• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 27, 2006

Age and date of arrival are the most important factors shaping the media consumption patterns of first- and second-generation immigrants. This has direct implications for marketers that want to reach young people in these markets otherwise defined by ethnicity and language. And while the general evolution parallels generational shifts in the mainstream population, there are some important (and unexpected) areas of difference.

Elena Marroquin, vice president and director of strategy for Tapestry, a multicultural marketing firm, confirmed that in the nation's fast-growing Hispanic population, "above all, their date of arrival and the age they were when they arrived are the most important factors forming their cultural frame of reference."

For example, Marroquin pointed out that the language of preference flips between recent immigrants and their children: while 73% of Hispanic immigrants favor Spanish, only 25% of their children do. That number falls to 15% by the next generation.

Aside from language preference, media consumption patterns are also shifting generationally within the Hispanic population. Of 15.7 million total Hispanic Internet users in 2005, 9.1 million were under 35, and about 6 million were under the age of 25. Meanwhile, 60% of Hispanic Internet users say they use the Internet to find news about their local communities as well as their homelands.

In an interesting twist, Spanish-language Internet portals seem to have more sway than their English-language counterparts. After Univision, Yahoo! en Espanol is the most popular Spanish-language Web site in the United States. In May, it announced it was merging its site with Telemundo--one of the "big three" Spanish-language television networks.

But not all immigrant groups fit in the Hispanic mold.

In the Chinese immigrant population, for example, distinct patterns of settlement have given big boosts to both the Internet and specific types of traditional media. With recent immigration characterized by high levels of education and earning potential, Chinese immigrants have begun creating affluent "ethnoburbs" outside of major metropolitan areas around North America.

These, in turn, have spurred a boom in new Chinese-language radio stations and weekly newspapers, usually distributed for free by Chinese businesses.

Chinese radio in particular has benefited from the arrival of immigrants speaking different Chinese dialects, which are identical in writing but different when spoken. Chinese-language radio is an especially effective advertising medium for the myriad local businesses that benefit from shared ethnic identity, including Chinese doctors, dentists, and financial advisors. Younger Chinese entrepreneurs and consumers are important audiences for these traditional media.

Some immigrant groups remain less visible than others, usually for cultural and economic reasons. For example, while their populations are roughly the same, America's several million Haitian immigrants don't cut the same profile as the Chinese population. Nonetheless, early investigations suggest that media consumption among these groups resembles other populations--in its broad outlines at least.

According to Gergana Koleva, a journalist who has spent time in Haiti and Haitian-American communities in the U.S.: "In New York and Miami, for example, where the largest concentrations of Haitian-Americans are to be found, the older generations favor traditional media such as radio stations and newspapers, broadcasting or publishing in Haitian Creole." By contrast, "second- and third-generation immigrants have thoroughly embraced the Internet."