BigResearch: Reaching Niche Markets Within the Growing U.S. Hispanic Population

This post was written by Edilia Ruiz, who is a student at the University of Washington from the Department of Communications and Spanish, and is interning with us during Spring Quarter.

Thinking of targeting your business to the Hispanic population? Consumer research firm BigResearch in Columbus, Ohio has discovered that tastes of Hispanics vary in regards to shopping and media preferences between U.S. born and English speakers versus their counterparts who are foreign born and speak Spanish.

English-dominant speakers and U.S. born Hispanics tend to prefer stores like Macy’s, Walmart and Kohl’s for clothing and Best Buy, Target, and Walmart for electronics.On the other hand, Spanish–dominant consumers and foreign-born Hispanics choose stores such as Macy’s, JCPenney and Walmart for women’s clothing and Best Buy and Amazon.com for electronics.

Also, BigResearch found that English-dominant and U.S. born Hispanics include top 40 in their music interests, whereas Spanish speakers include Latin artists.

Media and technology topics showed that English-dominant Hispanics are more likely to text on their cell phones and use TiVo/DVR, while Spanish-dominant Hispanics are more likely to blog and use instant messaging.

In my opinion, having this type of research helps businesses know how to target a specific audience and advertise most effectively. As a bilingual consumer, I identify with both group findings in this research because as a Spanish speaker and foreign-born consumer I choose stores like Macys, JC Penney and Walmart to shop; at the same time, as an English speaker I also listen to top 40 and I use my cell phone to text as well as blog and instant message with friends and family.

Some questions I had while reading this article include concerns about who their sample included. Did the research include participants in Columbus only? In big cities? Rural areas? Nationwide? Beyond? and what was their methodology? Was the survey conducted through focus groups, telephone interviews, intercepts or was it online? Further, the results do not reflect a big difference between the two groups and their choices of music selections or stores for shopping. Perhaps this tells us that the two groups of Latinos are more alike than different in these areas.

If you are interested in learning more about this research check out the BigResearch website.

What Race are Hispanics?

Some people think they know what Hispanics look like. But the more I meet Hispanics or Latinos, the more I realize there is such a great range there, mostly based on where their families are originally from.

An in-law's family left Croatia to settle in Chile. She was born in Chile, raised there, and her first language is Spanish--so she's a Latina, or Hispanic. But she doesn't look necessarily like what one might think a Hispanic or Latina woman would look like. And the stories are many and diverse about how people ended up in a Hispanic culture.

To put it simply: "Hispanic" is not a race, it's a culture. Hispanics can be of any race at all.

Please read Juan Tornoe's latest post on this topic, which is absolutely spot-on in my opinion. Feel free to post your comments in either place.

An Answer to Life's Biggest Question!

Well, it's not really *life's* biggest question, but it's one of the most common questions we get here at Conexión Marketing:

"Who's Hispanic?"

Of course there are many variations to this question which we're also fond of hearing:

• "What's the difference between Latino and Hispanic?"
• "What do Hispanics prefer to be called?"
• "How do you know if someone's Hispanic?"

Now we all have the answer, at least as defined by the U.S. Census:

"You're Hispanic if you say you are."

You really have to read this article, and the report it's based on. GOLD.

ATTN: Youth Leaders from the Latino Community

The City of Seattle is recruiting Latino youth for the Mayor's Youth Council. The MYC application deadline was a couple of weeks ago but there were no applications from Latino youth. Please help recommend Latino youth and/or encourage Latino youth to apply for this leadership opportunity. Applications will be accepted through this week.

ABOUT THE MAYOR'S YOUTH COUNCIL

WHO: Mayor's Youth Council (MYC) is comprised of twenty high school-aged youth between 15-19 years old who represent Seattle's thirteen neighborhood districts.

WHY: Mayor Nickels and other city leaders want youth input on neighborhood issues, city projects and policies.

WHAT: The Mayor's Youth Council has four main parts:

• Gain skills and knowledge: Participate in ongoing trainings to build leadership skills and knowledge of civic engagement.
• Youth voice: Discuss solutions to community issues and make recommendations to the Mayor.
• Learn about city government: Hear from Mayor Greg Nickels, City of Seattle staff and department directors.
• Organize youth events: Host the Mayor's Youth Town Hall and Youth Community Meetings to discuss important community issues impacting youth today.

WHEN AND WHERE: The MYC meets 2-3x per month on Thursdays from 4 pm - 6 pm downtown at Seattle City Hall (600 4th Avenue, between James Street and Cherry Street) October through May. Special events will be held at various places throughout the city.

COMMITMENT AND EXPECTATIONS: Council members are expected to attend all meetings, events and a mandatory one-day retreat on Saturday, October 25th 10 am - 6 pm. Missing more than two meetings/events may result in removal from the Mayor's Youth Council. In addition to meetings, members will be expected to dedicate an average of 10 hours per month to projects.

For more info:
Patricia Lopez 206-684-0464
City of Seattle
Department of Neighborhoods
http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/
"Connecting people, communities, and government."