Research

In the past, Latinos who wanted to participate in some parts of American society felt they had to hide aspects of themselves to fit in. Today, that cultural zero-sum game is long gone – and our differences make us cool. Hispanics make up such a large proportion of young people in America that they’re not just participating in mainstream American culture, they’re increasingly defining it. And that doesn’t make them any less Latino.  

Gen Y consumers are showing a clear interest in vehicle ownership and have specific ideas of what they want in a car, according to Craig Giffi, vice chairman, Deloitte LLP, and automotive practice leader.

That’s underscored by a new major poll of nearly 1,500 Latino Americans by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. The poll, like our previous , covered several aspects of people’s lives — religious beliefs, personal finances, health status, education and more. It featured enough respondents that we could break them out into a few key groups by ethnic ancestry: Cubans, Dominicans, South Americans, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. We were also able to contrast responses from folks who were immigrants with those who were born in the United States.

But it turns out my penchant for English isn’t unique for a mainland Puerto Rican, according to a survey of American Latinos by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health. Given a choice between answering a gamut of questions about their lives in Spanish or in English, 78 percent of the Puerto Rican respondents chose English, significantly more than any other Latino group. According to the poll, only 20 percent of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish at home, less than half the percentage for respondents overall. (The poll didn’t include respondents in Puerto Rico, only Puerto Rican respondents living on the U.S. mainland.)

Since arriving here, as a community, they’ve prospered. Surveys show they graduate from college at greater rates and have higher levels of homeownership than most other Latino groups.

But suggests that, for many Cuban-Americans, the dream is becoming elusive. The poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds that 45 percent of Cuban-Americans say their finances are not so good or poor. They see themselves as financially troubled at rates higher than other Latinos.

Consumers are becoming increasingly detached from brands and technology is complicating things, reveals a new report from Culture Vulture, Mindshare’s cultural trends program.

The Hispanic American Financial Experience, a new study released by Prudential Financial, found that the Hispanic American community is moderately confident in their future outlook for household finances, the local and national economy, and the attention paid to their needs by the financial industry and government. In addition, the Hispanic American community places a priority on funding near-term goals such as supporting their multigenerational families. These factors, according to the study respondents, make it difficult for the Hispanic American community to prepare for long-term financial security.

For Hispanics, it appears that the definition of The American Dream is based on achieving financial security, so their families can get ahead – with a specific focus on paying off mortgages, getting out of credit card debt, paying for their children’s college educations and financially preparing for retirement. Although Hispanics are experiencing a cautious increase in optimism about the economy, when it comes to financial planning, their intentions and desires aren’t closely aligned with their actions. These are among the key findings of Massachusetts Mutual life Insurance Company’s (MassMutual) third biennial “State of the American Family Study,” which offers a broad snapshot of Americans’ financial views.

As 2014 approaches the end of its first month, many Americans are still sorting out their financial plans for the near future. With the government actually open for business – an improvement over last October – it should be a foregone conclusion that Americans may be facing the future with a bit more spring in their spending plans than in September of 2013, when the much-discussed federal shutdown was looming. But what about year over year? Are Americans loosening their purse strings or doubling down on pinching pennies?

In last week’s blog post, we focused on how US-born Hispanics are driving population growth. This week, we’re going to give some more detail on what their lives look like – and it’s quite different from the Hispanics 18-34 of ten years ago. Not only have those born in the US surpassed immigrants as the dominant group within the Latino young adult demo, the formerly ascendant economy has taken a hit. Because of the tight job market, Hispanic Millennials’ lives have taken some unexpected turns.

Conventional wisdom says that Millennials (18-32 year olds) and Boomers (49-67 year olds) are more different than alike. But when it comes to shopping, exactly how wide is the generation gap? A new study of Millennial and Boomer purchasing trends conducted by Radius Global Market Research (Radius GMR) shows that while there are certainly differences, there are also some significant similarities between the two groups.

In sights from GfK’s MultiMedia Mentor show that teenagers’ Internet use is growing faster than that of any other key age group, abetted by a variety of devices – smartphones, tablets, videogame consoles, and connected TVs. Time spent online by teens (ages 13 to17) rose 37%, to just over 4 hours per day, compared to the beginning of 2012; by contrast, online minutes remained essentially flat for those aged 18 to 64, 18 to 54, and even 18 to 49.

Entravision Communications Corporation announced that its Luminar division, the “big data” analytics and modeling provider has added two new senior management positions which will further strengthen the company’s data analytics capabilities and programmatic ad buying sectors.

It’s no secret that Hispanics are driving US population growth. But in recent years, the dynamics of that growth have changed. Ten to twenty years ago, young adults entering the US to look for work caused the Hispanic population to rise. Today, immigration has slowed due to the economy – but owing to high birth rates, the Hispanic population has continued its ascent.

Meredith Hispanic Media (MHM), publisher of Siempre Mujer and Ser Padres magazines, released findings from its Auto Trends Report detailing the car-buying habits and attitudes of the modern Latina.

The study, which surveyed thousands of audio listeners who use one or more of the following audio sources – personal music collections (CDs, iTunes downloads), broadcast radio, streaming AM/FM radio, custom online playlists, satellite radio, online music videos and digital music channels on TV – shows that consumers recognize unique and important benefits for each audio platform, and will choose each based on the time of day and situational needs.

Tr3s recently developed a new report, “The Latinization of America … A ‘Next Normal’ Exploration.” This analysis highlights the latest research on Hispanic Millennials’ contribution to the changing demographics of the United States, what life is like for the fast growing second-generation population, and new meanings of acculturation.

This report on African Americans and technology is the first in a series of demographic snapshots of technology use and adoption among different groups of adults in the United States.

The National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and the Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University release brand new data related
to reading and electronic media use in Hispanic households with young children.

Magid Generational Strategiesreleased new research that identifies unique traits and characteristics of the generation of Americans born after the Millennial Generation.