• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 15, 2017

According to a new survey from ThinkNow Research, presented by Adrianne Pasquarelli, the fast-growing Hispanic population, increasingly willing to spend both online and in stores, deployed about $1.4 trillion in buying power last year. Now Nielsen estimates the group plans to shop even more this holiday season than last year.And, even better for brands, Hispanics are more swayed by advertising than other groups, the report found. Hispanics plan to spend 33% more this holiday season than last year, says the report. The increase is surpassed only by African Americans, who plan to spend 39% more, according to the report.Only 46% of those purchases made by Hispanics will be in brick-and-mortar stores, a decrease from last year's 52% of in-store purchases, the survey found. It identified the top sites for Hispanics as Amazon, which introduced a Spanish-language version earlier this year, plus Target, Macy's and JC Penney.Mario Carrasco, co-founder and principal of ThinkNow, says "Hispanics are more likely to shop online and specifically in mobile," noting that 62% of Hispanics will be using smartphones for purchases this holiday, a greater number than the total market's 50%.Crucially for marketers says the report, 10% of the Hispanics surveyed are more likely to spend based on advertising, double the 5% of whites who find gift ideas based on marketing. That's good news for brands, opines the report, that have targeted the group. The 50 largest spenders in Hispanic media spent $3.7 billion on U.S. measured media last year, according to Ad Age's Datacenter.Jennifer Elena, founder of the Jelena Group, a marketing and PR firm, says that "Hispanics are very open to an emotional connection with brands… they want to engage with brands."Despite the growth of U.S.-born Hispanics, Carrasco notes that there's still a large population of foreign-born Hispanics, many of whom use advertising as an information vehicle to learn about brands, and share their findings with others; and Elena says that consumers should expect to see more family-driven messaging around traditions and customs this holiday season, as such marketing resonates with Hispanics even more than Spanish-language commercials.For additional information, please visit here.