How Does Length of Time in US Affect Hispanic Consumers

By Camille Ashe – Florida State University

There are significant differences in how Hispanic consumers behave in the marketplace depending on how long they have lived in the United States. This is because the length of time a Hispanic individual has spent in the United States often influences that individual’s acculturation level, although the two are not synonymous. Acculturation generally refers to the process of someone reverting from their own personal culture, to accept practices of the dominant culture in some shape of form (Berry, 2006). Acculturation is not the abandonment of one’s individual culture fully, but instead, it refers to adopting aspects of a different culture into the individual’s personal identity. The levels of acculturation for Hispanic consumers is often broken down into four categories, and each category of consumer has a slightly unique behavior.

The first group of consumers are the Hispanic-dominant consumers. These are the people who live in the United States, but have been very hesitant to adopt the American values and customs. Typically, this group is made up of people who just came to the US from their original home country, and therefore their level of acculturation is very low. Additionally, they tend to be people in older age cohorts (Marin, 1993). They rely on using Spanish as their main language of communication, and are more open to advertisements while heavily relying on Spanish to learn about products and the new U.S. market (Korzenny et al., 2017). For example, this group is more likely to shop at Spanish vendors or grocery stores because these places reflect the shopping style they are most comfortable with, while also selling the Hispanic products that they are used to buying in their home country (Burns & Dato-on, 2012). Additionally, since this group is more reflective of Spanish culture, they are likely to place less value in material goods compared to Hispanics who have been acculturated at higher levels (Burns & Dato-on, 2012). This is important information for marketers to understand because it informs them that if they are marketing to this group, they should try to market the product as something needed, rather than something that is a luxury.

The next group of consumers on the scale of acculturation levels are the bicultural consumers. This is a slightly broad category and it references people who have acculturated at a moderate amount. They have combined aspects of Hispanic culture with aspects of American culture, and both cultures mix together (Korzenny et al., 2017). However, this group still sees itself as part of their home country’s community as well as part of the American community (Korzenny et al., 2017). Bicultural consumers are often bilingual, so they are able to flip back and forth between Spanish and English relatively easily. The people of this group tend to have lived in the US for at least a few years. One thing that separates this group from other levels of acculturated individuals is that the reference group they choose (or happen) to be surrounded by plays a strong influence as to what consumer behavior decisions that individual will make in a given moment (Korzenny et al., 2017). This is because they are more comfortable with having a Hispanic identity, as well as an American identity. Therefore, if someone was in a more mainstream American context, they are likely to abide by that way of acting, or shopping.

For example, if a bicultural individual is at their work, and this is a place in which their reference group is mainly people of mainstream American culture, then it is more likely that this individual is inclined to behave in ways that match American culture such as being on time to things, being more individualistic, and practicing a wider distance for personal space. This is because it is common for the individual to want to emulate the group in order to fit in. In contrast, if a bi-cultural individual is at a family event where the reference group at this event is mainly Hispanics, they will tap into their Hispanic side and behave in ways that align. For example, they may be more friendly in greetings with family members, spend time in prayer, speak in Spanish, and make sure to care for the group. This example demonstrates how complex the bi-cultural consumer is, because their identity shares parts of two cultures.

The next acculturation level for Hispanics is the people who are a descendent of Hispanic culture, but are living in the United states and have adopted a new identity for themselves. In contrast to the bi-cultural consumers, the new identity consumers do not view themselves as being part of both Hispanic and American culture. Instead, they feel that they are part of an entirely different culture, which is sometimes referred to as a “third culture” (Korzenny et al., 2017). This third culture is created because “even when one remains marginal, separate, or segregated, one also loses touch with one’s first culture” (Korzenny et al., 2017). This can make it difficult on the individual to find a space in which they fit in. Therefore, people of this acculturation level have created their own culture that they belong to. Some examples of these new cultures created are the Nuyoricans or the Chicanos, and many speak forms of both Spanish and English. The consumers who act within the “new-identity” acculturation level often are big risk takers, because the culture they see themselves participating in is relatively new and may not have all of the deep rooted traditions that other established cultures have (Korzenny et al., 2017). Therefore, they can be seen as trend setters because they are more likely to adopt new innovations.

Finally, there is the highest group of acculturated Hispanics, which is the Anglo-dominant group. These individuals will mainly use English, and many may not even know how to speak much Spanish. They have adopted many of the cultural values that mainstream Americans have, and are less connected to their Spanish heritage (Marin, 1993). It is likely that highly acculturated Hispanics have been in the United States for a long time. Many of them may have been born in the US, and they are their families’ third or fourth generation living in the United States (Marin, 1993). The age range of this group varies, as it could include young children who were born in the US and have only participated in American institutions their whole life, or it could be older adults who have lived in the US for so long that they have now adopted more of the American culture (Mendoza et al., 2022). Highly acculturated Hispanics may be highly materialistic since they have adopted a lot of mainstream American culture (Burns & Dato-on, 2012). Therefore, marketers can play up the fulfillment one may achieve by using a certain product, and this group will respond more positively.

In conclusion, there are multiple differences in consumer behavior for Hispanic consumers depending on the length of time they have been living in the US. Hispanics who have recently moved to the United States are likely to maintain a lot of their Hispanic culture, and fall under the Hispanic-dominant acculturation level. Therefore, they are likely to appreciate collectivist marketing, prefer to be marketed to in Spanish, and have lower levels of materialism. Next are the bi-cultural Hispanics, who are bilingual, and embrace both Hispanic and American culture. The consumer behavior of these individuals is highly dependent on the reference groups that they are surrounded by. Additionally, there is the “new identity” acculturation level, which includes individuals who are living in the US, have Hispanic descent, but identify as their own culture (such as Nuyoricans or Chicanos). These individuals feel as though they don’t fit neatly with Hispanic or American culture, and in terms of consumer behavior they tend to be willing to take more risks. This may be due to the fact that their culture does not have the deep rooted history that other cultures have, so they can be more risky in consumer behavior and have less strict norms to follow. Finally, there is the highly acculturated group of individuals who mainly use English to communicate, and often have been in the US for decades or generations. This group behaves the most like mainstream Americans, so they are more individualistic, prefer English advertisements, and have a high sense of materialism. Overall, it is important to understand the acculturation level and length of time that individuals in a company’s target market have spent in the US, so they can use the most productive marketing strategies on that group.

• References
  Berry, J. W. (2006). Contexts of acculturation. The Cambridge handbook of acculturation psychology, 27(42), 328-336.
• Burns, D. J., & Dato-on, M. (2012). Hispanic consumer preferences: Relationships with … Hispanic Consumer Preferences: Relationships with Acculturation and Materialism. https://www.ship.edu/globalassets/jbd/articles/hispanic-consumer-preferences.pdf
• Korzenny, F., Chapa, S., Korzenny, B. A., & Vidal, L. (n.d.). Hispanic Marketing. Retrieved from https://platform.virdocs.com/read/604227/14/#/4/14[sec1_5]/8,/1:148,/1:148
• Marin, G. (1993). Influence of acculturation on familialism and self-identification among Hispanics. Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities, 181-196.
• Mendoza, L., Garcia, P., Duara, R., Rosselli, M., Loewenstein, D., Greig-Custo, M. T., … & Rodriguez, M. J. (2022). The effect of acculturation on cognitive performance among older Hispanics in the United States