Hispanic Consumer

HispanicBusiness.com posted an article recently discussing a new AHAA report entitled “Targeting the Best Hispanic Consumer: A Generational and Cultural Orientation Study.” The gist of the report is that Hispanics are not a monolithic bloc, but rather “Hispanic millennials, Gen Xers and boomers all have their own buying patterns and should be marketed to accordingly.”

The report points out that while Hispanic millennials are likely to focus on wireless devices and are more likely to use debit cards, Gen Xers are able to afford more expensive gadgets. Boomers are more likely to be interested in investments, and are more likely to buy new cars.

What digital divide? Latinos use cellphones to stay connected.

MediaPost’s Engage Hispanics Blog has published an interesting piece by Lee Vann, who is well known in the Hispanic digital marketing world, about the Pew Hispanic Center’s recent report on the Digital Divide. Lee reports that “the digital divide is shrinking due in large part to rapid Hispanic mobile adoption and strong usage of social networking sites.”

He cites the following statistics from the report to underscore his point:

• Usage of the Internet among U.S. Hispanics jumped 14 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.

• 78% of U.S. Hispanics use the Internet compared to 87% of non-Hispanic whites.

Mobile Banking

According to recent research reports from Zpryme and ThinkNow, nearly seven out of ten (69%) Hispanic mobile bank users consult their smart/cell phones to do mobile banking. In addition, almost one-third of Hispanic mobile users would switch primary banks to get mobile banking services. This is unsurprising – as has been noted elsewhere on Reach Hispanic, Spanish-language versions of banking sites generally lack the content, features and functionality that the English-language version has.

According to Mario X. Carrasco, Director of Online Research at ThinkNow, “one of the key findings of our research is that mobile banking services are highly valued by Hispanics,” and further, that this represents “a large opportunity for financial institutions that want to go after this market.”

Toy Fair 2013

Portada recently wrote a review of the annual Toy Fair in New York City, now in its 110th year and host to more than one thousand manufacturers, 30,000 visitors and over 100,000 toy products.

Noting the growing number of Latinos in the US and their burgeoning buying power, the article discusses how major companies like Mattel are responding with Spanish-speaking and bilingual toys.

There is a 21-piece kitchen set for Dora the Explorer (whose name in Spanish also rhymes: Dora La Exploradora), while classic figurine lines like “Little People” will finally have a multicultural offering, with a new Latina character named “Mia.”

America’s Credit Unions

Hispanic Business recently published an article by Chris Sieroty discussing a new report from the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues highlighting opportunities for credit unions in both states by serving local Hispanic populations.

The Hispanic Opportunity Report estimates that if 10 percent of Hispanic adults in each state were members of a credit union, they would contribute an estimated $82 million in loan balances, and $28 million to annual income in the case of Nevada credit unions.

The report notes that “By 2030, one out of three Nevada residents will be Hispanic, while 8 percent of businesses in the Silver State are Hispanic-owned.” The state’s Hispanic growth rate from 2000 to 2010 was 82 percent, outpacing California at 28 percent, Texas at 36 percent, and Florida at 57 percent.