Hispanics use the Internet? No Way!

Photo source
A study conducted by Synovate's Diversity Group, " The AOL Latino 2006 Hispanic Cyberstudy", reveals there are currently more than 16 million Hispanics online or 55% of the total U.S. Hispanic population. Of those 16 million, 77% have access to broadband. The interesting fact is that this study defines online Hispanics by their level of acculration:

Mostly acculturated
Partially acculturated
Relatively acculturated

Marketers wanting to reach Hispanics can benefit by realizing the internet is consumed in different ways. For example:

*81% of Hispanics online are mostly acculturated or partially acculturated, while only 19% is relatively unacculturated.

*Acculturated online Hispanics tend to prefer online content in English, nearly 40% of them still find Spanish content appealing;


I found this particular aspect interesting:

The Hispanic Online Market & Acculturation

There is a clear distinction in the Internet behavior between mostly acculturated and less acculturated Hispanics:

-- Mostly acculturated Hispanics are more likely to visit websites that focus on finance, entertainment and nutrition.

-- Unacculturated Hispanics are more likely to visit websites that provide news from Latin America, as well as sports websites that focus on soccer.

Hispanics: Going Online vs. Watching Television

LANGUAGE also needs to be considered.

-- In an average week, online Hispanics spend 12.4 hours watching English-language TV and 7.7 hours watching Spanish-language TV.


Perhaps like me, you are wondering, " How do they conduct this research?"

METHODOLOGY

Both the 2006 and 2005 studies were conducted using phone interviews. The 2006 study was completed by interviewing 502 participants in English or Spanish by Synovate bi-lingual interviewers. Respondents were 18+ year old Hispanics who accessed the Internet from any location in the past month.

Synovate Diversity Group's market research defined acculturated, Partially acculturated and unacculturated as follows :

Mostly acculturated Hispanics are those that have been online for an average of 3 or more years. They tend to be U.S. born and to have lived in the U.S. for more than twenty years. However, they still speak Spanish and consume Spanish media.

Partially acculturated Hispanics are those that have been online for an average of 2.8 years. Tend to have lived in the U.S. for several years. Fifty percent (50%) are Spanish-dominant and nearly one-third of this group is bilingual or speaks more English than Spanish. This continues to be the largest Hispanic segment.

Unacculturated Hispanics are those that have been online an average of 2.3 years. They are born outside of the U.S. Hispanics in this segment tend to have lived in the U.S. the shortest amount of time. They are 90% Spanish dominant.
( source: AOL TIME-WARNER )

Online advertising is becoming increasingly popular. Markerters have taken notice and everyday a new on-line shopping site is born. But is it wise to invest in online advertising geared towards hispanics?

Online Hispanics and Internet Purchasing Decisions

-- The Internet continues to be the best source to make a final brand decision for most online Hispanics (68% in 2006 vs. 51% in 2004).

-- More than three quarters of the online Hispanic population (77%) use the Internet to learn about brands of products (vs. 59% in 2004).

-- Seventy-five percent (75%) of online Hispanics use the Internet to learn about brand features or benefits (vs. 61% in 2004).



( personal photo: "shop 'til you drop" )

Does this mean I'm not alone when choosing to shop online versus the local mall?