Fast Growth of Hispanic Market in South Florida
By María C. Angel - National Sales Manager, Sun-Sentinel

In the last 5 years Hispanics have transformed the way products and services are marketed in the United States. No longer can companies design massive marketing and advertising campaigns without considering the diversity of the individuals in this market.

South Florida is the third largest Hispanic market in the United States, preceded by Los Angeles and New York. The largest concentration of Hispanics with education beyond high school resides in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. The Miami/Fort Lauderdale area also has the highest per capita Hispanic buying power and retail sales among the nation’s 50 Hispanic Markets. At $ 11,531, Miami/Fort Lauderdale’s per capita Hispanic buying power is 20% greater than that of Los Angeles, the nation’s largest Hispanic market. Per capita Hispanic retail sales are 38% higher than Los Angeles.

The Miami/Fort Lauderdale area has the largest percentage of foreign-born Hispanics. Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco, three of the top Hispanic markets in the country is heavily Mexican. The Miami/Fort Lauderdale market is very different. Cubans, at 51% of the Hispanic population, represent the dominant group, but many other Hispanics, such as Nicaraguans, Colombians and other South Americans also represent sizeable percentages of the population.

Hispanics in Broward County
Twelve percent of South Florida’s Hispanics reside in Broward County. According to the census, between 1990 and 1999, the growth of Hispanics in South Broward was 77%. This increase started with Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Today more Hispanics are moving directly to Broward from South America. The reason for this is that there are already estab-lished communities of Colombians, Venezuelans, Puerto Ricans, Peruvians, etc.

Hispanics have been able to maintain their identity with the presence of national networks of Spanish language TV and radio broadcasters. However, Hispanics are not a homogenous group. Hispanics come from at least a dozen different countries, from different social classes, races, religions and ancestors. They also vary in how much they have adopted the U.S mainstream culture and English. How long they have lived in the US, the types of neighborhood in which they reside, and age influence the degree of acculturation. In comparison with the Miami-Dade market, southwest Broward Hispanics are more likely to be bi-lingual in both English and Spanish.

Hispanics residing in Broward are more concentrated in Miramar, Weston, Pembroke Pines and Hollywood. Compared to the Hispanic population in Miami-Dade, Broward Hispanics have a higher average income and median household value.

As the Hispanic population continues to grow in Broward, there is a need to better understand the diversity of this ethnic group. Increasingly to reach Hispanics it is necessary to segment them by income and by cultural composition.

Sources: Strategy Research Corporation 2000, 2000 US Hispanic market, Geoscape International, 1998, 2000 Census. Ms. Angel can be reached at mangel@tribune.com.