Posts Tagged: Hispanic consumer
Is The U.S. Hispanic Market A Growth Market?
The Hispanic market has traditionally been defined by most marketers as the growing population of foreign-born immigrants in the U.S. who have emigrated from Spanish-speaking Latin American countries (mainly Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean).
While the market definition has generally expanded during the last 10-15 years to include native-born second- and third-generation Hispanics, the “core” Hispanic market has been characterized by the unacculturated and partially acculturated Latin American immigrants who have represented separate and distinct market opportunities for companies to reach and sell to. The defining characteristic of this market has been the growth and use of Spanish language media and advertising, predominantly consumed by this “core” Spanish-speaking immigrant consumer.
Over the last 30 years, the Hispanic market has exploded, growing from 14.8 million in 1980 to 55 million in 2014, according to Pew Research, but 55% of that growth was driven by immigration in the 1980s and '90s that exceeded U.S. births. However, around 2004, immigration into the U.S. by Hispanics started a steady decline. In 2016, only 28% of the roughly 1 million annual immigrants into the U.S. were Hispanic. Starting in 2010, Asian immigration started to outpace Hispanic immigration.
Looking ahead, the percentage of Hispanic immigration is forecast to decrease steadily to 26% and potentially drop down below 25% by 2020, Pew found. This could trend even farther downward considering the current political environment in the United States.
So, while new Hispanic immigration into the U.S. is still forecast to top 250,000 per year, another trend, reverse immigration, primarily among Mexicans returning from the U.S., is forecast to continue at levels of approximately 200,000 per year. The result is that net Hispanic immigration into the U.S. will be anemic at best, with growth rates of less than 0.4% per year or less than 80,000 per year. This is not a growth market.
While geopolitical and economic factors may change this trend, the next five years look bleak for “core” Hispanic market population growth in sharp contrast to the go-go '80s and '90s when the market grew rapidly.
Overall, the U.S. Hispanic population is forecast to grow, but that growth will come primarily from U.S. births. Which leads to a critical question: Is this U.S.-born Hispanic market a separate and distinct market from the foreign-born immigrant Hispanic market? This question goes to the heart of the future of Hispanic marketing. I would argue that this U.S.-born, acculturated Hispanic is separate and distinct and the strategies and tactics that worked for marketing to immigrant Hispanics the last 30 years will not work for native Hispanics.
The numbers paint a very clear picture: there are two Hispanic markets — one that is stagnant and aging and one that is growing and getting younger. As I've argued numerous times over the years, the old way of Hispanic marketing is becoming irrelevant. A new way forward is required to address this new vibrant market. A new Hispanic market requires a new approach to Hispanic marketing.
Source: Published originally on mediapost.com as Is The U.S. Hispanic Market A Growth Market? by Jose Villa, May 25, 2017.
Immigrants arriving in the US
Why Brands Still Don't Have a True Hispanic Marketing Strategy
You have likely read the numerous articles and studies that highlight Hispanic consumers in the United States. Particularly, analysts and media tout the incredible growth, young demographics, amplified spending power and hyperactive digital and mobile consumption of the Hispanic market – all of which make it one of the most attractive demographics for marketers. However, U.S. Hispanics are vastly underserved, and the opportunities to reach them through digital remain largely untapped.
According to a recent Google study that surveyed a select panel of senior-level marketers to see if the U.S. Hispanic audience was on their roadmap, most saw 11 to 25% of their company's growth coming from this demographic in the next three to five years. Still, many brands surveyed didn't have a marketing strategy for engaging this audience.
I can't be the only marketer that finds it baffling how the U.S. Hispanic market can be the most attractive and yet one of the most underserved at that same time. Working in Hispanic marketing for over a decade, I have heard over and over from marketers about the importance of this consumer group, but in 2016 very few are working towards a strategy to specifically and meaningfully reach us in a culturally relevant manner.
Here are two reasons why:
1. The “Total Market” Syndrome
With the development and rise of “Total Market” strategies over the past few years, corporations and marketers have found an excuse to generalize strategies to reach the diverse US market as a whole. Essentially, Total Market refers to a melting pot of marketing strategies that are intended to speak to universal truths while gaining efficiencies.
These efficiencies, however, inherently ignore an important fact: Hispanics are greatly influenced by strong and distinct cultural values that guide their thoughts, actions and, ultimately, motivations to buy. Implementing a total market strategy may save money, but often leads to a less engaging message that lacks in authenticity and leaves the Latino consumer asking “what's in it for me?” The brands that understand this and are making an effort to foster genuine connections based on key cultural differences are winning Hispanic consumers' loyalty and dollars compared to those who take a one-size-fits-all approach.
2. No Hablo Español (or Language Matters)
As marketers spend more time investigating the Hispanic market, they have come to understand that the majority of this group's population recent growth comes from U.S. births—meaning more and more of the population is proficient in English. The problem is that half of marketers believe that Hispanic marketing means marketing solely in Spanish. The other half assume that since the Hispanic audience is bilingual or English-dominant, they can be effectively reached through the same advertising and strategies developed for general market audiences.
Neither is the correct approach; marketers end up overlooking the important role that cultural ties and community connections play to this Hispanic consumer. Cultural nuances are often more important than language. While language can be a trigger, culturally- relevant content and messaging can engage the entire spectrum of the Latino audience.
I often compare targeting Hispanics versus the general market to the differences in targeting men and women. Marketers would not likely use the same piece of content to reach and connect with a male as they would a female (just ask Dollar Shave Club). The voice, experience and reasons to buy can be completely different. The same goes for the Hispanic market.
Source: Published originally on MediaPost.com Why Brands Still Don't Have a True Hispanic Marketing Strategy , by Erin Conrad, December 29, 2016.
Hispanic Influence Reaches New Heights in the U.S.
The multi-faceted Hispanic consumer is widely recognized as a cornerstone of any growth initiative for virtually all U.S. industries, and for good reason.
From the Ballot Box to the Grocery Store, Nielsen's fifth report on the Latino consumer in the annual Diverse Intelligence Series, shows that Hispanic power and influence is surging: 50% of U.S. population growth from 2010 to 2015 has come from Hispanics, and the U.S. Census expects the U.S. Latino population to more than double within the next two generations.
Almost 57 million strong, Hispanics represent almost 18% of the U.S. population, and they're expected to continue showing growth, reaching 24% of the population by 2040 and 29% by 2060. Despite slowing immigration and reduced birth rates, Hispanics will drive the majority of all U.S. future growth for the foreseeable future. The U.S. Census projects Latinos to account for a full 65% of the nation's population growth over the next 45 years. This means the U.S. Latino population will more than double, adding 62 million people, and will reach more than 119 million people by 2060.
Meanwhile, the compound effect of Hispanic growth and the decline of the non-Hispanic white population due to aging and lower birth rates will result in non-Hispanic whites declining from 62% of the total population in 2015 to 44% by 2060; their contribution to total growth will decline by 17% from 2015 to 2060.
Two Languages Are Better Than One
Younger generations of Hispanics (under age 55) are predominantly bilingual, and with each new generation, more English-dominant. Currently, 40.6 million Hispanics over the age of 5 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. Spanish is still spoken by many of the English-dominant speakers, however, and the growing importance of Spanish makes dual-language competence a benefit for marketers in mainstream America.
Sixty-three percent of Spanish-dominant Hispanics are age 35 and older, compared with only 4% of those under age 18. Over half (58%) of Hispanics under 18 are bilingual. Despite increasing proficiency in English, messaging in Spanish and in-culture is still very relevant to younger generations.
Hispanic Buying Power Growth Outpaces the Total Population
In 2015, Hispanics controlled $1.3 trillion in buying power, an amount larger than the GDP of Australia or Spain, according the Selig Center for Economic Growth, up 167% since the turn of the century. The increase is more than twice the 76% growth in non-Hispanic buying power during the same period. The center's projections show U.S. Hispanic buying power continuing this trend, reaching $1.7 trillion by 2020.
Latinas have made the most dramatic gains in education, as college enrollment rates among female Hispanics graduating from high school now outpace both non-Hispanic whites and African-Americans. Seventy-four percent of Latinas who graduated high school in 2012-2014 are now enrolled in college, higher than non-Hispanic whites (73%) and African-Americans (65%), according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The higher education level is helping drive positive economic results, including rising household income and greater household expenditures.
According to U.S. Census data, the average Hispanic household income had increased to $42,396 in 2014 from $40,946 in 2009, and the percentage of Hispanics with a household income greater than $50,000 increased to 43% in 2014 from 30% in 2000. Additionally, income levels for both U.S.-born and foreign-born households have increased; U.S.-born households with incomes exceeding $50,000 increased to 48% in 2014 from 33% in 2000, while foreign-born households with incomes exceeding $50,000 increased to 38% from 26%.
Source:Published originally on Nielsen.com. Hispanic Influence Reaches New Heights in the U.S., August 23, 2016.
Growing gap between younger and older Hispanics
The assimilation of Hispanics into American culture is having an interesting side effect. It's widening the gap between generations, emphasizing the growing differences between the young and old, in a demographic where they often live in the same household.
Younger Hispanics have very different media preferences than their grandparents and even their parents. They have their own unique language preference. And they're much more educated.
This has over time shaped a unique demographic group that advertisers should be courting quite differently than the older one.
A new report from Nielsen takes an in-depth look at the Hispanic demographic, in which these growing differences emerge.
It's a fascinating portrait of a group that will account for “virtually all (93 percent) of the growth of the nation's working-age population between now and 2050.”
Right now there are nearly 57 million U.S. Hispanics. By 2020 that number will balloon to 119 million, or just 60 million shy of the number of non-Hispanic whites, who are on the decline.
Here's a look at three areas where the differences between younger and older Hispanics are most stark.
Language
Language is an age-old struggle for those targeting Hispanics. For years previous to 2000, much of the U.S. Hispanic population were immigrants, and they spoke Spanish, the language of their native country, usually Mexico.
But the vast majority of American Hispanics are now born in this country, and that's led to a language divide.
Nielsen says that among adults 55 and over, 35 percent are Spanish-dominant, compared to a mere 4 percent of those under 18, and 14 percent of Millennials.
It's not just Spanish where the differences come, though. Less than half of 55-and-overs are bilingual, while 58 percent of those under 34 speak both languages.
The takeaway: This gap will continue to grow with greater assimilation and as fewer kids grow up in homes with foreign-born Hispanics.
Media
This is the area where young and old most differ. Hispanic Millennials are voracious consumers of new media. For example, 91 percent use social media compared to 64 percent of those over 35.
Interestingly, young Hispanics' media device ownership closely mimics non-Hispanics rather than Hispanics over 35. So, for instance, 88 percent of Hispanic Millennials have smartphones compared to 86 percent of non-Hispanics and 68 percent of Hispanics over 35.
And there are vast difference between consumption of traditional media such as cable and broadcast, as detailed in the chart below.
The takeaway: When targeting this demographic, it's important to do it by age group to determine which media to use.
Education
Young Hispanics are more educated than their older counterparts, and becoming more so every year.
Sixty-seven percent of Hispanic high school graduates enrolled in college from 2012 to 2014.
“The number of 18-to-24-year-old Hispanics enrolled in a two- or four-year college more than tripled between 1993 and 2013: 2.2 million Hispanics enrolled in 2013 versus 728,000 in 1993. That trend has made Hispanics the largest diversity group on U.S. college campuses,” Nielsen notes.
There are more Hispanics to seek out these opportunities, for sure, but the growth is still stunning.
The takeaway: This will result in a more affluent Hispanic demographic going forward. Already, the number of Hispanic households making $100,000 annually has more than doubled from 2000 to 2014.
This article is part of an ongoing Media Life series entitled “Catching the next big wave: Hispanic media.” You can read previous stories by clicking here
Source: Published originally on medialifemagazine.com as Growing gap between younger and older Hispanics, by the editors of Media Life, September 1, 2016
Hispanics own credit cards, but prefer other payment methods
While more than a third of U.S. consumers use credit cards most often to make purchases, just 19 percent of U.S. Hispanics do the same. That is not to say members of this growing and increasingly influential minority group do not own credit cards. In fact, nearly 60 percent have one in their wallets.
Why, then, do Hispanic credit cardholders appear to prefer other methods of payment, such as cash and debit cards?
It's an issue I've studied for several years as part of an Affiliates Management Company work group. The group counts Corey Skadburg, a credit card expert and the director of credit and risk for Coopera sister company TMG Financial Services, among its members.
“The majority of credit card products on the market today are not geared toward the specific needs of the Hispanic market, particularly for those individuals who may not have traditional credit or for whom fees are a major turn off,” Skadburg said. “It's easy to see how that lack of focused attention and customization can feed an apathetic relationship. But this is a market the industry simply can't ignore. We expect to see more credit cards issuers – both large and small – funnel increased resources toward getting it right with Hispanic cardholders in 2016.”
As Coopera has advised work groups, steering committees and industry associations, it's important to recognize the Hispanic market is multifaceted. We know, for instance, not all Hispanic consumers lack traditional credit. We know there are niche and subgroups who all want different things from their financial products, including credit cards. This will be an important consideration as the credit union and other card-issuing industries evolve to serve Hispanic consumers.
Looking ahead, it's possible we may see Hispanic consumers who own a credit card become more active as digital wallets (at least those powered by credit cards) become more popular. That's because Hispanic consumers tend to over-index on all things mobile. Many are mobile banking users and a sizable percentage say they have used mobile payments in the last 12 months. As Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay are accepted in more places, we may see more Hispanic credit cardholders activate, use and become increasingly loyal to their cards, albeit through a completely separate brand. Of course, credit cards are not the only payment method available to mobile payment users, so it will be interesting to see how Hispanic consumers, in particular, chose to configure their digital wallets.
Source: CooperaConsulting.com, Hispanics Own Credit Cards, But Prefer Other Payment Methods, by Posted by Miriam De Dios, February 18, 2016.