• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 12, 2016

According to a Nielsen study covering the rise of the US Hispanic population, Hispanics are a rapidly growing influence in the US. The Hispanic population is expected to reach almost one-quarter (24%) of the total US population by 2040, and the study looks into the media habits of this all-important group, says the report.

Continuing, the report says that Hispanic power and influence is surging, as 50% of recent U.S. population growth has come from Hispanics and the U.S. Latino population, which is expected to double within the next two generations. And today’s significantly-younger, increasingly U.S. born, dynamic Hispanic population is shaping the American mainstream by maintaining strong ties to its cultures of origin, developing an “ambicultural” personality that is at once entirely American and entirely of one’s culture of origin, says the report.

Today’s younger generations of Hispanics are predominantly bilingual and, with each new generation, more English dominant, continues the report. Currently, 40.6 million Hispanics over the age of five speak English well, and 96% of Hispanics under 18 are either bilingual or English dominant. In total, 55% of Hispanics are bilingual, while 27% are English dominant and 19% are Spanish dominant.

Where Hispanics over-index significantly is in online radio, says Marketing Charts in a separate review. In the analysis of 18-34-year-olds, the report shows that Hispanics are: 25% more likely than non-Hispanic whites to have listened to internet radio in the past 30 days; 42% most likely to have listened to a local radio station online in the past 30 days; and 26^ more likely to have listened to any radio online in the prior 30 days.

Those trends are repeated among non-Millennials, with Hispanics over-indexing their non-Hispanic white counterparts to an even greater degree in their past-30 day use of internet radio (62% more likely), local radio stations online (62% more likely) or any radio online (54% more likely).

Marketers are taking notice and crafting dual-language communications that speak to both the American spirit and the Latino soul, says the report. To better understand these young and vibrant consumers, this report on the Latino consumer examines the latest trends in Hispanic demographics, consumption and media behaviors.

With a record number of Hispanic-Americans eligible to vote this year, its application in politics is obvious, concludes the report. But the same data is equally relevant to marketing and advertising campaigns in any sphere, as a fundamental message of this report concerns the sheer size of the Hispanic population as a percentage of all Americans.

For additional information from Nielsen, please visit here.