Since every market at every moment is acting and/or reacting to some internal or external stimulus, this may appear to be a hard question to answer. Especially in the media-buying space, where the pace of a genetically bipolar industry gets particularly frenetic every time the winds of change puff the globe off its axis and toward either the manic or depressive side of its personality.
On the other hand, maybe the question “is the Hispanic market where the action is” isn’t really difficult at all. Perhaps it just depends on how you define “action.”
Recently survey results from such major players as Experian Simmons, Univision, and Forrester Research attracted considerable interest — if not actual “action” — by revealing that many Hispanic consumers have a more positive view of the current economy than, on average, non-Hispanics. Even more surprising, perhaps, was evidence that Hispanics are more receptive than non-Hispanics to cutting-edge mobile distribution platforms for advertiser-supported entertainment.
Based on an analysis of 65 weekly surveys conducted from Q1 2008 through Q2 2009, Experian SimmonsSM and Univision reported that Hispanic consumers have reacted less negatively to post-September ‘08 economic deterioration than non-Hispanic consumers.
Specifically, the report stated that since the “meltdown” week of September 29:
• Hispanic consumer confidence levels have continued to be more than ten percent higher than that of non-Hispanics.
• Over one-third of Hispanic consumers, compared to only one-quarter of non-Hispanics, are optimistic about their personal financial prospects for the coming 52 weeks.
• The percentage of Hispanics expressing confidence about the performance of the overall U.S. economy over the next year is significantly higher (29% – 21%) than the percentage of non-Hispanics.
Interesting findings. But are they simply proof of La Agencia de Orci founder/CEO Hector Orci’s oft-quoted observation that “being Hispanic means you’re optimistic” or a call to action? Perhaps these three additional statistics reported in the Experian/Univision study provide some basis for a conclusion:
• Hispanics are 38 percent more likely to buy advertised products than non-Hispanics.
• Hispanics consistently shop more frequently than non-Hispanics.
• Twice as many Hispanics (31% vs. 15%) are willing to pay premium prices to buy branded prescription drugs instead of generics.
Considered as a whole, the results of this 65-week study are arguably a call to ad-placement action. A message that, particularly in hard times, the “resilience of the Hispanic consumer,” in Univision Executive Vice-President of Corporate Research Ceril Shagrin’s words, is worth a second or even third look when near-term media plans are on the table.
And, according to a recent Forrester North American Technographics Benchmark Survey, some of that ad-placement “action” might productively be targeted to New Media.
Among other things, Forrester reported that:
• The percentage of Hispanic Web surfers who watch streaming video and save downloadable video content is higher than that of non-Hispanic Web users.
• Indicating a high degree of comfort with advanced technology, the percentage of Spanish-speakers watching television programs and video clips on mobile multimedia devices such as Smartphones is also higher than that of non-Hispanic users
Regardless of how you choose to interpret the results of these surveys, one conclusion is inescapable. The Hispanic consumer market, despite being in the midst of its adopted country’s worst recession in 80 years, is a vibrant, rapidly growing, and increasingly sophisticated giant. Sleeping it is not.
