Sales Strategy
Hispanic And Latino Consumers Critical For Growth | August 31, 2016 (0 comments)
New York, NY—Whether it’s shopping or voting, the Hispanic and Latino market is critical to business growth in the United States.
From The Ballot Box To The Grocery Store, the fifth Hispanic/Latino market study from Nielsen, says 50% of U.S. population growth from 2010 to 2015 has come from Hispanics, and the U.S. Census expects the U.S. Latino population to more than double within the next two generations.
Hispanics represent almost 18% of the U.S. population now. They’re expected to reach 24% by 2040 and 29% by 2060, which means that despite slowing immigration and reduced birth rates, this cohort will drive the majority of all U.S. future growth for the foreseeable future. The U.S. Census projects Latinos to account for a full 65% of the nation’s population growth over the next 45 years.
Younger generations of Hispanics (under age 55) are predominantly bilingual, says the report, and each new generation grows more English-dominant. But Spanish is still spoken by many of the English-dominant speakers, and the growing importance of Spanish makes dual-language competence a benefit for marketers in mainstream America.
In 2015, Hispanics controlled $1.3 trillion in buying power, an increase more than twice the growth in non-Hispanic buying power during the same period. With rapidly gains in college-educated Hispanic and Latino women, income levels are rising and with it, the opportunity for this group to become key luxury jewelry consumers.
While strong family ties and a common love of jewelry unite many Hispanic and Latino groups, it’s important to recognize the market is far from homogenous. Every ethnic group has different cultural values and the ability to speak Spanish is sometimes the only commonality.
Separately, it’s also important to understand the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino: they are not interchangeable terms and there is a regional preference for each.
Dr. Maria Elena Villar of Florida International University identifies some of the differences:
Hispanic refers to language: if an individual or his/her ancestors came from a country where Spanish is the dominant language (including Spain), they are Hispanic.
Latino refers to geography, specifically Latin America, the Caribbean, and Central America: An individual who comes from or has ancestry from a nation in one of these regions is Latino—even if the dominant language in their native country is not Spanish, such as in Brazil, Guyana, or Surinam.
The U.S. government developed the classifications during the Nixon administration, as an all-inclusive means to identify individuals of mixed white, black, or mestizo heritage of Central and South America. Today, “Hispanic” tends to be used along the Eastern seaboard and favored by those of South American or Caribbean ancestry or origin, while “Latino” is more popular west of the Mississippi.
Click here to read the full Nielsen report.
Top image: Huffington Post