Telemundo releases GenYLA Study.

The “GenYLA” study is a new research study conducted by the Telemundo Communications Group, a proven leader in Hispanic research, on the current state of Young Latino Americans (YLAS), ages 18-34, one of the fastest growing and increasingly important segments of the population, especially for marketers. The Telemundo Communications Group provides clients with insight into their target consumers through custom proprietary research solutions that are instrumental in analyzing and shaping their marketing and advertising initiatives. Past studies have included, What Latinas Want, Beyond Demographics: Latino Identity Study, Connexion Cultural and The me 2 Study.

“It is said that in every decade a new generation brings forth a big change. In the next 40 years the U.S. population will expand by one hundred million people fueled primarily by US Hispanics,” said Jacqueline Hernandez, Chief Operating Officer, Telemundo, Communications Group, Inc. “As a proven leader in Hispanic research, Telemundo and mun2 are at the forefront of consumer insights with marketplace studies like Gen YLA.”

The dynamic set of key findings from the “GenYLA” study include:

YLAS are highly maintaining their culture and heritage while still embracing their American Lifestyle.

YLAS love being bi-cultural. More than one third (37%) of YLAS self-identified themselves as both Hispanic and American, identifying with both cultures equally the same. At the other end of the spectrum, only 2% felt more American than Hispanic. YLAS are in the midst of a retro-acculturation explosion. Because of the YLAS strong pride in their homeland and country of origin, this generation is re-discovering their heritage and is experiencing a Latino re-awakening. YLAS are going from George…to Jorge.

For YLAS it is easy to toggle in and out of both the Hispanic and American cultures.

YLAS live in a cultural fluid environment. YLAS best describe their closest group of friends an EQUAL mix of Latino and American, in fact, 48% ‘hung out’ with this group of people. In this continuum, YLAS were least likely to have only non-Latino friends, representing only 2% of those surveyed.

YLAS have no language boundaries or barriers.

YLAS language mobility greatly depends on the place or situation they are in – they are chameleons in their space – they control it and they like it! At home, where the TVs are on, and with family – a larger percent choose to speak Spanish (39% at home, 55% with family); while at work (74%) and school (79%) the preference was English. Last but not least, among their friends, YLAs practice a mix of Spanglish.

YLAS are the always-connected generation.

YLAS are multi-taskers. YLAS are always consuming high levels of anything technological: 94% have access to the Internet at home; 84% Have high-speed internet; and 87% stream video content, with another 73% that listen to music on the internet. Laptop ownership has taken precedence over desktop, with 73% that own a PC or a Mac.

With a huge strength in mobile usage, a high percent (87%) of YLAS cannot live without it. YLAS are great multi-taskers as many of the activities they focus on are also centered among an online environment. While a majority they told us they eat while watching television (80%), they also text (61%), talk on the phone (60%) and surf the web (50%).

Methodology
mun2 started to explore these concepts back in 2009 and recently re-visited them in December 2010, solidifying and further confirming these findings. The studies were conducted via an online nationally representative sample of over 400 Young Hispanics, between the ages of 18-34. With language as base, it focused across culture, identity, retro-acculturation, social interaction, and media. This was coupled with in-home ethnography groups, or ‘friends sessions’, in LA, NY and MIA, which verbally captured the survey findings and thoughts of the YLA.