A New Perspective on Hispanics in the US
By Gonzalo Soruco & Tony Moreno - Market Research of the Americas

What are the characteristics of the Hispanic population in the United States? What are their purchasing habits and consumer trends? What brand, product or service do they buy? How will they react towards a specific advertising or marketing campaign? Advertisers and Marketing experts targeting Hispanics know these are very hard questions to answer because of the diverse background of the U.S. population.

Understanding these differences can help us to develop more precise marketing tools, focusing on the right type of consumer, or adapting the advertising to cater to a broader range of Hispanics.

As researchers and marketing consultants, we’ve embraced a new perspective, which places Hispanics in one of three categories according to their basic behaviors and attitudes: Core, Progressive and Mainstreamed. Although in-depth research is still being conducted, here are some of the characteristics of each category:

Core Hispanic: The Core Hispanic “thinks,” “feels,” and “acts” Hispanic in and out of the home. He/she is Spanish-language dependent. Uses Spanish-language media, especially TV. An estimated 20 percent of the Hispanic population of the United States may belong to this segment. Some “transitional” Hispanics are also included in this category; these are Hispanics migrating from other countries that have been in the States for less than two years. Many of these will soon adapt to the next category.

Progressive Hispanic: The Progressive Hispanic lives in both worlds: Anglo and Hispanic. For example, during the day, at work, he/she blends easily with the Anglo culture in dress, mannerisms, attitudes, and behaviors. During the evening while socializing with friends he/she blends well with other Hispanics also in dress, mannerisms, attitudes, and behaviors. At home he/she talks to parents and grandparents in Spanish, and talks in English with siblings and friends. Will use Spanish-language media on occasion, although he/she is more comfortable speaking English. This group consists mainly of middle, upper-middle and high class, highly educated professionals or business owners. Household incomes tend to be higher than Core Hispanics’. It is considered the most important Hispanic segment today as consumer, and speculations about the size of this segment vary and solid numbers are not yet available. They are the focus of intense study.

Mainstreamed: The mainstreamed Hispanic “feels” Hispanic. He/she has adopted many if not all the cultural traits of the host population. They are second and later generation of Hispanics, are English-language dependent, and as such they use only English-language media. Due to an increasing popularity and awareness of the Hispanic market, many mainstreamed Hispanics are re-assuming many cultural traits, including learning Spanish. We have seen this noticeably in the entertainment industry, where mainstreamed Hispanics, such as Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez, are focusing on reaching the Spanish-speaking consumer. This segment may be as large as 20 percent of the total U.S. Hispanic population.

The consumer power of the Hispanic market in the United States has become overwhelmingly evident. Knowing the needs and differences of this market will greatly improve the success rate of our marketing efforts, and give us more precise answers to those questions mentioned in the opening paragraph.

Gonzalo Soruco is President of Market Research of the Americas, a consulting and research company based in South Florida, specializing in Hispanic Markets regional, national and worldwide. He’s also a professor of Communications in University of Miami. Tony Moreno is a Life Coach and Senior Marketing Vice President of MRA. They can be reached at Gonzalo@huellas.com and Tony@huellas.com, respectively, or at www.huellas.com/mra.