The Hispanic Segment, an Invaluable Demographic.

The biggest factor differentiating US Hispanics from others in our society is their historical background. As Korzenny and Korzenny (2005) states, “Culture is based on past experience. It is a cluster of intangible and tangible aspects of life that groups of humans pass to each other from generation to generation.”iii This is an imperative factor to remember when attempting to market to Hispanics; their culture is ingrained in them based on the past experiences of their ancestors, leading to where they are today. A brief example provided by Korzenny and Korzenny (2005) deals with marketing Captain Morgan Rum. It was assumed by American marketers that the Caribbean look of the brand would appeal to Hispanic consumers. On the contrary, however, they saw the Captain as a sign of domination and related it to their society’s past and the oppression they endured. They rejected the brand.iii

The major differences between the cultures of our society and that of US Latinos are derived from religion and family importance, which evolve from Hispanic ancestry.iii For example, Hispanics tend to have larger families with more children and remain closer to their extended families. They hold big family gatherings with lots of food and dancing, such as Quinceañeras. Thus, family ties are an important area to remember when marketing to this segment. Remembering that the children are expected to take care of their parents as they age, similar to how the parents took care of the children in their youth would be a very important thing to incorporate into the marketing plan of certain services such as nursing homes and hospitalization.iii

Overall, Hispanics value the group as a whole versus individuality, which contrasts dramatically with the US notion of homogeneity. Family importance ties closely in with the importance of religion to Hispanics.ii Many Hispanics tend to believe in nature and the supernatural as factors that control their destiny. This differs from the US idea of working hard for our own personal success and saving up for our future, believing that we have strong control over our fate; we get what we work for. This can be a hard idea for the American marketer to deviate from when trying to market to the US Hispanic, but can become a very relevant factor when marketing products such as life insurance and credit cards.iii

When creating advertisements in the US that are intended for the Hispanic market, language is a huge aspect to be considered. Although there are many different regions that speak Spanish and each dialect has slight differences, they are similar enough that Spanish can be used as a staple to reach all Hispanics. Even Hispanic families that have learned English will more often than not still use Spanish in their homes because it is more comfortable to them. They also speak it as a way to hold onto their heritage, which they value greatly.ii With the Hispanic population in the United States increasing more dramatically each year, targeting this demographic effectively is extremely pertinent and must be carefully considered.iii A lot of media channels in the US have started accommodating the Hispanic market by incorporating Spanish as the primary language, such as the television channels Telemundo and HBO’s Spanish version of their movie channel. Yahoo and AOL, have also added Spanish versions, and Telenovelas can be found on US cable. Primarily using the Spanish language in the media allows advertising to become more effective in reaching a portion of the Hispanic demographic and enhances business opportunities.iii

This leads to the question of whether or not Latin American advertisements can effectively be used in the US to target Hispanics. Simply stated, no, there are too many differences between the target audience in Latin America and the US Hispanic. Latin American advertisements are directed toward the higher class, more successful portion of the population. These people have no need to migrate out of Latin America, whereas the people who are migrating to the US are the lower class workers. These people typically are not consumers in their home countries because they are too poor to be big purchasers. As they come to America, a country where virtually the entire population consists of consumers, and as they begin to make more money, they become consumers. Because they did not originate as consumers in Latin America; however, they must be targeted differently and from the US perspective, not the Latin American approach.iii

It takes a careful study of culturegraphics to understand how to effectively market to the Hispanic population in the US, but once this is taken into consideration, there is a wealth of information that can be used. Simply understanding why Hispanics behave the way they do can help US marketers reach them more effectively. With the population of Hispanics in the US dramatically increasing every year, it would be absurd not to consider them closely as a very important part of the market, every market. Each generation becomes more acculturated and therefore more apt to use all of the products that the rest of our society uses.i It is our job as marketers to show them how these products are relevant to them and market them in a way that appeals to their values and behaviors.

Brittany Conlyn
Student
Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication
Florida State University

i – Information taken from interview conducted with Stephanie Lozano (of Columbian descent).
ii – Information taken from interview conducted with Vivian Conlyn (of Cuban descent).
iii – Hispanic Marketing: A Cultural Perspective by Felipe Korzenny and Betty Ann Korzenny (2005).

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