Commentary

Predominant Language and Birth Location Segments Hispanic Community Shopping

According to an analysis of the BIGresearch® Simultaneous Media Usage Survey, the message is loud and clear to marketers serving, the U.S. Hispanic community: "one-size-fits-all marketing won't work." The study finds that there are key similarities and differences every marketer should know about Hispanic groups in America including those households that speak English a majority of the time and those who don't, as well as Hispanics who were born in the U.S. and those who were not. ??

For example, shopping and media preferences of English dominant Hispanics (speak English more than 50% of the time) and those born in the U.S. are mostly similar. Likewise the preferences of Spanish dominant Hispanics (speak English 50% or less of the time) and those not born in the U.S. are very similar.

Shopping Preferences by Selected Demographics

 

English Dominant Hispanics and U.S. Born Hispanics

Spanish Dominant Hispanics and Non-U.S. Born Hispanics

Top 3 Stores Shopped

for Women's Clothing       

 

Macy's

Walmart

Kohl's

Macy's

JCPenney

Walmart 

Top 3 Stores Shopped

for Electronics      

 

Best Buy

Walmart

Target

Best Buy

Walmart

Amazon

Top 3 Radio Formats

      

 

Rock

Top 40/Pop

Hip-Hop

Latin

Rock

Hip-Hop

Source: BIGresearch, May 2009

When it comes to new media, English dominant and U.S.-born Hispanics are more likely to text on their cell phones and use TiVo/DVR while Spanish dominant Hispanics and those not born in the U.S. are more likely to blog and use instant messaging. ??

New Media Usage

 

Hispanics

 

English Dominant

U.S. Born

Spanish Dominant

Non-U.S. Born

Blog

12.9%

12.7%

20.2%

20.1%

Instant Message

29.9%

29.5%

44.1%

38.7%

Text Message on Cell Phone

49.6%

49.3%

44.7%

44.4%

TiVO/DVR

29.7%

30.1%

21.2%

22.9%

Source: BIGresearch, May 2009

Likely to read traditional media:

·      English dominant (94%) and U.S Born (93.5%) Hispanics are slightly more likely to watch TV in an average week than Spanish dominant (92%) and Non-U.S. born (90.8%) Hispanics

·      The latter groups are more likely to read the newspaper... Spanish dominant (64.4%) and Non-U.S. born (62.7%) v. English dominant (55.7%) and U.S Born (54.5%)??

Mariana Toledo, Marketing and Research Director, Televisa Publishing + Digital, said "... this data show us the power of Hispanics as consumers... (and) how crucial it is for marketers to understand the importance of segmenting Hispanics... to effectively reach all the niche markets... "

One thing all these segments have in common is that they are planning to buy. Whether it's a car, electronics or vacation travel, Hispanics outpace the general market when it comes to purchase intentions. ??

Plan to Buy Within Next 6 Months

 

English Dominant

U.S. Born

Spanish Dominant

Non-U.S. Born

Adults 18+

Car

15.9%

14.7%

16.8%

19.6%

11.8%

Computer

24.6%

22.7%

27.9%

28.4%

18.6%

TV

22.9%

21.1%

20.0%

22.4%

16.1%

Vacation

24.5%

23.1%

28.2%

26.1%

21.6%

Source: BIGresearch, May 2009

To access the full complimentary report as a PDF file, including purchases intentions and top media influences, please visit BIGresearch here:

 

2 comments about "Predominant Language and Birth Location Segments Hispanic Community Shopping".
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  1. John Jainschigg from World2Worlds, Inc., May 14, 2010 at 10:19 a.m.

    These numbers are really interesting.

    So I'm looking for the take-away, and I keep staring at the data from different angles, and like as or not, I keep coming back with the vague (or in some continua, distinct) impression that non-US-born and Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more inquisitive, more intellectually active, more literate, and more enthusiastic consumers.

    I'm not sure the differences are distinct enough for national marketers to worry about segmenting populations, as Ms. Toledo of Televisa recommends. About the biggest difference in kind (as opposed to degree) is the appearance of (American, presumably) Top 40 on the radio playlists of US-born/English-forward Hispanics. I'd caution radio monetizers _not_ to assume that this necessarily belies a latent demand for Britney and Lady GaGa sides in global Hispanic markets.

    On the other hand, it worries me that coming to America and learning English appears to have a distinct stupefying effect on immigrants, making them 100% more likely to listen to (US) Top 40, half as likely to blog or communicate in full sentences, and 33% less likely to read newspapers. Scary, no?

  2. Rob Frydlewicz from DentsuAegis, May 14, 2010 at 11:43 a.m.

    The data I've used from MRI & Simmons show English-speaking & US-born Hispanics are much more likely to be better educated and have higher incomes than Spanish speaking and non-US born Hispanics.

    Additionally, a lot of Hispanic product purchases & media habits (especially English dominant) seem to be driven more by their relatively youthful age skew (i.e. median age is about 10 years younger than non-Hispanics) than their ethncity.

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