Multicultural Influences on Holidays

From eggnog to yule logs, people across the U.S. have different traditions to celebrate the winter holidays. With multicultural consumers a significant and growing part of the U.S. population, brands and retailers can not ignore the unique tastes, preferences and traditions of African-American, Hispanics and Asian-Americans both during the holidays and year round. When it comes to shopping for gifts and food, multicultural consumers across the country are creating trends that are having a growing influence on the rest of America, creating a new blended mainstream.

With U.S. consumers planning to spend upward of 9% more during the holidays in 2016 than they did in 2015, it’s worth understanding exactly who will be spending more. African-Americans lead the way, planning to spend 15% more than previous years, followed by Hispanics (13%) and Asian-Americans (10%).

So what are these powerful multicultural shoppers planning to spend more on this holiday season? What’s top of mind for these consumers are items that help build family connections. Food items that can be shared and cooked with family members lead the way for many multicultural consumers. African-Americans (19%), Asian-Americans (14%) and Hispanics (13%) all plan to increase the amount they spend on food gifts in 2016. And what goes better with food than cookware? Multicultural consumers are also planning on spending more than the average American on cookware items for their friends and loved ones.

Multicultural flavors are increasingly becoming a part of new holiday traditions for many Americans, who are now starting to add these items to their tables. In 2016, consumers plan to incorporate a variety of culturally inspired dishes to their holiday feasts, including tamales, tacos, noodles, pierogi and sushi.

With a growing multicultural U.S. population, knowing the intricacies of what these consumer segments buy and how much they spend, especially around the busy holiday, will allow retailers and manufacturers to ensure the right assortment of items are available, whether in the grocery aisles or on cookware.
Methodology

The insights in this article were derived from a Nielsen Omnibus English language survey fielded Nov. 2-4, 2016.