Ofertas.cu: Cuban ads from an institutional approach

• In Event: Online Advertising and the Politics of Consumption

Abstract

Two of the most popular ad sites consulted by Cubans are Revolico.com and Porlalivre.com. In these online services, Cubans buy and sell almost anything from food to technology gadgets to cars and real estate properties. Recently, the site Ofertas.cu was created by the Cuban National Information Agency (AIN), as a national alternative for publishing and consuming ads. Despite its short time in production, Ofertas.cu shows a steady adoption rate and a growing popularity among Cuban users.
In this research we perform a comparison between these three online resources, in terms of the volume of published ads, the market segments with greater activity, and the characteristics of the products and services offered. In particular, we analyze the price tendencies for the most popular products, and the significant differences between those prices in the different sites. Since none of these sites offer a platform for electronic payment, the actual final transactions are not published. This leads immediately to an interesting question: are Ofertas.cu users actually posting the real prices they intend to sell their products or services? The existence of significant differences between the prices of the same products in Ofertas.cu compared to Revolico.com and Porlalivre.com is an interesting indicator of the behavior of buyers and sellers in these markets.
With this analysis, we intend to shed light about the role that Ofertas.cu plays in the Cuban electronic market, and possible ways to extend its reach and improve its usefulness.

Author

• Alejandro Piad