Understanding Hispanic Culture for Marketing.

One may ask why it is important to understand culture. There are many answers but in marketing, the importance of understanding culture is because “marketing is the science of making others fall in love with your products, services and ideas” (Korzenny &Korzenny p. 11). In order to receive the love one has to be knowledgeable about the target audience and act like a lover: highly interested in one’s subject. This concept also applies to U.S. Hispanic marketing. It is important to fully understand Hispanics values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore it is important to understand how they identify within the American culture and relate to the culture from the country of their origin. Relevant first-hand information relating to all these matters was found by interviewing two U.S. Hispanic individuals. Their answers provided insight into understanding the U.S. Hispanic culture better.

U.S. Hispanics still relate to the culture and tradition from their home countries. Unlike mainstream America who strives to become independent quickly and survive by themselves, U.S. Hispanics, supported by similar answers from both interviewees, value family ties and are in less of a hurry to become solely independent. The scenario that was brought up was the typical image of the American daughter growing up and sometimes being forced to move out by the parents. In Hispanic culture this is not something that would be expected of a child. Sometimes whole families live together, even after the marriage of children. This is a less common concept in the American way of life. The family is a major priority for the Hispanic.

Complementary to the importance of family, U.S. Hispanics also have a strong sense of community. In some cases, even when money is tight they will throw a party and share what little they have. This relates back to the aspect that some U.S. Hispanics-especially migrants from lower social classes- are used to living for the moment and are not too familiar with the idea of saving for the future. This might relate to a socio-economic divide however, as while speaking with college-student -U.S. Hispanics, they both mentioned saving or even investing as one of their plans if they had a lot of money.

Religion is also an important aspect to U.S. Hispanic life. They are strongly influenced by the Roman Catholic faith. This has resulted in a patriarchal family dynamic, in which the woman does all the house work and taking care of the children. The husband is expected to work and provide for the family. When the interviewees asked if they could relate to this, both agreed that this was the case, however they personally do not plan to live according to these roles. This could be a sign of acculturation.

U.S. Hispanics are seen to be friendly people. When talking to the U.S. Hispanics they described how their culture promoted a festive atmosphere in which people are loud and affectionate. Both Hispanics portrayed this trait in their mannerisms. While speaking to them they were very confident and enjoyed talking about their culture.

When asked about their life mottos both answered with phrases such as “try as hard as you can” or “be the best you can be.” These phrases are an example of the hard-working characteristic in U.S. Hispanics. Often times the motivation for this trait is because through hard work one will be able to support the family by bringing in money. This concept is also related to the lower socio-economic origin of many of the migrants who came to America. They are used to having to work hard to support their family. Compared to Americans it is not the material gain that motivates them but the ability to support the family.

The idea of family stability and support is one that can be used affectively in U.S. Hispanic advertising. As mentioned before the family is a priority and a reason to buy something. For instance a commercial targeted to mainstream Americans for a Flat screen TV would highlight the sleekness and the beauty of the product, where as an advertisement targeted towards U.S. Hispanics could highlight the benefit for the family by showing a family sitting around the TV and enjoying the time together. This shows how U.S. Hispanic values can be used to show another side of a product that speaks directly to them.

Advertisements from Latin America do not target U.S. Hispanics the same way they target the Latin Americans. There they are targeted towards the wealthier people. The commercials have little information and a lot of imagery because consumer behavior is established already. The U.S. Hispanics derive largely from lower socio-economic classes and do not have an established consumer behavior. They need to be informed about products and require more information than imagery. Due to this, commercials from Latin America are not affective in targeting U.S. Hispanics. Advertisements that connect with the Hispanic viewer’s values and belief systems are the most successful. An interesting debate is about the question whether Spanglish is a good language to use. When the two interviewees were asked about their view, it was mentioned that they felt that the use of Spanglish made it seem as if the marketers were trying too hard. They also mentioned that they did not like the strong stereotyped images of Hispanics as sometimes they could not relate to the specific example. Both agreed that Subtlety is preferred as it does not convey the message that the marketer is desperately trying to relate to the U.S. Hispanic in order to sell a product.

“Love is the fundamental center of marketing” (Korzenny &Korzenny p. 11) U.S. Hispanics will fall in love with a product if it serves their value and belief system.

By Rosmary Vetticka
Multicultural Marketing Communication
Student
Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication
Florida State University

Work Cited
Korzenny&Korzenny. Hispanic Marketing, A cultural Perspective. Butterworth Heimemann, USA 2005.