Favorite Brands Among U.S. Hispanics.

U.S. Hispanics and non-Hispanics see brands differently, according to a study released today by Encuesta, Inc. “Americanos Poll: Favorite Brands Study 2005” compares how U.S. Hispanics and non-Hispanics perceive brands, including which they consider best overall, most trustworthy, most caring about the community, and best in advertising.

The study is part of the Americanos Poll series sponsored by Encuesta, Inc., which aims to explore, across a range of topics, how U.S. Hispanics are alike and different from the general population. Most results will be made public with the objective of stimulating thought and dialogue about and fostering understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population.

“It is our hope that this project will shed light on the uniqueness of Hispanics as a consumer group and provide a platform for corporate debate on the how and when to make a special effort to reach U.S. Hispanic consumers,” said Martin Cerda, President of Encuesta, Inc.

Among the questions was, “When you think of all the brands and names of products and services that you know, which three brands do you consider the best overall?” The unaided (spontaneous) answers suggest the following:

* Sony is the “Best Overall” brand according to U.S. Hispanics, followed, in order, by Colgate, Ford, Chevrolet and Nike.
* Panasonic is the only brand that ranks among Hispanics’ Top 10 but not among non-Hispanics’ Top 25. Conversely, Kraft is the only brand that ranks among non-Hispanics’ Top 10 but not within Hispanics’ Top 25.
* Adidas, Gap, AT&T, and Gain have Top 25 “Best Overall” status among Hispanics, but the brands rank below the Top 50 among non-Hispanics. Hispanics did not place Kraft, Pepsi, Lysol, Buick, or Campbell’s among their Top 50, all of which rank among non-Hispanics’ Top 25.

The study is based upon telephone interviews conducted by Encuesta, Inc. with a representative national sample of n=1,021 Hispanic and n=624 non- Hispanic adults. The Hispanic sample mirrors that population’s known distribution of demographic, acculturation, and media usage characteristics.

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