Research

The Dallas/Ft. Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Area is experiencing a substantial Latino population boom that is helping many area retailers remain profitable in a tough economy. According to the Census Bureau, the Dallas/Ft. Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Area was the second-fast growing metropolitan area in the United States, adding an estimated 601,242 residents since the year 2000. Hispanics comprised 60 percent of these new residents, whose estimated buying power of $20 billion has benefited the bottom-line for area retailers.

Coca Cola continues its rise as it moves into the top position of the annual Harris Poll of “best brands” for the first time and rises from No. 3 last year. Sony, which had been in the top position for seven straight years, drops one spot to No. 2, while Toyota, previously in the fourth position, moves up to No. 3. Dell, which had been in the second spot last year drops two spots to No. 4 this year.

California’s population is projected to reach almost 60 million people by 2050, adding over 25 million since the 2000 decennial census, according to long-range population projections released by the California Department of Finance.

From less than 34 million Californians counted in that census, the new data series shows that the state will pass the 40 million mark in 2012, and exceed 50 million by 2032.

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim National Hispanic Heritage Week, which was observed during the week including Sept. 15 and Sept. 16. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a monthlong celebration (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15). America celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively.

I have been sending my grandmother money every month since I landed my first steady, post college job. On a recent visit, instead of sending the monthly stipend via money order, I brought the cash. My grandmother took the money, went into her room, opened a drawer and piled it on top of what looked like a gangster‚s stash: neatly piled twenties, eight rows across. I almost fell over. Here was this helpless octogenarian with thousands of dollars sitting in her bedroom.

While digital video continues to grab headlines with the growing prominence of streaming and downloading video files among online adults, today’s entertainment enthusiasts remain largely steadfast in their love of traditional viewing options, according to recent findings released by Ipsos Insight from MOTION.

The Bureau of Labor & Statistics (BLS) has long produced statistics about the labor market, such as employment, hours of work, and earnings. To provide a more complete picture of the context of employment, BLS also conducts the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The ATUS collects data on what activities people do during the day and how much time they spend doing them.

GfK Consumer, a division of GfK Custom Research North America, announced the launch of its Unacculturated Hispanic In-Person Research Program, the first of its kind to gather consumer intelligence from the marketplace, representing 40% of the more than 42 million Hispanics in the U.S.

Harris Interactive released the 2007 results from EquiTrend, a renowned annual brand equity study that measures and compares over 1,000 brands across 39 categories.

Phoenix has become the nation’s fifth most populous city, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. As of July 1, 2006, this desert metropolis had a population of 1.5 million.

New York continued to be the nation’s most populous city, with 8.2 million residents. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million.

MediaDay details the daily media usage of American consumers—including when they use particular media, where they are when they use them, what else they are doing at the time and how engaged they are with each medium.

Top-line results show that TV and radio are the most heavily used media on an average day; fewer consumers, however report they were “very focused” when using these media when compared with the number who said they were “very focused” when surfing the Internet or reading magazines or newspapers.

The most successful retailers in the industry are constantly reinventing themselves to stay one step ahead of the competition, according to the STORES Top 100 Retailers ranking.

A new study confirms that 72 percent of Hispanics in the King, Snohomish and Pierce counties of Washington state speak Spanish at home more than English—far more than the nationwide figure of 34 percent. Hispanic Consumers in the Puget Sound Region, a collaboration between Conexión Marketing and Seattle University.

Alcohol industry “responsibility” advertisements comprised less than three percent of the nearly 1.5 million alcohol industry television advertisements that aired from 2001 to 2005, according to a new study released today by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University.

The report, titled DROWNED OUT: Alcohol Industry “Responsibility” Advertising on Television 2001-2005, analyzed the industry’s “responsibility” advertising because it is the largest source of such advertising.

The Radio Ad Lab is conducting a new series of research projects under the umbrella theme, “Radio and the Consumer’s Mind: How Radio Works.” The goal is to continue learning both how Radio advertising affects consumers differently and how it works synergistically with other forms of media.

The newest paper, “Engagement, Emotions, and the Power of Radio,” conducted by Gallup & Robinson, was designed to assess how well Radio ads can generate emotional responses and engage with consumers, compared to television ads. And it did so using advanced physiological methods that measure emotional responses in ways that don’t require verbal responses. The conclusion is that the emotional impact of Radio ads is equal to TV.

The National Society of Hispanic MBAs will launch the premier issue of The Business Journal of Hispanic Research.

In a move symbolic of the mainstreaming of the U.S. Hispanic population, Nielsen late last week announced plans for integrating and reporting Hispanic households and individuals as part of a single, general market view of the U.S. television marketplace.