What’s Broken in Hispanic/Latino Research and What It’s Costing Brands

By Marta Villanueva – President and Founder at NuThinking, Inc.

If Hispanic/Latino research still sits in your organization as a “multicultural initiative,” you are not just behind — you are misreading where U.S. growth is coming from.

This is not a moral argument. It is a market reality.

When Hispanic/Latino research is folded into total-market studies without cultural expertise or intentional design, nuance disappears and organizations default to shortcuts — syndicated data, assumptions, and visual diversity — instead of true cultural insight.

The result is a missed opportunity.

A Caveat on the Terms We Are Using

“Hispanic” generally refers to people connected to Spanish-speaking countries (a linguistic designation).

“Latino” refers to people from Latin America (a geographic and cultural designation).

These terms overlap — but they are not identical. Identity preferences vary widely by generation, region, and lived experience. Brazilians, for example, are Latino but not Hispanic. Cubans are Hispanic and Latino.

For clarity in this article, Hispanic/Latino will be used to broadly reference the geographic and linguistic designation, while acknowledging that individual identity preferences differ.

Onwards: U.S. Growth Is Hispanic/Latino — But Most Research Isn’t Built That Way

Between 2022 and 2023, Hispanics/Latinos accounted for nearly 71% of total U.S. population growth.

As of mid-2023, the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population reached 65.2 million — approximately 19.5% of the country.

“Hispanic/Latino consumers are increasingly growing while other segments are shrinking, growing not only in size but also in purchasing power and cultural influence. They are becoming more educated and want to be seen and connect with brands that resonate with them.” —  Natalia Infante, Ph.D., Hola Insights

If your category depends on:

• New families being formed
• Workforce expansion
• Youth-driven demand
• Regional population growth

Hispanic/Latino consumers are not a niche audience, they are the incremental growth engine.

The economic story is just as decisive. U.S. Latino GDP reached approximately $4.1 trillion, placing it among the largest economies in the world if it stood alone.

The stakes here are commercial, not symbolic. Organizations that fail to understand Hispanic/Latino consumers are putting growth at risk.

Yet inside many organizations, Hispanic/Latino research has quietly been absorbed into “total market” budgets under the assumption that inclusion will happen naturally. It doesn’t.

“Hispanic/Latino research is not just a niche or a checkbox task; understanding this audience is a strategic growth move. Culture shapes how people define value, evaluate brands, and make choices. If organizations don’t intentionally examine that cultural level, they end up with limited insights. Without intentional sampling, culturally aware interpretation, and segment-specific exploration, Hispanic/Latino voices become diluted in the data.” — Maria Lucia Parra, Ingenium Research

The Gap Brands Still Don’t See

One of the biggest mistakes brands still make is assuming “Hispanic/Latino” is a singular audience rather than a population with wide internal differences.

Country of origin, generational status, regional context, socioeconomic mobility, and identity expression all shape behavior differently. A first-generation Cuban in Florida and a third-generation Mexican in Texas may share a demographic label, but their identity can differ greatly.

“Their behaviors might be shaped by microcultures… country of origin, language dominance (Spanish vs. English), born in the U.S. or outside of the U.S., language media consumption and more. There needs to be more strategic connection, we are not a one size fits all segment.” —Natalia Infante, Ph.D., Hola Insights

When brands fail to consistently include Hispanic/Latinos in their research systems, several consequences can follow:

• Early signals of emerging needs, preferences, and category growth are missed
• General market findings are overgeneralized
• Brand responses become reactive, often after performance or reputational issues emerge
• Emotional resonance weakens
• Opportunities to build long-term loyalty are lost

Exclude this audience from research, and you misread the market — and the growth within it.

Language Is Still Being Mistaken for Strategy

Translation remains one of the most common shortcuts.

Spanish language use varies significantly by generation, age, and acculturation. Spanish-language creative does not automatically equal cultural relevance.

Roughly 75% of U.S. Latinos say they can carry on a conversation in Spanish, yet language use varies significantly by generation and context. Media consumption patterns differ across English-and Spanish-language environments.

Too often, brands mistake language choices for cultural understanding. Spanish-language creative can play an important role, but it does not by itself create relevance. Reducing identity to “Spanish vs. English” flattens behavior and leads to generic work that rarely builds loyalty. The same is true when acculturation is measured only by language or tenure in the U.S. Cultural affinity offers a more accurate lens, reflecting how bicultural consumers draw from multiple cultures to shape decisions and brand relationships.

“Growth in the U.S. is now largely driven by U.S.-born consumers who are increasingly multiracial and bilingual and who move fluidly across cultural contexts. Yet many brands still design research and marketing strategies based on outdated assumptions, failing to reflect the complexity and dynamism that now defines Hispanic identity.” — Cynthia Tello, MBA Smarketing Consulting and Research

The Structural Problem No One Wants to Admit

Believing the organization already understands this audience may be the most dangerous internal assumption of all. It is what turns Hispanic/Latino research from infrastructure into an afterthought, as budgets consolidate into total-market trackers, outreach becomes episodic, procurement pressures favor speed and cost over nuance, and cultural expertise is undervalued or absent.

The consequences are predictable:

• Underpowered subgroup sampling
• Over-indexing one national origin
• Literal translation instead of cultural adaptation
• Decorative cultural cues without behavioral grounding
• Visual diversity without strategic depth
• Reduced campaign effectiveness
• Misallocated media spend
• Cultural backlash or tone-deaf moments
• Missed opportunities
• Slower brand growth in high-opportunity markets
• Lost loyalty to competitors
• …and many more

The real danger of symbolic inclusion is that it weakens insight while leaving organizations overly confident in what they think they know.

“Overlooking cultural nuances often leads to generic campaigns that dilute brand impact. In some cases, these efforts come across as tokenistic, or what many consumers call ‘Hispandering,’ meaning superficial attempts to appeal to this audience without a genuine commitment to understanding and serving them. The result is weakened trust, potential alienation, and missed opportunities for business growth.” —  Cynthia Tello, MBA, Smarketing Consulting and Research

What Real Impact Looks Like

When Hispanic/Latino research is embedded across decision systems — in segmentation, innovation, packaging, and retail — decisions change.

In one national CPG case (composite example), penetration among Hispanic/Latino households was strong, but repeat lagged. Standard research pointed to price sensitivity.

Culturally grounded, in-language qualitative work reveals the gap: the product did not align with the household decision hierarchy or the signals that defined “good for the family.”

The solution was not discounting, it was structural:

• Packaging hierarchy clarified family benefit
• Claims aligned with trusted proof points
• Retail activation matched real replenishment missions

Repeat purchasing improved because friction was removed in context.

Brands that embed cultural research into decision systems show a clear pattern: consistency drives effectiveness.

Multigenerational households, bilingualism, and identity-driven brand evaluation are not Hispanic/Latino-only dynamics, they are signals of broader U.S. consumer shifts. Hispanic/Latino research is not niche insight. It is understanding and connecting with deep cultural cues.

“A recent cultural connection example is Bad Bunny’s Half Time Show at the Super Bowl. His presence was not just about representing Spanish language; it involved layered cultural cues (the boy sleeping on the couch, the big family gathering, sugarcane workers, people playing dominoes, flags of all the American countries, etc.) that resonated deeply with Hispanic/Latino audiences from various countries. When these cultural cues are genuinely embedded, campaigns feel relevant instead of performative. The return on investment is reflected in increased brand awareness and greater loyalty.”  — Maria Lucia Parra, Ingenium Research

Methodology: Where Nuance Gets Lost

If cultural nuance is not built into the research design, the findings will flatten long before the analysis begins.

Most failures are methodological:

• Not seeking cultural expertise before designing the research
• Translating instead of culturally adapting research materials
• Treating Hispanic/Latino inclusion as an add-on instead of a design decision

Qualitative errors:

• Assuming moderator bilingual ability equals cultural expertise
• Not allowing enough time to capture identity navigation, humor, symbolism, and generational tension
• Using the general market discussion guide for Spanish-language groups, even though Spanish typically requires 20–30% more words and time to convey the same content

Quantitative errors:

• Small or non-representative Hispanic/Latino samples
• Overreliance on language and years in the U.S. as segmentation proxies
• Rolling heterogeneous responses into a single mean
• Literal survey translation without cultural adaptation
  Over-indexing on one sub-segment

Without discipline in sampling, interpretation, and subgroup analysis, Hispanic/Latino research becomes anecdotal or flattened. And flattened insight cannot drive precision growth.

AI: The Next Risk Multiplier

AI offers efficiency. It does not offer cultural intelligence.

Large language models can produce fluent Spanish that is culturally wrong. Dialect variation across Mexican, Caribbean, Central American, and South American Spanish is meaningful. Performance disparities across linguistic groups remain documented concerns. Global datasets often overlook the traditions, contexts, and cultural expressions across Latin America, failing to preserve local nuances.

AI detects patterns, not culture, and without human cultural intelligence guiding interpretation, cultural richness disappears. Cultural affinity, code-switching, generational tension, humor, and symbolism cannot be captured through pattern recognition alone.

Spanish is highly contextual, with meanings that shift by tone, region, and situation — subtleties AI often struggles to interpret accurately.

The risk is false confidence.

Polished summaries that miss cultural subtext.

Clean outputs that miss the nuances.

Cultural intelligence must remain human-led. Many Hispanic/Latino consumers tend to soften feedback out of courtesy and avoid direct confrontation. AI often interprets these responses at face value, missing the underlying sentiment that a culturally fluent human researcher would recognize and probe further.

AI can accelerate analysis, but without human cultural intelligence guiding interpretation, nuance — and the insight within it — can be lost.

The Strategic Shift That Changes Everything

The wrong question is: How do we reach Hispanic/Latinos?

The right question is: How do we understand them deeply enough to design for them structurally?

Reaching is tactical.

Understanding is strategic.

Hispanic/Latino research does not belong in a campaign calendar. It belongs in:

• Tracking systems
• Segmentation architecture
• Innovation pipelines
• Creative testing protocols
• Retail strategy

When insight remains episodic, brands operate in hindsight.

When Hispanic / Latino insight becomes infrastructure, brands gain foresight.

The demographic signals are clear.

The economic signals are clear.

The cultural influence is undeniable.

The remaining question is: Will Hispanic/Latino research remain a line item — or become a growth lever?

It’s not about checking boxes or boosting impressions within a segment — it’s about creating genuine connection and resonance with the Hispanic/Latino audience. Brands must understand identity, context, aspiration, and how culture shapes decision-making to truly engage.

When brands invest in true cultural understanding, growth follows — and cultural insight shifts from a niche capability to a competitive edge.

Special thanks to the following collaborators: Hola Insights, Smarketing Consulting and Research, Ingenium Research.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau. (2024).  Population Estimate Characteristics.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2024). Hispanic Heritage Month Facts.

UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute. (2025). U.S. Latino GDP Report.

Pew Research Center. (2023). Latinos’ Views and  Experiences with the Spanish Language.

Pew Research Center. (2024). Latino Hispanic Usage.

ScienceDirect. Evaluation of Dialectal Variations in Spanish Language Models.

Nature. (2025). AI Bias and Performance Across Languages.

GTS. (2025). Spanish Text Expansion.