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Hispanic Consumers Continue To Grow In Importance

Marketers trying to reach Hispanic Millennials should not discount the influence of the older generation, says Monica Gil, Nielsen’s senior vice president and general manager, multicultural growth and strategy.

Hispanics over age 50 are a growing group in an increasingly younger multicultural society, according to Nielsen’s Hispanic Consumer Report. The report examines trends including content consumption, purchasing power and media engagement.

There are 11 million Hispanics over the age of 50 and this number is expected to grow to 17 million in the next 10 years and 42 million by the year 2050.   

“Hispanics over the age of 50 have not aged out, but are aging up with an influence that extends to multiple generations,” Gil tells Marketing Daily. “They are living healthier active lives and upending outdated stereo types about aging and retirement.”

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In fact, this segment has lower mortality rates in seven of the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the report. Hispanic-Americans life expectancy is 83.5 years compared to 78.7 for non-Hispanic Whites. This means more buying and viewing power, for longer.

Communal living arrangements provide some significant mutual benefits when it comes to caring for children, cooking, transportation, and shopping. This means greater disposable income, more shared meals and family experiences as well as unique watching and buying behavior, according to the report.

Four in 10 Hispanics ages 55+ lived in multigenerational households, compared with just over a fifth of the total population in that age group.

“This is a cohort that enjoys living with their extended family,” Gil says. “An opportunity exists for marketers to connect with younger Latinos by way of older Latinos, who continue to culturally influence them.”

Marketers have a tendency to count older consumers out.  These high potential consumers go largely unaddressed by marketers once they age out of the popular 18-49 cohort, and that’s a missed opportunity, Gil says.

“Marketers can reinvigorate their relationships with older Hispanic consumers by speaking their language, literally and figuratively,” she says.

Hispanics 65+ are the most bilingual of any age group except 18- to-29-year-olds. They are also the most Spanish-dominant -- maintaining the use of Spanish in many households -- and in many ways this group has established a cultural cadence when it comes to viewing and purchasing preferences, establishing what can and cannot be culturally compromised, Gil says.

“While Millennials continue to be important, older Hispanics’ role as influencers leaves an open opportunity for marketers as they look for ways to appeal the entire family,” she says. “Given that Hispanics 50+ are the original innovators, marketers and advertisers who want to fully connect with Hispanics should consider incorporating authentic and socially responsible messaging into their media strategies to better reach Hispanics as a whole.”

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