nor an Impenetrable Cultural Island

Two overly simplistic views persist about Brazil’s place in the flow of emerging consumer behaviors. One, archaic and elitist, assumes that the cultural metropolis-colony axis remains intact and, deep down, that we all aspire to be Londoners or New Yorkers. The other, a mix of inflated pride and wishful thinking, imagines Brazil as impermeable to outside influences, a country that sets its own rules—a sort of continental-scale blend of Wakanda and North Korea. While Brazil produces amazing, often underappreciated things of all kinds, no culture exists in a vacuum. Understanding the mechanics of cultural exchange remains a significant competitive advantage.

The more accurate—and less marketable—answer is that reality is always more complex than theoretical models that fit neatly into a slide or the promises of a magical AI that scours the public internet, interviews people who don’t exist, and learns everything. In the rush to turn the understanding of human behavior into frameworks (or, to use plain English, an assembly line) and slap a proprietary process™ label on it, nuance and rigor are often lost along the way.

Besides the original sin of marketers — taking one’s own taste as a reference, rather than the target audiences’s—two other factors often sabotage this sensemaking process: viewing other cultures through a tourist’s lens and making overly broad generalizations. More about them below:

"Tourists" from other cultures may have a greater chance of stumbling across something novel but are far more likely to misunderstand it without local support.

Even renowned professionals in our field make glaring errors when analyzing foreign cultures without proper context. Martin Lindstrom, the author of Buyology, Small Data, and other celebrated marketing books, once claimed that “pharmacies and healthcare organizations in Brazil used the Swiss flag (!!) to convey trust and order.” In fact, the cross became a medical symbol after the Geneva Convention to facilitate identification, even in war zones. In Brazil, the Red Cross is linked to the early days of nursing education, which is why it appears so frequently. The international standard of the green cross never caught on here, and using the Red Cross symbol is illegal, so the white cross on a red background circumvents that while preserving its meaning.

Similarly, a Brazilian expert once claimed that “vintage and second-hand products are a trend in Japan,” ignoring that Shimokitazawa, a Tokyo neighborhood known for its countless thrift and vintage shops, began becoming what it is today after World War II during a time of poverty, when second-hand items were all people could afford. Add to that a culture that values repairs and imperfection, with a well-established ecosystem of second-hand stores across all categories for decades. Is a 70-year-old “trend” still a trend?

The (stereo)typical marketer’s fascination with novelty works much better when filtered through the critical lens of someone who questions their perceptions and social bubbles, much like an academic or journalist. It also requires constant effort to understand both one’s own culture and others’, closing gaps with local expertise. The sensitivity to novelty that comes from an outsider’s perspective must be paired with rigor and local context.

One-Size-Fits-Nobody

Trend reports that come free in exchange for your email try to be everything to everyone but end up being nothing to anyone. This category has lost value due to over-simplification and an influx of people and companies—often without real expertise—trying to cash in on the constant interest in the topic. This is one of the side effects of treating data and insights as entertainment or a pause in our exhausting corporate grinds and of the freemium model. The result? Some professionals in our field resort to summarizing or conducting “meta-analyses” or roundups of these reports, hoping to find something truly generalizable or relevant.

There are plenty of pattern switches emerging far from Fashion Weeks, color-of-the-year announcements, youth hangout spots, or international innovation festivals—and often in ways that diverge from what decision-makers might expect. We need to better differentiate between what aligns with decision-makers' aspirations and what genuinely resonates with the brand’s audience. After all, the bait needs to attract the fish, not the fisherman.

There’s a lot of of pattern switches not coming from Fashion Weeks, color-of-the-year announcements, youth hangout spots or international innovation festivals — quite the opposite, for a lot of audiences. We need to do a better job of distinguishing what aligns with decision-makers’ aspirations versus what truly resonates with the brand’s audience. The bait has to appeal to the fish, not the fisherman.

Certain topics and industries indeed tend to stand out in specific parts of the world. Take diets, for example: of all the trends popularized over the past few decades (Keto, carnivore, low carb, slow carb, Atkins, intermittent fasting, etc.), many trace their origins or gained traction directly through California. Discussions about home and interior design inevitably feature countless Italian and Nordic influences. This kind of leadership and visibility in certain fields is so significant that some countries turn it into a matter of state policy—think of gastronomy and idols in South Korea or design in Denmark, for instance. But that's not the whole story…

It’s (Far) Less Simple Than It Seems

Beyond that, some places in the world, either because they are emerging powerhouses in a specific area or have a unique relationship with something, deserve more attention as sources of inspiration or study. Sometimes, markets themselves reinterpret or adapt elements from one culture to another—like what happened here with Taiwanese bubble tea, Mexican paletas (which are quite different from the originals in Mexico), or the current ongoing pistachio craze, likely tied to the traditional ice cream culture of Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Lebanon. These are all examples that originated outside the usual go-to references.

And sometimes, it’s not even about a physical place—it could be a community of like-minded people, globally connected but more concentrated in a specific region. No one is an early adopter of everything. Science has already debunked the myth of alpha wolves, so why are people still clinging to the idea that these classifications apply to humans?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to first embrace the complexity and then try to systematize it within the specific context of your category or brand? Could this be yet another case where the attempt to oversimplify leads people to mistake the map for the territory?

This is why we argue that the best way to study these transformations is through customized, case-by-case approaches.

There’s Another Way!

It starts by embracing complexity. By recognizing that Brazil isn’t São Paulo and São Paulo isn’t Pinheiros. That treating a small slice of a generational group as representative of the whole is a collective delusion. That we have a wealth of new cultural references and old traditions that are still little known within the São Paulo-Rio upper SEG axis but are immensely relevant to many people and deserve more recognition. At the same time, there’s a vast world out there full of fascinating things happening—often far from the big stages and mainstream media—that can present huge market opportunities when we contextualize and adapt them to our multifaceted reality here.

Another helpful mindset is not being personally invested in appearing "cool." When our identity is tied to projecting a certain image, we tend to gravitate toward topics that reinforce that image—fashion, youth culture, the entertainment industry, and so on. Being free of that concern brings clarity, because even technical subjects (B2B insurance, neurological medications, trade fairs, animal health—we’ve tackled all of these!) or decidedly "uncool" ones, like payroll loans or adult diapers, become equally fascinating. The rewards are discovery and learning, not being perceived a certain way.

Curiosity and the ability to envision the future—while keeping your feet firmly grounded in evidence—are mental states that don’t require a circus ringmaster’s mustache, multicolored hair, bold-rimmed glasses, appearing (or being) under 35, or any other signifier of modernity or “coolness.”

For some context, here’s a bit about how we work at Zeitgeist: when it comes to understanding the flow of innovations and hunting for opportunities abroad, our role with the Trend Scouts isn’t just about avoiding cultural misinterpretation. It’s also about identifying which places are most influential for specific topics and categories, so we know where to look for the ideas with the greatest potential. Deciding where to focus is already part of the investigative process.

In 2011, we conducted a proprietary study on healthy eating across 25 cities worldwide, identifying emerging value propositions that have since become industry mainstays and the foundation of highly successful products. These included an emphasis on protein content (a key driver for YoPro, one of the sector’s biggest recent success stories), clean labels and minimalist ingredient lists (central to RXBar, founded in 2012 and sold to Kellogg in 2017 for $600 million, with a similar Brazilian counterpart), artisanal bakeries, and more. In 2014, this study was presented at an event held by a global leader in the food industry, and much of it was still novel to the audience at the time.

Using the same methodology with clients, we’ve conducted studies on airlines (which generated a revenue stream that’s still active today and has certainly paid back the study thousands of times over), as well as the beauty market, foodservice, retail, and many others. In many cases, this was done alongside traditional qualitative and quantitative methods—sometimes with our own twist—because diving deep into the local reality is essential, not optional. Often, we conclude with workshops and other hands-on deliverables to help our clients prioritize opportunities and take action. After all, bringing a bunch of ideas and innovations without aligning them with a business understanding and brand possibilities isn’t strategy; it’s entertainment.

So, as the year ends and we’re inundated with the same old trend reports (“authenticity,” yet another “first native digital generation”), ditch the generic and the buzzword bingos. If you truly want to explore scenarios that can benefit your brand, make it custom.