Hispanic Consumer Insight – A path towards decision making.

As an emerging market in the United States, Hispanic consumers are an important segment for companies to account for to remain competitive in today’s economy. To best target this segment marketers must understand how Hispanics reach purchasing decisions. Examining cultural trends will reveal that Hispanics are a highly collectivist demographic with a strong sense of community among family and friends. The role of community is an important component to factor since approval from one community member can lead to approval and acceptance of any particular product or service. In an interview with Roberto, a migrant farm worker who lives and works in Central California, it was revealed that he was introduced to the Toyota line of automobiles by his neighborhood mechanic who is from his home state of Michoacán. “I’ve always been a Ford person since I grew up working on them as a boy but Francisco, the mechanic, told me how reliable his little Toyota was so I decided to go out and get me first after I sold my Ford Crown Victoria” said Roberto. “I know that Toyotas are a little more pricey than Fords but I never spent as much in maintaining them that’s how I knew I had purchased a better car”. “I was so pleased with my purchase that I began to tell my brothers how reliable Toyota’s were,” raved Roberto. To this date Roberto still owns a Toyota vehicle and several of his family members own Toyota line of vehicles as well. Roberto’s siblings also live in the Central California area and also work as “campesinos” or farm day laborers. This is a great example of how Hispanics who share similar interests and values want to share similar experiences, also known as homophily.

Hispanics will often encounter other influences outside of their normal community that may make recommendations for products or services. A common assumption is that commercials featuring Hispanics tend to be more effective than commercials featuring non-Hispanics, however this is not always the case. When asked how he chose the dealership to purchase his first Toyota Roberto answers “Truck Trader”. Truck Trader is a local publication that provides listings for both dealerships and private automobile sellers. “I’ve seen the Saturday morning dealership commercials with the crazy screaming guy, who is Hispanic, but that never really interested me” says Roberto. Hispanics will also follow recommendations of non-Hispanics when matters of decision making are of high importance and are in matters related to medicine and law. Roberto is a loyal consumer of the Tylenol brand of medicine products and this is primarily due to the recommendations of his non-Hispanic doctor.

It is important for marketers to understand how their target market views themselves to create successful marketing campaigns. An area of high contention has always been how to address Hispanic groups within the U.S. While the term “Hispanic” refers to people who originate from Spanish speaking countries, other labels include: Latino, Chicano, etc. So what is the proper term used for identify this group? An interesting phenomenon is that Hispanics will vary their response depending on who’s asking them the question. If a non-Hispanic asks the question then they may answer Hispanic. If a Hispanic asks the question then their response will be their native country (Colombian, Argentine, Mexican Cuban, etc.) Narrowing down the consumer’s identity is importance as it creates a point of connection with the target market and a sense of “belongingness”. A marketing agency launching a Hispanic marketing campaign in Southern California that was successful in South Florida would make for poor results. South Florida has a high Cuban population and Southern California has a high Mexican population, both Hispanics but with completely different interests and values. While an ad for Corona beer illustrating how drinking Corona brings out the “Mexican” in you would serve as an effective campaign in Texas, this campaign would very little relevance to Hispanics in New York who are composed primarily of Puerto Ricans. Understanding the variability of Hispanics and their identities does have a large impact on influencing whether or not they will purchase a product.

Based on my interview with Roberto, I believe that there is a relationship between identity and consumer behavior but the relationship is not cut and dry. Hispanics that share a common identity are likely to influence consumer behavior to other Hispanics within their sphere of influence (i.e. family, friends, neighbors etc). To say that placing a Mexican in an ad is a simple fix to increase Mexican consumerism is just a fallacy. Having a screaming Mexican to come down to their local dealership did not encourage Roberto to go visit the dealership. Hispanics, particularly those who migrated to the U.S. without much experience as a mass consumer in their native country, are more likely to view consumerism as learning experience. This learning can be passive with information being shared by community members and Hispanics taking core data specs, such as the Truck Trader specifics, to help in the decision making process.

By Juan Gonzalez
Student
Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication
Florida State University