U.S. Hispanic Population Online For Health.

Manhattan Research announced that U.S. Hispanics represent one of the few remaining growth opportunities online for health and pharmaceutical companies. While many markets outside of health care, including politics and media, have already begun to recognize the importance of targeting this rapidly growing segment and have heavily invested in Spanish language ads to reach this once overlooked consumer segment, many healthcare companies have failed to grasp the reality of the Hispanic market and resulting long-term business impact.

Although there are nearly 10 million U.S. Hispanic Adults (18+ years) using the Internet for health in some capacity, the future growth prospects for Hispanic reliance on the Internet specifically for health are positive. According to Manhattan Research’s latest analysis detailed in the Hispanic Segmentation Research Module, the youngest segment of U.S. Hispanic Adults (18-34 years in this analysis) are 3 times more likely than the oldest segment (55+ years) to be using the Internet on a regular basis. However, the youngest adult segment is the least likely to rely on a personal physician for health information – presenting an opportunity for health and pharmaceutical companies to utilize the Internet and online media to build a relationship early as a key source of health information within this emerging market segment. Not only are they online today, but U.S. Hispanic Online Consumers are also 25% more likely than non-Hispanics to be interested in advanced online activities such as frequent email updates and personalization.

“While Hispanic adoption of the Internet is a reality today, there is significant untapped potential within this arena,” says Erika S. Fishman, Senior Analyst at Manhattan Research. “Specifically, since Hispanic reliance on the Internet for health and drug information will only increase over the next few years, companies must invest now in innovative techniques to cater to the cultural needs of this segment, or risk being left behind in an evolving market.”

The research also revealed that despite the fact that U.S. Hispanics are less likely to recall advertisements for pharmaceutical products (relative to U.S. Non Hispanics), among those consumers who seek additional information after seeing a prescription drug ad, the Hispanic population is actually much more likely to utilize the Internet for additional information about the product. Although a few companies have embraced this market segment with targeted information online (e.g., culturally relevant, Spanish language options), many have failed to grasp the relative importance of the Internet to the Hispanic population seeking Rx information.