Most US Hispanics Buy More Often Digitally Than a Year Ago

Hispanics are often noted for their heavy digital activity, mainly due to high smartphone engagement, but this characteristic isn’t as straightforward as it seems.

As explored in a new eMarketer report, “US Hispanics 2016: Who They Are, What They’re Doing on Digital and Ad Spending to Reach Them,” US Hispanics are actually a less-than-average digital bunch. eMarketer estimates 82.0% of the US population will access the internet regularly in 2016, but that figure will reach 76.5% for US Hispanics. The gap will shrink over our forecast period, but it will persist through at least 2020.

eMarketer’s inclusion of Hispanic children and teens, who are less likely to be internet users and who will account for about one in three US Hispanics overall in 2016—vs. 22.7% for the total US population—does help skew penetration downward for the population as a whole.

There’s another aspect of Hispanics’ digital behavior that’s worth paying attention to: the amount of time they spend online, especially among those 18 and over. According to Q4 2015 data from Nielsen, US Hispanics ages 18 and older spent more monthly time than average going online via PCs and smartphones, as well as watching video on both devices.

eMarketer estimates 79.6% of US Hispanics will use a mobile phone regularly in 2016, nearly matching the proportion of the US population overall (80.9%).

Among Hispanics who use mobile phones, 75.8% will own a smartphone this year—slightly lower than the percentage for mobile users in general (79.0%). (Again, eMarketer’s inclusion of individuals of any age skews penetration rates downward, and particularly does so for the US Hispanic population, which has an above-average proportion of children and teens, who are less likely to own smartphones.)

Hispanic users are unique when it comes to how much time they spend on their smartphones. Q4 2015 data from Nielsen found Hispanic adults spent over 2 hours more per week than average going online with their smartphones, and the time they spent viewing videos on their smartphones was nearly double that of total users.

A February 2016 survey of internet users in North America ages 16 and older from Jacobs Media also revealed just how big a role smartphones play in the lives of Hispanics. When respondents were asked how they felt about their mobile phones, Hispanics were more likely than whites, blacks and Asians to agree they were “addicted” to their device, and that they’d rather use a mobile device than a PC.

Courtesy of eMarketer