Streaming Services Consumer Behaviour: A Netflix User Case Study in

Brazil and Portugal

Alan Oliveira

1 a

, Ana Azevedo

2 b

and Selma Maria da Silva

3 c

Instituto Federal de Goiás, Anápolis-GO, Brazil

CEOS.PP / ISCAP / P.PORTO, São Mamede de Infesta, Portugal

Instituto Federal de Goiás, Anápolis-GO, Brazil

Keywords: e-Commerce, Netflix, Consumer Behavior.

Abstract: The development of the Internet in the 1990s favoured the emergence of electronic commerce. Since then

streaming services have been gaining space. Netflix is currently leading the way. In Brazil and Portugal, the

company's popularity is noticeable. Thus, the aim of this study is to understand the behaviour of Netflix

consumers in both countries. The research methodology used in this study is classified as a case study. The

data collection was through a digital questionnaire made available to the Brazilian and Portuguese public,

which generated a non-probabilistic sample. The valid answers of this sample (210 Brazilians and 38

Portuguese) were analysed in a quantitative-qualitative approach using descriptive statistics and content

analysis. The results indicate that in both countries, women are the majority as Netflix clients, are relatively

young and have a higher level, however, Portuguese have a higher income than Brazilians. Brazilians use

Netflix longer than the Portuguese, before purchasing the company's services, users in both countries

consumed audio-visual works through Open TV and Pay TV. Influenced Netflix membership, family

members of clients in Brazil and friends of clients in Portugal. The most watched content in both countries is

a series, and the action genre is preferred by users, who watch the works on weekends, via broadband, through

Smart TV. The levels of customer satisfaction in both countries are high, never had problems with the

company and would indicate it to other people.

1 INTRODUCTION

Advances in the Internet have transformed the audio-

visual industry, bringing about changes in the way

consumers acquire and enjoy new film and TV

content. The changes were made possible by the use

of a new technology called streaming, a service for

online distribution of multimedia content. As

Dall'Orto & Silva (2017) point out, streaming is a tool

for reception and transmission of content, through the

Internet, which grows exponentially in the

entertainment market. The technology becomes more

popular every day, offering the consumer a

multiplicity of content in real time. With it,

consumers can buy services online and watch movies

and series at any time through screen devices such as

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2380-9836

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0882-3426

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0874-2004

cell phones, notebooks, desktops, tablets and

televisions (Lima, 2015).

In this respect, Netflix stands out in the world context

as the largest provider of films and television series

via streaming. Founded by Reed Hastings (1960-) and

Marc Randolph (1958-) in August 1997, in the city of

Scotts Valley in Silicon Valley, USA, the company

emerged as a DVD rental service by mail. Netflix

made the movie titles available on its institutional

website. The subscriber accessed the company's

website and chose the film. The receipt and return of

the DVDs were done via post. In 1999 the company

adopted the subscription system with unlimited rents.

The absence of a determined time for the return of the

DVDs was a success, as it brought more flexibility to

the user. In 2007 the company used the streaming

technology per monthly subscription, making

Oliveira, A., Azevedo, A. and Maria da Silva, S.

Streaming Services Consumer Behaviour: A Netﬂix User Case Study in Brazil and Portugal.

DOI: 10.5220/0010014801730180

In Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications (ICETE 2020) - Volume 3: ICE-B, pages 173-180

ISBN: 978-989-758-447-3

173

millions of movies and series available to subscribers

through the computer. Two years later the

organization started to make its films and series

available via TV, cell phones and tablets. (Saccomori,

2015)

In order to understand this new consumption

behaviour of users of audio visual content offered

online, the research presented in this article will seek

to answer the following main question: What are the

differences (if any) in the profile and behaviour of

Brazilian and Portuguese consumers regarding the

use of the Netflix service? To answer this question,

the general objective is to understand the behaviour

of consumers of Netflix services in Brazil and

Portugal based on the models of consumption

behaviour and purchase decision proposed by Kotler

& Keller (2012), Turban et al. (2015) and Laudon &

Traver (2017). The social relevance of this work lies

in the understanding of the consumption behaviour of

users of film and TV services in the online mode.

The rest of this article consists of the theoretical

framework, where we work on theoretical supports

related to marketing, e-commerce, consumer

behavior and consumer buying decision process.

Following, the methodology, including our

theoretical and methodological apparatus for

conducting the research. The article continues with

the results, where we apply the knowledge of our

bibliographic survey to understand the behavior of

Brazilian and Portuguese consumers on Netflix. The

article finishes with the conclusion.

2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Laudon & Traver (2017, p. 9) formally define e-

commerce as a set of "digitally activated commercial

transactions between organizations and between

organizations and individuals". These transactions

include all digitally-mediated operations that occur

mostly on the Internet, the Web, and other mobile

devices. It should be clarified that the Internet and the

World Wide Web are different structures. While the

Internet is a worldwide network of computers, the

Web is one type of Internet service, and one of the

most popular because it allows access to billions of

virtual pages. (Laudon & Traver, 2017).

In historical terms, Turban et al. (2015) place the

first electronic commercial applications at the end of

the 1970s, when financial institutions transferred

funds, electronically, among themselves. In this

context, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

technology was used, which expanded to other types

of transactions, from which e-commerce evolved to

other activities, such as travel booking and online

stock trading. (Turban et al., 2015).

Turban et al. (2015) mention that increasing

competitiveness in the market has placed as an

imperative task for companies the understanding of

customer needs and their consumption behaviour to

influence them in the purchase of services and

products. In this sense, the authors have developed

their own model of purchasing decision making

process, arguing that this process usually starts with

the awareness of the purchasing situation followed by

a positive attitude that ends with the consumer's

decision to buy and/or buy again.

For Turban et al. (2015) the purchasing decision

process is composed of the steps described following.

a) Need for identification: for a purchase process

to begin, the possible consumer must

recognise a need. This recognition can be

done in various ways, by internal stimuli

(hunger or thirst, for example) or by external

stimuli (advertising). The task of the

marketing server, at this point, is to make the

consumer perceive a need and convince

him/her that a certain product or service will

fill that need.

b) Search for information: after recognizing a

need, the prospective buyer will search for

information on how to meet this demand. At

this moment, there are two decisions that can

be separated or combined: what to buy and

from whom. This being clear, the consumer

will search in catalogs, advertisements,

promotions and in reference groups - family,

friends. Of course, online searches are also

useful at this stage because of the

comparison mechanisms they offer.

c) Evaluation of alternatives: searches for

products and services indicate viable

options. From these, the prospective buyer

will evaluate the alternatives, perhaps also

including term negotiations. At this stage, the

buyer will create and organize criteria to

make its final choice. For online consumers,

the criteria may include prices and product

features.

d) Purchase and delivery: After experiencing the

three previous phases, the buyer will make

the final choice of purchase. In this phase,

payment, delivery, purchase guarantees are

organized, among other factors.

e) Post-purchase activities: this last phase

consists of customer service and its

evaluation of the utility of the product. In

case of customer satisfaction in these two

E-BDT 2020 - Special Session on E-Business and Digital Transformation

174

aspects, the purchasing experience will be

positive and the consumer will tend to

collaborate with the disclosure of the product

and create the bond of loyalty, increasing the

chances of repeating purchases of products

of the brand acquired.

Laudon & Traver (2017) also present a model of

the purchase decision process, more focused on

online transactions, which we present following.

a) Awareness of need: graphic ads targeted at

potential buyers via social networks and e-

mails;

b) Search for information: from search engines

(Google etc.), online catalogs, visits to

shopping sites and ad views on social

networks and ¬e-mails;

c) Evaluation of alternatives: the weighting of

purchase options are made after taking into

account the previous aspects and also

through review and/or evaluation of products

by online users;

d) Real purchase decision: online promotions,

discounts, targeted e-mails and the

possibility of flash sales are essential for this;

e) Post-purchase contact with the company:

made through consultation with the

communities on the consumption of the

products purchased, newsletters, customer

emails, online updates and social networks.

The similarities in the nomenclatures and

concepts of the purchase decision process models of

the studies presented are noticeable, which give

theoretical and methodological support to our work.

3 METHODOLOGY

This research classifies itself, in relation to its

procedures, as a case study. The approach is

quantitative-qualitative of the descriptive type, since

it aims to describe the characteristics of Brazilian and

Portuguese consumers who use Netflix services,

establishing relationships between the categories

used in the consumer behaviour model of authors

Turban et al. (2015) and Laudon & Traver (2017).

As for the technical procedure, the research is

characterized as bibliographic, whose main sources

were materials already published, consisting of

books, dissertations and articles from scientific

journals made available in several electronic

databases (Marconi & Lakatos, 2011), which served

as theoretical support for the main topics related to

our main intention: to understand the behaviour of

Netflix consumers in Brazil and Portugal.

The data was collected through an online survey

application implemented in Google Forms. The

questionnaire, about the use of Netflix services by

Brazilians and Portuguese, presented 31 (thirty-one)

questions. Of these, 26 (twenty-six) were open and 5

(five) closed. This questionnaire was disclosed to the

Brazilian and Portuguese public for 28 (twenty-eight)

days, between August 30, 2019 and September 26,

2019. To the Brazilian public, the announcement was

made through the WhatsApp application and to the

Portuguese public, via e-mail and social networks

(Facebook). In all, the questionnaire received 48

responses from Portuguese and 214 responses from

Brazilians. Of those numbers, there were 210 valid

answers from Brazilians and 38 valid answers from

Portuguese.

The sampling coming from the application of the

questionnaire that we make available via Internet is

non-probabilistic of the snowball type, because we

disclose it as a transmission current in order to reach

as many respondents as possible.

The tabulation of quantitative data from the

questionnaires was achieved through Microsoft Excel

365 ProPlus and IBM SPSS - Statistical Package for

the Social Science applications.

For the analysis of the data obtained, we used

Descriptive Statistics. The presentation of these data

was made through tables and graphs, aiming to clarify

the interpretations and analysis.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this topic we will discuss the results obtained

through data collection via online questionnaire,

answered by Brazilian and Portuguese Netflix

consumers. First we will discuss the Sample

Characterization and then the Purchase Decision

Process.

4.1 Characterization of the Sample

In the distribution of respondents by nationality and

sex, it can be seen that women are in the majority in

both countries, with 60.5% participation in Portugal

and 59.5% in Brazil. The result suggests that women

predominate as Netflix clients, with similar

participation in the two countries in question as a

percentage.

Regarding nationality and age group, most

Brazilians are between 26 and 33 years old (27.6%).

In the case of the Portuguese, the majority is in the 34

to 41 age group, (26.2%). Regarding nationality and

marital status, most Brazilian respondents are married

Streaming Services Consumer Behaviour: A Netﬂix User Case Study in Brazil and Portugal

175

or in a stable union (61.0%). The majority of

Portuguese are single (50.0%). Regarding nationality

and level of education, it can be observed that both in

Brazil (51.0%) and in Portugal (52.6%), the majority

of respondents have higher education.

In what concerns nationality and income, in

Brazil, most of the respondents have income above 10

minimum wages (23,8%). In Portugal, most have

incomes between 2 and 4 minimum wages (36,8%).

For a better understanding of the level ofincom e, the

current value of the Brazilian minimum wage is R$

998.00 (nine hundred and ninety-eight reais) and the

current value of the Portuguese minimum wage is €

600.20 (six hundred euros and twenty cents), making

the conversion of these, R$ 998.00 equals € 222.60

and € 600, 20 equals R$ 2,690.94 (Valuta FX, 2019).

We sought to verify the time of use of Netflix

services among respondents. In Brazil, the majority

uses the service "between 2 years and 2 years and 11

months" (30.5%). In Portugal, most Portuguese use

the services for less time, "between 1 year and 1 year

and 11 months" (34.2%). This difference in time of

use of the Netflix service in both countries may be

related to the arrival of the company in each of them,

in Brazil, Netflix arrived in 2009, in Portugal, in

2015. (Tek.sapo, 2015).

4.2 Purchase Decision Process

The presentation of the results on the purchase

decision process will be made in the following order

of topics: Identification of Need, Search for

Information, Assessment of Alternatives, Purchase

and Delivery, Post Purchase Activities, as follows.

4.2.1 Identification of Need

At this stage, buyers, stimulated by internal or

external factors, recognize one or more needs and

then trigger the procurement procedure of goods

and/or services to meet those needs. As for the

analysis of data on the means of consumption of

audiovisual products by Netflix users prior to their

joining the company, Figure 1 reveals that in Brazil

and in Portugal, most consumers used "Pay TV" and

"Open TV".

In relation to other choices, we see that the third

largest number of Brazilians opted for “Downloads”

to consume audiovisual works. The third largest

number of Portuguese consumed via "Purchase or

rent". “Other streaming services” were seldom used

by Brazilians, as only 4.3% of these consumers

selected this option. The percentage of 13.2% of

Portuguese for this same option shows a greater use

Figure 1: Graphic Media Access to Audiovisual Content

Before Netflix Use - Brazil and Portugal (2019).

of other streaming services by respondents from

Portugal. In addition to these aspects, we see a

similarity, between the two countries, for the latter

options, selected by the minorities of Brazil and

Portugal.

4.2.2 Information Search

This phase begins with the consumer's interest, which

is open to receive information about the products and

services they believe may satisfy their needs. The

result of the analysis shows that most Brazilians and

Portuguese met Netflix "Through friends or family".

In the case of the Portuguese, they met the company

through "Internet/social networks".

Regarding the source of information about the

attributes and characteristics of Netflix's services, for

most Brazilians it was through "Friends/Families".

For most Portuguese, the source of information was

through "Internet searches/search sites” (Table 1).

The result presented corroborates what Kotler &

Keller (2012), Turban et al. (2015) and Laudon &

Traver (2017) advocate, which advocate that the

reference groups "family" and "friends" are decisive

influences in the purchasing process. Affective ties

with these loved ones collaborate, in a remarkable

way, so that consumers believe that the company

suggested by such entities offers a competent service

to meet their needs.

4.2.3 Assessment of Alternatives

This stage consists of the peculiar and rational

judgment that each consumer makes about which

purchases to make from the available options. This

procedure may also include reviewing and/or

evaluating the products offered. Regarding

consumption, Table 2 indicates that most Brazilian

and Portuguese consumers have Pay TV. However, in

Portugal the number that makes use of Pay TV is the

E-BDT 2020 - Special Session on E-Business and Digital Transformation

176

Table 1: How Netflix Was Known and Source of Information - Brazil and Portugal (2019).

Categories

Variables

Items

Brazil (%)

Portugal (%)

Assessment of

Alternatives

Use of Pay TV -

I currently have

I did, but I canceled the service

I never had

48,1

31,4

20,5

92,1

2,6

5,3

Decisive

Attributes for

Subscribing to

Netflix

Possibility to watch the favorite schedule

at the time or place that is convenient

Variety of films available

Variety of series in the catalogue

Possibility of sharing the account with

other people

Possibility of having several users using

the service with the same subscription

Updated movie catalog with frequent

releases

Possibility of having users with different

preferences using the service with the

same subscription

Offer films and series originally

produced by Netflix

Be able to use the service for one month

free of charge

Updated series catalog with frequent

releases

69,5

65,7

46,2

45,7

41,4

32,4

29,5

24,8

21,4

14,8

71,1

68,4

55,3

52,6

42,1

39,5

31,6

26,3

Figure 2: Devices Used for Consumption by Netflix - Brazil

and Portugal (2019).

Regarding the content preferences of consumers

in both countries, most Portuguese consumers

(92.1%) and most Brazilian consumers (78.1%)

watch more the series; followed by films for

Brazilians (74.3%) and documentaries for Portuguese

(39.5%).

The genre of action is, remarkably, the greatest

preference of consumers in both countries: 69.0% of

Brazilians and 71.1% of Portuguese; second, also for

both countries, comes comedy (53.3% of Brazilians

and 68.4% of Portuguese).

4.2.5 Post-buying Activities

The last phase of the consumption process is based on

customer service and the use of the product. At this

time, it is common to consult consumer communities

- via telephone, e-mails or social networks - to

observe some points such as customer satisfaction

and use of products after purchase. If the purchase

meets the needs and expectations of consumers, they

are satisfied and can even promote the product due to

their positive experiences (Kotler & Keller, 2012;

Turban et al., 2015; Laudon & Traver, 2017). Thus, it

was analyzed if consumers had problems using the

Netflix account, Figure 3 indicates that most

Brazilian and Portuguese consumers informed that

they never had problems with the company.

Figure 3: Problems with Netflix – Brazil and Portugal

(2019).

As for the level of consumer satisfaction with

Netflix, eight aspects of the services were analysed,

in Brazil, all of them showed a tendency to Satisfied;

in Portugal, consumer satisfaction was revealed in 6

of the aspects analysed. This result indicated the

possibility of Netflix recommendation by consumers,

E-BDT 2020 - Special Session on E-Business and Digital Transformation

178

since 76.2% of Brazilian consumers and 78.9% of

Portuguese consumers would indicate Netflix to

friends and/or family.

According to Coletii (2018), the survey conducted

by the American Customer Satisfaction Index in

2018, which measured the rates of streaming services

of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and YouTube Red -

consumers prefer streaming services, as 75.0% of

customers consulted are satisfied with these

companies against a total of 62.0% of satisfied Pay

TV customers. And for the streaming companies,

once again Netflix was the leader in the movement as

it included a total of 78.0% satisfied streaming

customers with the company versus an average of

76.0% satisfied YouTube Red customers and 75.0%

satisfied Amazon and Hulu customers (COLETII,

2018).

5 CONCLUSION

Considering the valid responses of Brazilian and

Portuguese consumers, we observed that it is women

who predominate as Netflix users and the education

levels of most consumers in our sample are high. The

data regarding income show that Portuguese

consumers, in general, receive better wages.

Nevertheless, it is the Brazilian consumers who use

Netflix the longest, which is explained by its arrival

in Brazil in 2009 and in Portugal in 2015.

Before adopting Netflix, a large part of consumers

in both countries used to consume audiovisual works

through Open TV and Pay TV. The majority of the

two countries also match the main need that guided

the demand for the service: desire for an

entertainment medium with quality, variety and

safety. We realized that the reference groups closest

to the users as friends and family had a decisive

influence on consumers choosing the company. In

addition to these convivial influences, certain

attributes of the company such as the possibility of

watching content at any time and place and the variety

and quality of films and series have contributed to the

subscriptions to its streaming services.

It was also discovered that most Brazilian and

Portuguese users consume the works on weekends

and/or holidays at night. The means of access for

most consumers in both countries is at home, via

broadband internet. Therefore, access via Smart TV

predominates. Concluding our analysis, we realize

that the satisfaction levels of customers of both

nationalities are high.

As for the limitations of our study, we recognize

that our sample is not very representative for both

countries. However, this numerical characteristic

does not invalidate this research, since we work with

the sample that was possible to collect, applying to it

theoretical and methodological knowledge of a

scientific nature, thus showing the legitimacy of this

type of knowledge to know and understand important

aspects of societies and their conduct , as in the case

investigated, consumption behavior.

In a possible future study, this limitation can be

solved by working with data from a broader and more

diverse sample. This may also coincide with different

research objectives, such as comparing Netflix

consumer profiles with consumer profiles of other

growing streaming companies, such as Amazon

Prime Video and HBO Go.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is financed by portuguese national funds

through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia,

under the project UIDB/05422/2020.

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