New “Factoids” for Hispanic Marketers.
by Carlos Pelay, Media Economics Group
HispanicAd.com, May 27, 2002
 

In the past month or so a number of new studies with implications for Hispanic media have been released and their top-line findings have been reported in the media.  Taken together, these studies continue to underscore the importance of the Hispanic market and  - here’s the critical point - of using Hispanic media to reach them. 

The case for “Why Hispanics?” has been strong for a while – even before the latest Census figures became available – with data from many sources including Strategy Research documenting the growing buying power of Hispanics.  Some of the latest research helps to strengthen the second plank in the Hispanic marketer’s sales pitch: “Why in Spanish?”  Hispanic consumers are not only enthusiastic consumers of ethnic media, but often ethnic media in Spanish is the most effective way of reaching Hispanics.   

Online usage among Hispanics is also growing at a much faster rate than the general market as Hispanics “catch-up.”  Online usage in Spanish is also increasing as both Hispanics who prefer Spanish increasingly go online and the number and quality of Spanish-language online media options increases.

Here’s a survey of a couple of recent research studies (and a couple of older ones too) along with links to their sources.  Happy factoid-hunting!

In late April, New California Media (NCM), an association of over 400 print, broadcast, and online ethnic media organizations, released findings from a large (sample of 2,000) study on “the reach, impact, and potential of media targeted to Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American communities.”  While the study was limited to California, some of the findings can (and no doubt will!) be extrapolated to other communities with large multi-ethnic populations.

The study had three major findings:

• The first is that ethnic media were effective in reaching sometimes hard to reach (by general market media) ethnic populations.  According to the NCM study, ethnic television stations, radio stations, and newspapers reach 84% of African-American, Asian-American, or Hispanic adults in California.  More specifically, Spanish-language media reach 89% of California Hispanics.
   

• The second major finding is that not only are ethnic media effective in reaching ethnic audiences but moreover, a “significant percentage of  Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asian-Americans in California prefer ethnic media to their English language or general market counterparts.”  Slightly over half (51%) of Hispanics, for example, preferred Spanish language radio stations to English language.  Hispanics also showed a strong preference for Spanish language television (43%) and to a lesser extent, newspapers (23%).
   

• The third (and I think most useful) finding from the study is that ethnic Californians are “more likely to pay attention to advertising in the ethnic media than to ads in general market media.”  For example, 40% say they pay more attention to ads in their native language than to English language ads.  Exactly two-thirds (66%) said that businesses that advertise in the ethnic media “seem to understand my needs and desires better than other companies.”  Finally, almost two-thirds (63%) said that they are “more likely to buy a product or service advertised” in an ethnic oriented publication or program with advertising loyalty highest among Hispanics.

This last point echoes research that has been around for a while from the Roslow Research Group that shows the greater effectiveness of Spanish-language television advertising over English-language among Hispanic viewers.  Using an experimental design, the studies – first in 1994 and then again in 2000 – were consistent in showing that “Spanish is significantly more effective than advertising to Hispanics in English.”  For example, the 2000 study found:

·         Commercials in Spanish are 61% more effective at increasing ad awareness levels than are commercials in English.

·         Commercials in Spanish are 57% more effective than commercials in English in effectively communicating their message.

·         Commercials in Spanish are 4½-times more persuasive than commercials received in English.

One of the most interesting aspects of the results was that the increased effectiveness of Spanish-language ads was not due strictly to language ability.  Even among bilingual Hispanics, commercials in Spanish were more effective than those in English.  For example, commercials in Spanish were 3.4 times more persuasive among bilingual Hispanics and 6.0 times more persuasive among Spanish-dominant Hispanics (4.5 times overall).  In terms of ad recall there was no significant difference between either group.

In 2001, the Roslow Research Group repeated the study – this time among Hispanic teens.  While the effectiveness gap between Spanish and English was somewhat lower than with adults (largely due to differences in language ability) it was still significant.  Among Hispanic teens, commercials in Spanish were 40% more effective at increasing ad awareness levels, 16% more effective in message communication, and twice as persuasive as ads received in Spanish.

While the California study did not address the use of ethnic online media, earlier this May, comScore Networks reported that Hispanics have become the fastest-growing segment of the online population.  From the first quarter of 2001 to the first quarter of 2002, comScore estimates that Hispanic average monthly unique online users grew from 12.2 million to 14.5 million.  That increase (19%) was more than triple the rate (6%) of growth of the general online population.  According to comScore, Hispanics now comprise 11% of the total U.S. online population.

The comScore study also contained some interesting detail regarding online usage in the top ten Hispanic DMAs that was not widely reported in the press.  Not surprisingly, the largest Hispanic markets by population - New York, Los Angeles, and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale - also had the largest number of Hispanic online users.

However, based on share - Hispanic online users to total online users - the rankings were somewhat different with Miami-Ft. Lauderdale on top with Hispanics comprising 37% of all online users in that market.  Following Miami were: Los Angeles (24%), San Diego (20%), New York (18%), and - tied for fifth place - Houston (17%) and Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto (17%).

Hispanics were also buying online: 8% of Hispanic internet users made online purchases in a month, only slightly less than non-Hispanics (10%).  More impressively, Hispanics on average were spending more than their general market counterparts ($229 vs. $214 per buyer).

The comScore study did not provide additional detail or insights into which sites Hispanics were using and/or their online language preferences.  However, another Roslow Research Group study from earlier this year shows that Hispanics are increasingly turning to Spanish-language online media as well.  The study found that, on average,  "now more time is being spent online using Spanish than English."

According to the Roslow study, between the fall and spring of 2001 the percentage of time Hispanics were using Spanish online increased sharply from 39% to 55%.  This compares with "about 64% of their TV viewing hours with Spanish-language TV …and about three-quarters of their radio listening hours with Spanish-language radio stations."  The increasing usage of Spanish online is consistent with a broadening of the Hispanic internet base so that the average user is "gradually getting older and gradually becoming more Spanish-dominant." 

Taken together these studies all underscore the key importance of using Spanish-language media by marketers and advertisers.  Not just in traditional media like TV, Radio, and Newspapers, but increasingly also online.

Links to studies mentioned in the article:

- comScore Networks “Previously Unmeasured Characteristics of U.S. Online Hispanic Population”  http://www.comscore.com/news/cs_hispanic_050702.htm

- New California Media “Reach, Impact and Potential of Ethnic Media” http://www.ncmonline.com/content/ncm/2002/apr/0423_pr_survey.html 

Note, an online slideshow presentation of their findings is available here: http://www.ncmonline.com/media/presentation/survey/

- Roslow Research Group recent studies: http://www.roslowresearch.com/recent.ihtml