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In an age of continual emphasis on creating and maintaining niches and market segmentation, I am amazed to see that such an obvious target as the Hispanic market is so often overlooked. If you aren't already doing Hispanic research, you might want to consider it. If you are doing it, you may want to consider if you are doing enough. Here's why.
The Size of the Market
My guess is that you don't need me to tell you just how fast the U.S. Hispanic market is growing. But here are a few staggering numbers: By the year 2010, Hispanics will be the largest minority in the U.S., representing 20% of our country's total population. Should I live so long, projections are that California will be 50% Hispanic before I turn 90 (okay, I guess I have to tell you that I am 42 now for that statistic to have much meaning). Hispanics currently spend an estimated $200 billion on goods and services in the U.S.
Personal Impact
The growth of the Hispanic market is having more of an impact on your personal life each year as well. Your local cable provider is likely to have at least two or three channels dedicated to Hispanic programming. Ballots and other promotional materials are sent to you in both English and Spanish. California's second highest ranking government executive is Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. And perhaps in your own company, as in mine, you are seeing Hispanics rise to prominent private-sector positions in greater numbers than ever before.
The Never Maturing Market
As if the size of the market wasn't enough of a compelling reason to target Hispanics, add to this that a relatively high percentage of the Hispanic marketplace never matures, that is never assimilates. Simply put, the market is doubtful to become so "Americanized" that you can just "wait it out" and continue to employ the same old Anglo advertising and promotional messages. Why? Because the growth that we are talking about here is largely due to projections for continued immigration. An understanding of the implications of this on-going cycle means that marketers have to continually generate awareness of their products, educate how to use their products and win the trust of these newcomers to the U.S. marketplace.
The Nuances of Hispanic Research
Before you rush off to conduct your research, be sure to understand the nuances of Hispanic research. First, it's more than simply translating an English survey into Spanish. Remember that Hispanics include a wide variety of cultures tracing their roots to Central and South America, Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico. So, while they may all speak "Spanish," many words have completely different meanings. For this reason, the Hispanic Perspectives division of Q & A Research organized a "translation team" with representatives from Peru, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
The intent is to produce survey questions that are universally understood regardless of the respondent's particular subculture.
But wording alone isn't enough. The types of questions asked are also an important consideration. A simple example is the use of 10-point scales so common in Anglo research. While you and I may have grown up rating products, services, satisfaction and even people using such a scale, Hispanics are not accustomed to expressing themselves in this manner. Certain methodologies, when used to target Hispanics, are also more effective than others. Mail surveys, for example, are notoriously ineffective (see Table 1 below).
|
Door-to-Door |
Telephone |
Intercepts |
| Accessibility to Hispanics |
75% |
30-85% |
5-10% |
| Seasonal Impact |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Utilization of Visuals |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
| Easy Control of Data Collection |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Access to Less Acculturated Hispanics |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Access to More Acculturated Hispanics |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Random Sample |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Survey Length Limitations |
No |
Yes |
No |
Source: Se Habla Espanol Hispanic America 2000 Convention, November 1998
When thinking of the pros and cons of different methodological approaches to surveying Hispanic markets, you will want to reference the grid above. As you can see, Door-to-Door and Telephone interviewing have the greatest accessibility to Hispanics and are therefore more likely to deliver truly representative data. Other trade-offs are shown. |
For many Hispanics, formal education has never been an emphasis. In fact, the average Latino immigrant has the equivalent of a sixth grade education. Researchers argue that all surveys, regardless of the audience, should be simple; but how might you word your next questionnaire if your audience consisted of respondents with the literacy level of an average twelve-year-old?
Interpreting the data is a task best left to research consultants who, themselves, have personal experience as a part of this culture and who have the competency to apply appropriate analytical techniques.
The bottom line is that Hispanics think differently, react differently, feel differently and have different core values than Anglos. They represent huge market potential and are just waiting to embrace your product or service, but failure to remember these cultural distinctions could mean never taking advantage of this lucrative customer segment.
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