Hispanic Cultural ‘Lift’ on product ratings.

Savitz Research Companies, one of the top 50 market research firms in the United States, has developed a new method for measuring the cultural “lift” in product ratings by Hispanics in the U.S. Multicultural marketers know that Hispanics rate certain products higher than non-Hispanics partially because of cultural influences, which may make it appear easier than it actually is to target them. Savitz Research’s approach gives marketers more accurate research results, enabling them to make better decisions about promoting products among Hispanics compared to the overall U.S. population.

“Our new research method gives multicultural marketers a measurable way to understand the impact of cultural differences on product ratings by Hispanics in the United States,” said Jeffry Savitz, president of Savitz Research Companies and professor of marketing research at the University of North Texas. “Our study isolates significant cultural differences that may have misled marketers and prevented them from reliably combining survey data from Hispanics and the general U.S. population.”

It has been thought that cultural influences may make Hispanics more reluctant to provide negative or impolite feedback, but marketers have struggled to understand fully the impact on product preference scores and, ultimately, purchasing decisions. Hispanic marketing campaigns may have fallen short of their goals at times because it has been difficult to separate cultural influences from perceptions about product quality or value.

In a recent pilot study by Savitz Research, Hispanics gave 5.9 percent higher average ratings than non-Hispanics in the U.S. on a 0-to-100 point scale.

Savitz explains, “This cultural ‘lift’ in ratings among Hispanics in the U.S. has been applied in tests with three soft drink brands, three over-the-counter medicines and three wireless service providers. By adjusting ratings, we can eliminate the bias and combine Hispanic and non-Hispanic product ratings on a level playing field.”

To see how the marketing viewpoint can change, consider these study results. Hispanics rated Pepsi 80.8 while non-Hispanics rated it 74.8, making it appear that Hispanics like Pepsi more and would be a better target. Ratings for 7-Up were essentially the same at 73.0 for Hispanics and 73.7 for non-Hispanics. When asked to rate Fanta, a drink which Hispanics are known to prefer, Hispanics gave a rating of 80.0 compared to a 57.6 rating by non-Hispanics. After the 5.9-point adjustment of the Hispanic ratings to remove the cultural bias, Hispanics and the general population actually feel about the same about Pepsi, non-Hispanics prefer 7-Up and Hispanics still definitely like Fanta more than non-Hispanics.

“Savitz Research Solutions has solved a critical multicultural marketing problem that has plagued marketers for the last decade. With Savitz’ approach, marketers are better equipped to find the products in which Hispanics have a real interest and plan their advertising more effectively to reach them,” stated Pat Liska, marketing consultant and former president of Rainbow Foods and senior executive with Fleming Companies, Shoprite, Minyard Food Stores and Carnival SuperMarkets.

“Our continuing research will help refine rating variations by levels of acculturation and different product categories, giving marketers an even more accurate way to analyze feedback among U.S. Hispanics,” added Savitz.

For more information at http://www.savitzresearch.com