Bicultural Advertising: Targeting the True
Hispanic Consumer
By Andrew Hamilton, M.B.A.
February 2012
Introduction
The issue that frames the present research is
the importance of taking into account
biculturalism in communication. To determine to
what extent organizations are targeting
bicultural individuals, we analyze the case of
Hispanics in the United States market. As such,
we explore how bicultural Hispanics have been
defined in previous studies and why organizing
this segment based on level of acculturation into
mainstream American society has been largely
ignored. The research posits bicultural Hispanics
differ greatly from other ethnic groups, even
within the Hispanic population, as they strive to
avoid assimilation into mainstream American
culture, while successfully maintaining much of
their Hispanic heritage, language and culture.
Using the bi-dimensional model of acculturation
as a foundation, in conjunction with the
framework of the United States Census Bureau
acculturation categories, an increasing number
of Hispanics have been shown to be adopting
bicultural identities. As with monocultural
individuals, bicultural individuals define a
component of their identities by the goods and
services they purchase; thus organizations
should modify their marketing strategies and
increase their advertising in an effort to play a
greater role in that process. Mainstream
advertisements targeting traditional Americans
or traditional Hispanics fail to capture the
relatively new, but quickly growing bicultural
Hispanic audience. Most businesses have been
resistant to invest in this new bicultural market
due to the assumption they are reaching
English-dominant Hispanics with their
mainstream advertisements and Spanish-
dominant Hispanics through their Spanish-
language advertisements. Research on second
and third generation Hispanic consumer
behavior is scarce, with much of the prior
research warning not to organize the segment
based solely on their language propensity being
largely ignored by businesses today. Thus, this
study sets out to determine if in fact
organizations are properly focusing their
advertising with the goal of capturing the more
highly acculturated Hispanic segment known as
bicultural Hispanics, who account for majority of
the purchasing power within the Hispanic
populace.
Acculturation and Biculturalism
An individual’s sense of self is in part derived
from the culture group they most closely identify
with. Individuals affirm this cultural identity by
not only connecting with others through the use
of a common language, but through the food
they consume, the recreational activities they
engage in and the religion they practice.
According to Ryder, Alden and Paukhus (2000,
p.49), “When an individual moves from one
culture to another, many aspects of self-identity
are modified to accommodate information about
and experiences within the new culture.“
Although these aspects of self-identity are
susceptible to change when a person enters a
new culture, the change is often slow. This
process is referred to as acculturation and
occurs when an immigrating individual attains a
host country’s cultural traits (Palumbo & Teich,
2005).
Two models which attempt to explain how
acculturation takes place are the uni-
dimensional model and the bi-dimensional
model. The uni-dimensional model regards
acculturation as a linear transition from one’s
former birth cultural to their newly adopted host
country’s culture. Conversely, the bi-dimensional
model regards acculturation as a more fluid
process, allowing one to acquire their host
country’s values and behavioral norms without
losing components of their birth culture
(Palumbo & Teich, 2005). Research by Ryder,
Alden and Paukhus (2000) concludes the bi-
dimensional model provides a far more effective
framework to understanding acculturation. Their
study indicates that individuals exposed to two
cultures tend to develop two co-existing cultural
self-identifies, directly negating the uni-
dimensional model which suggests the older
cultural identity will gradually be replaced by the
newer cultural identity.
Davies & Fitchett (2004) contend that consumer
societies, such as the U.S., maintain underlying
cultural characteristics that force immigrants
and visitors to adapt. Thus, determining and
successfully reaching varying cultural groups is
paramount for organizations, as an individual’s
cultural identity directly affects his or her
consumption patterns. Studies have found
consumer behavior among different ethnic
groups varies greatly due to differing cultural
values (Lee & Briley, 2002). Cultural identity has
been shown to effect not only brand loyalty, but
also perceived risks, decision making and
novelty seeking in terms of consumer behavior
(Kwon & Keng, 2004).
Empirical evidence suggests that an individual’s
ethnic background and their degree of
acculturation does, in fact, have an influence on
their purchasing behavior (Jamal & Chapman,
2000). Much of this research to date falls more
in line with the uni-dimensional model, regarding
acculturation as a linear transition (Sandikci,
Ekici, & Tari, 2006). However, new research on
the subject contends multicultural consumers
often are left to negotiate between multiple and
conflicting cultural meaning systems when
purchasing or consuming a product or service
(Lee & Briley, 2002). Penaloza (1994) has found
that immigrants’ consumption patterns often
vary between assimilation and integration,
following a more non-linear pattern. Drawing on
Penaloza’s work, Askegaard, Arnould, &
Kjeldgaard (2005) have concluded that
immigrant consumers purchase and consume
products and services as a means to negotiate
differences between their birth culture and host
culture, while creating conditional identities
based on the differences.
Psychologists regard biculturalism as the ability
“to be a competent member of two cultures
without being in serious psychological conflict
about either” (Padilla, 2006, p. 470). This
contemporary perspective recognizes that
bicultural individuals have two separate social
identities and are inherently capable of
transitioning from one cultural orientation to
another, depending upon their environment and
those around them (Padilla, 2006). Contrary to
the conventional view that biculturals maintain
one dominant cultural identity, emerging
research suggests they are capable of mixing
and alternating between two equally significant
cultural identities, directly correlating to the bi-
dimensional framework of acculturation. Thus,
biculturalism represents the end result of an
individual’s acculturation process into a new
culture, in accordance with the bi-dimensional
model (Zolfagharian & Sun, 2010, Ryder et al.,
2000).
U.S. Hispanics
The word ‘Hispanic’ was created by the United
States government in the early 1970’s to serve
as an umbrella term to classify those from
Spanish speaking countries or cultures. As a
result, the U.S. Census Bureau continues to
include 350,000 Spaniards into the Hispanic
category (Clutter & Zubieta, 2009). The United
States Office of Management and Budget (1997)
defines Hispanic as “a person of Cuban,
Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central
American, or other Spanish culture or origin,
regardless of race.”
As of 2010, the Hispanic population of the United
States was estimated to be 50.5
million. Hispanics represent 16% of the total U.S.
population; with more than 1 in every 2 children
born Hispanic (Ennis, Rios-Vargas & Albert,
2011). It is anticipated by 2050 Hispanics will
represent 30% of the total population and swell
to 132.8 million citizens. This projected
population expansion will effectively advance
Hispanics from being the nation’s largest ethnic
minority to becoming the nation’s majority
(Hispanic Americans: Census Facts, 2009).
Hispanic Acculturation
The 2009 American Community Survey
estimates that 62.6% of the Hispanic population
was born in the United States, while 37.4% were
born elsewhere and immigrated to the U.S
(Lopez & Taylor, 2010). These native born
Hispanics are increasingly embracing
bilingualism and biculturalism as means of
acculturation into mainstream American society
(Korzenny & Korzenny, 2005). The largest group,
Partially Acculturated Hispanics, account for 59%
of the Hispanic population, having been born in
the U.S. or resided their longer than 10 years.
The majority of this group is bilingual and
maintains most of their Hispanic cultural values
and traditions. The next group is Largely
Unacculturated Hispanics, which represent 28%
of the Hispanic population, as they were
typically born outside of the U.S. and have
resided there less than 10 years. Individuals
within this group tend to be low income wage
earners and depend predominantly on Spanish-
language media. The smallest acculturation
group is Highly Acculturated Hispanics,
representing just 13% of the population and
though they too maintain most of their Hispanic
cultural values and traditions, they tend to only
speak English (Palumbo & Teich, 2005). Half of
second and third generation Hispanics are
bilingual and 26.7% prefer the use of English
over Spanish (Reveron, 2007). Unfortunately,
language is only a single component of defining
ones cultural identity (Padilla, 2006). Culture is
more difficult to measure than most
demographic variables, as it encompasses not
only language, but also race, ethnicity,
nationality and social class (Zolfagharian & Sun,
2010). Thus, a bilingual Hispanic is not
necessarily bicultural.
As background, determining and successfully
reaching varying cultural groups has been shown
to be paramount for organizations, as cultural
identity directly affects consumption patterns.
Studies have found consumer behavior among
different ethnic groups varies greatly due to
differing cultural values (Lee & Briley, 2002).
Further research suggests cultural identity
affects not only brand loyalty, but also perceived
risks, decision making and novelty seeking in
terms of consumer behavior (Kwon & Keng,
2004).
Hispanic Media Use
A review of the academic literature reveals only
a small number of studies examining Hispanic
media uses have been performed. From the
literature that does exist, Hispanic consumer
behavior can be influenced by acculturation
levels and which forms of media are utilized
(Sonderup, 2004). According to Korzenny &
Korzenny (2005), Hispanic consumers do not
wish to be communicated with by companies in
the same manner as traditional American
consumers, as they demand ad content to be
both culturally relevant and in both English and
Spanish.
Nielsen Media Research (2010) found that
Hispanics who are least acculturated almost
always watch Spanish language television, while
the more highly acculturated Hispanics never
watch Spanish language television. La Ferle and
Lee (2005) examined the media usage and
attitudes of traditional Americans, African-
Americans, and Hispanics, finding Hispanics
consistently watch English language television
and listen to English language radio, but they
tend to prefer Spanish print media.
Nielsen Media Research (2010) also concluded
Hispanics tend to be more responsive to other
forms of English dominant mass media, including
newspapers, magazines, internet and the radio.
More and more Hispanics, particularly the highly
acculturated segment, prefer to be
communicated with in English (Reveron, 2007).
Effects of Acculturation on Advertising
Although culture involves different dimensions,
in regards to research related to advertising to
bicultural individuals, what language to
communicate in is often considered the most
important. In an effort to determine the effects
of language on bilingual consumer behavior,
Koslow, Shamdasani & Touchstone (1994)
conducted a study where bilingual Hispanic
respondents in a super market were asked to
provide feedback to a series of mock
advertisements. The advertisements featured a
generic product attempting to be sold in English,
Spanish, both with English as the dominant
language, and both with Spanish as the
dominant language. Their results indicated that
Hispanics overwhelming preferred
advertisements which featured both English and
Spanish, as the respondents felt they better
conveyed a positive and respectful attitude
towards the Hispanic culture by the traditional
American majority.
In a study by Korgaonkar, Karson & Lund (2000)
exploring Hispanic consumer behavior, it was
determined Hispanics respond more favorably to
direct mail than their traditional American
counterparts. The study revealed more
acculturated Hispanics were more likely to
purchase products and services directly from
print advertisements in direct mail than less
acculturated Hispanics. Although level of
acculturation does directly influence Hispanic
consumer behavior, the language barrier can be
effectively hedged against by employing both
the English and Spanish languages
consecutively, in addition to elements indicative
to both cultures
Hispanics consumer behavior is often dependent
upon the level of acculturation, as well as the
size of income and household. Hispanics who are
more fluent in English tend to relate better with
American culture, products and services.
Conversely, Hispanics who are less fluent in
English must be reached through targeted
Spanish-language advertising (Lintott, 2004).
Objectives and Methodology
Considering the importance of Hispanic
population in United Stated and its predicted
growth in years to come, the study sets out to
identify if U.S. companies are targeting Hispanic
consumers and if so, are they properly
developing their ethnic advertising campaigns
taking into consideration acculturation.
The selection of the appropriate market to
perform this research was necessary to
effectively consider a representative and diverse
sample of Hispanic consumers in relation to the
overall United States marketplace. Thus, the
sample units to be considered were
organizations serving the Virginia region known
as Greater Fredericksburg Region, which
encompasses the City of Fredericksburg and the
counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania,
and Stafford. Located directly between state
capital of Richmond, Virginia and the national
capital of Washington, DC, it is presently the
fourth largest market in the United States, the
fastest growing region in the state of Virginia
and experiencing almost double the growth of
the Hispanic population relative to the State of
Virginia (Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, 2007;
Battle, 2011).
A convenience sample of businesses operating in
the Greater Fredericksburg Region were
contacted and agreed to complete the
anonymous, online questionnaire. With a
response rate of 72%, 58 of the 81 organizations
contacted agreed to participate in the study. The
self administered and digital interviews were
performed on representatives of the marketing
departments of each respective organization. A
three page questionnaire was sent by email to
the corresponding individuals. The questionnaire
contained 24 questions organized into four
parts: background information, analysis of
Hispanic customers/clients, information on
past/current Hispanic advertising efforts and
future plans for Hispanic advertising. It included
a series of open-end and close-ended questions
examining the various facets of each
organization’s Hispanic advertising efforts. The
selection of responses for the closed-ended
questions was both exhaustive and mutually
exclusive among the respondents.
Results
Table 1 presents the summary of the results
obtained from the questionnaire. 40% of
respondents reported they typically employ
targeted advertisements towards Hispanics,
despite the fact that 73% reported that their
products/services were just as suitable for the
Hispanic market as they were for their traditional
American counterparts. The remaining 24% felt
their products/services were less suited for the
Hispanic market, while 3% believed their
products/services to be more suited for the
Hispanic market. The number of organizations
specifically targeting Hispanics might be lower
due to the fact that 71% reported using the
same communication plan to target both
Hispanics and traditional Americans
simultaneously. Consequently, this might explain
why 60% of the organizations surveyed do not
actively advertise to the Hispanic populace.
The majority respondents (64%) reported
monitoring Hispanic population trends, with 43%
having begun doing so within the past 3 to 5
years. Additionally, 22% reported their
monitoring to have started between 6 to 10
years ago, with only 2 organizations having
started this practice over a decade ago. For
those organizations that have monitored and
taken notice of the increasing Hispanic
population regionally, 51% have utilized that
information when making decisions about the
development of new products. Furthermore, 62%
of these organizations have also internalized this
knowledge when making decisions about their
communications plans. However, 30% of
respondents monitored the demographic
changes for other purposes entirely. These
results signify the importance organizations
place on demographic information when
developing marketing approaches and targeting
customers.
Table 2 compares the mass media used to reach
Hispanics for advertising purposes. Of the 40%
of organizations that reported employing
targeted advertisements towards Hispanics, the
mass media most often utilized was the internet.
The usage of brochures was slightly less, with
newspaper advertising rounding out the top
three. Existing research validates these
approaches, as Hispanics have been proven to
be particularly susceptible to communication
through the internet and newspapers (Nielsen
Media Research, 2010). When the respondents
were questioned as to the primary advertising
medium used by their respective organization to
reach Hispanics, the internet was again most
often identified. Said respondents indicated that
their corporate websites featured a multi-
language component, so visitors may choose
what language they will use when consuming
their content. Multiple respondents also
suggested leveraging other forms of mass media
to communicate a “call to action” of the targeted
customer, directing them to the website to learn
more.
Moreover, 41% of respondents reported using
the exact same advertisements to target both
Hispanics and traditional Americans. Budgetary
constraints was given as the primary reason.
According to one respondent “We would like to
do more, but budget concerns remain an issue.“
Another respondent went as far as to blame the
lack of mass media options by stating “It has
been a real challenge to reach the Hispanic
population in a market the size of
Fredericksburg. There are very few media
options available.“ Perhaps this perceived lack of
options has led organizations to settling or
believing their current ads are effective reaching
both Hispanics and traditional Americans
markets, as 25% of respondents to this question
indicated that this was their primary reason for
using the exact same advertisements to reach
both demographics.
Conversely, the majority of respondents (59%)
reported employing different advertising plans
when targeting Hispanics, relative to their
traditional American counterparts. Figure 1
presents the elements changed in their Hispanic
advertising plans compared to their traditional
Americans advertising plans. Although they
often changed the visual content within their ads
and the mass media used to communicate to
their customers, virtually all of the respondents
changed the language of their ads. As such, 59%
of organizations used only Spanish in their
Hispanic advertisements, with 23% using mostly
Spanish with some English and only 12% using
half Spanish, half English. Of the sample group,
none have utilized only English in their targeted
Hispanic advertisements. For those that did
employ Spanish language ads, 60% of
respondents reported they were exact
translations of English language ads.
Many of respondents altered visual elements
within their Hispanic advertisements. This is in
accord with the abundance of research which
suggests that ethnic minorities groups strongly
prefer marketing communications that connect
both culturally and linguistically (Korzenny &
Korzenny, 2005; Palumbo & Teich, 2005; Singh &
Bartikowski, 2009). Based on the responses, it
can be inferred that the majority of the
organizations surveyed that engage in Hispanic
advertising purposefully use images of Hispanic
individuals and groups of people. Many of the
respondents strived to convey a heightened
sense of family and togetherness through their
advertisements. Several responses indicated the
use of sports imagery, such as images of people
playing soccer and wearing soccer jerseys. This
further validates the findings by Palumbo &
Teich (2005), which recommend that marketers
utilize visual elements conveying strong family
values and enthusiasm for soccer.
With Hispanics accounting for almost 14% of
sales on average, it is important to consider
which segments of the population are being
targeted in terms of level of acculturation. To do
so, the targeted sample set must be examined in
global and objective terms. The respondents
indicated the targeting of males and females
equally, thus this is not a factor. In terms of
ages, on average the sample set targeted
Hispanics aged 22-57. With adults aged 22-57
encompassing the general years for employment
within the United States, the targeting of these
individuals is complemented by the fact that
54% of respondents identified Hispanics
employed part-time or fulltime as their target
demographic. In terms of location, the majority
of organizations targeted the City of
Fredericksburg (27%) and neighboring
Spotsylvania County (25%); while Stafford
County was targeted 20% of the time. This
strategy aligns with the most recent statistics
indicating Stafford County and Spotsylvania
County have experienced triple digit growth of
Hispanics in the past decade, as well as the fact
the City of Fredericksburg contains the highest
population of Hispanics proportionally (Battle,
2011).
When asked of the U.S. residency status of their
targeted Hispanic customer/client, 71% of the
organizations targeted Hispanics who have
immigrated and lived in the U.S. for longer than
10 years. Furthermore, 52% targeted Hispanics
who have immigrated and been in the U.S. for
less than 10 years; while only 25% targeted
Hispanics born in the U.S.. In accordance with
the acculturation framework set by the U.S.
Census Bureau, the results indicate that the
majority of the organizations targeted partially
acculturated Hispanics, who tend to be bilingual
and maintain most of their Hispanic cultural
values and traditions. To a lesser extent, they
targeted largely unacculturated Hispanics, who
tend to earn lower incomes and depend mainly
on Spanish-language media. The least targeted
segment appears to be the highly acculturated
Hispanics, who tend to be fluent only in English,
but maintain their Hispanic cultural values and
traditions (Palumbo & Teich, 2005).
With an established understanding of the
targeted Hispanic demographic, it is important
to explore their susceptibility to the Hispanic
advertisements that have been presented to
them. With 41% of respondents reporting the
use of the exact same advertisements to reach
both Hispanics and traditional Americans, it can
be inferred that these ads are reaching only the
more highly acculturated Hispanics and the
partially acculturated Hispanics. This is due to
the fact that these two subsets of Hispanics tend
to be fluent in the English language and able to
identify better with the American cultural traits
communicated through the visual components of
the ad. In regards to the 59% that altered their
advertising plans for Hispanics, what
components they changed had a direct effect on
which segment of the Hispanic populace was
likely reached. Those that altered the visual
elements were likely the most successful
communicating with all three Hispanic
segments. As for the majority (40%) that
focused on altering the language within their
ads, these organizations were far less likely to
communicate with all three Hispanic segments.
For instance, 59% utilized only Spanish in their
Hispanic advertisements, which instantly
negated the more highly acculturated segment
who tends to be unable to speak Spanish.
The majority of the respondents (55%), reported
a general dissatisfaction in terms of the effort
made by their respective organizations to reach
the Hispanic market regionally and the results
obtained, while 45% reported being satisfied.
These results encompass organizations that
presently and actively target Hispanics, as well
organizations that are equally content not
targeting Hispanics. Multiple respondents
reported budgetary constraints as the primary
reason they were dissatisfied with their current
efforts. This can be further supported by the fact
that on average organizations allocated only
11.2% of their yearly advertising budget for
Hispanic advertising.
Of the organizations surveyed, not one reported
plans to decrease their budget allocations for
Hispanic advertising in the coming years. As
such, over half (53%) of the sample set had
plans to maintain their current advertising
budget, with slightly less than half (47%)
planning to increase their budget allocations.
One respondent justified their plans to increase
their advertising efforts by stating “Hispanic
customers are on the rise, thus our marketing
dollars should follow suit.” It also appears that
the releasing of the 2010 Census results will
have little impact on budgeting allocations
towards Hispanics, as 60% respondents report
that it will not have an effect, while only 40%
report that it will play a role in their future
decision making.
Discussion and Conclusion
With the release of the 2010 Census population
figures, Americans have gained new insight into
the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority
group in the United States. Accounting for 50.5
million residents and 16% of the total
population, Hispanics were responsible for over
half the growth in the United States in the past
decade (Ennis et al., 2011; Hume, Jones, &
Ramirez, 2011). While much of the media
attention on these figures is due to their sheer
size, the fact that the majority of the Hispanic
population was born in the United States should
be of particular interest to marketers (Lopez &
Taylor, 2010).
The 2010 Census results clearly reveal Hispanics
are not a large, growing population of
immigrants, but in fact a large, growing native
ethnic group. For marketers who depend on
accurate demographic data to be successful, it is
imperative they recognize the shifting
demographics and begin targeting the quickly
growing highly acculturated segment known as
bicultural Hispanics. This study set out to
determine if in fact organizations were following
Hispanic population trends within the area they
operate. Interestingly, the majority of
participants began monitoring Hispanics within
the past 5 years. This can likely be attributed to
the burgeoning Hispanic populace. Thus, this
indicates that organizations are in part, taking
notice of the changing demographics.
The study then established that only 40% of
participants directly advertise to Hispanics. This
was surprising considering the majority of the
organizations regarded their products/services
as just as suitable for the Hispanic market as
they were for their traditional American
counterparts. Consequently, organizations
regionally are failing to target Hispanics through
their advertising, despite the fact that as of 2010
there were approximately 25,000 Hispanics
residing in the region. Although Hispanics
account for roughly 10% of the region’s
population, this appears to be a large market
segment to ignore (Battle, 2010). Furthermore,
not targeting the Hispanic market is a bit
contradictory of the fact that when participants
were asked to rate the importance of
communication for the sales of their company,
virtually all rated communication as very
important. Thereby, communication with
customers is obviously regarded as instrumental
in an organization’s efforts to remain viable.
It can be inferred that the majority of
organizations in the marketplace place high
value on communication with their customers;
thus the question becomes if they are failing to
target Hispanics through advertising, are they
reaching them by other means? The majority of
organizations reported using the same
communication plan to target both Hispanics
and traditional Americans simultaneously. This
conflicts with the existing literature which
suggests that Hispanic consumers do not wish to
be communicated with by companies in the
same manner as traditional American
consumers, as they demand communications to
be both culturally relevant and in both English
and Spanish. In terms of advertising, 59% of
respondents reported executing differing
advertising plans when targeting Hispanics,
relative to their traditional American
counterparts. Thereby, the small majority of
organizations are in fact altering and catering
their ads based on Hispanic data, in accordance
with researchers suggestions. But the fact
remains, many organizations continue to naively
assume they are successfully reaching Hispanics
and Americans concurrently with the same ads.
Although organizations often changed the visual
content within their ads and the mass media
used to communicate to their customers,
virtually all changed the language of their ads.
As such, 59% of organizations surveyed used
only Spanish in their Hispanic advertisements,
while 23% used mostly Spanish with some
English, and only 12% used half Spanish, half
English. These results indicate that the majority
of Hispanic advertisements employed are
communicating to predominantly largely
unacculturated and partially acculturated
Hispanics, negating the highly acculturated
segment. This is further validated by the fact
that majority of respondents felt their targeted
Hispanic audience has immigrated in the past
decade to the U.S. Unfortunately, this does not
align with recent Census data declaring that the
majority of the Hispanic population was born in
the United States and speak English fluently.
Despite the existing research and demographic
data available to both organizations and
marketers, the results of this study validate that
organizations are failing to capture the growing
bicultural segment of Hispanics living in the
United States. Only 25% of respondents in this
study target Hispanics who were born in the U.S.
Thus, the majority of organizations are focusing
their limited resources and budgets on segments
of the population who are not only smaller in
numbers, but who earn lower incomes and are
more difficult to reach based on their
acculturation levels (Palumbo & Teich, 2005).
Additionally, multiple respondents indicated
difficultly reaching illegal immigrants. It is
strongly advised organizations abandon this
strategy immediately, as this group of Hispanics
represent an extremely small segment of the
total Hispanic populace and in turn are not an
efficient use of limited funds. This segment is
also not projected to grow in the near future, as
immigration has decreased in tandem with the
economic recession taking place in the U.S.
(Passel & Cohn, 2011).
With more than 1 in every 2 children born
Hispanic in the United States, the Census Bureau
projects by 2015, over one-third of the
population under the age of 20 will be Hispanic.
As of 2007, the vast majority (85%) of Hispanics
under the age of 20 were second and third
generation Hispanics (Ennis et al., 2011;
Reveron, 2007). Thus, these individuals possess
a higher degree of acculturation and are most
likely to fall into the bicultural segment of the
Hispanic population. Consequently, with U.S.
Census data indicating biculturals tend to be
English-dominant or capable of only speaking
English, properly targeting and reaching this
evolving demographic in the correct language
becomes key for organizations to achieve both
short term and long term success. Organizations
must not underestimate the purchasing power
and growing influence of the Hispanic youth
among both Hispanics and mainstream America.
Existing research suggests overwhelmingly
Hispanics prefer advertisements which feature
the utilization of both the English and Spanish
languages (Koslow et al., 1994; Korzenny &
Korzenny, 2005; Singh & Bartikowski, 2009).
However, according to the results of this study
only a small number of organizations used both
languages in their advertisements to varying
degrees. It appears that not only are
organizations unclear about the Hispanic
demographic, but they are adhering to a flawed
ideology that English-dominant Hispanics are
being reached with mainstream advertisements
targeted towards traditional Americans. In fact,
nearly half of the organizations reported the use
of the exact same advertisements to reach both
Hispanics and traditional Americans. English
language marketing campaigns are not
necessarily as effective at communicating
messages to English-dominant Hispanics
(Korzenny & Korzenny, 2005).
According to the results of this study,
organizations are doing a proper job
communicating with the Hispanic demographic
by predominately advertising through the use of
the internet, brochures, and newspapers, as
these forms of mass media have proven to be
successful when reaching the demographic.
However, there appears to be a large disparity
between the use of these forms of mass media
and radio, television and direct mail, which
existing research also suggests are strong
advertising mediums within the Hispanic market.
The failure to utilize television and radio when
targeting Hispanics likely stems from the false
assumption that doing so must be done through
Spanish-language media such as Univision or
Telemundo. While Hispanics who are least
acculturated mainly watch Spanish language
television, those who are more acculturated,
such as biculturals, almost entirely watch English
language television (Nielsen Media Research,
2010). Employing bilingual advertisements on
mainstream American television presents a
unique opportunity for organizations to
differentiate and to capitalize on while their
competitors continue to incorrectly target the
wrong demographic using Spanish language
media.
With more Hispanics than traditional Americans
now using their cellular phones to access the
internet, this warrants increased attention by
marketers; especially considering virtually no
respondents in this study utilized this as a
means to advertise their products/services
(Nielsen Media Research, 2010; Livingston,
2011). Of the respondents that did utilize the
internet to target Hispanics, many boasted the
fact they offer their website in both English and
Spanish. Unfortunately, such a method is only
ideal when targeting partially acculturated or
unacculturated Hispanics. To reach the more
highly acculturated bicultural segment, it is
imperative that content be adapted and not
merely translated. It is suggested to use a
mixture of both Spanish and English languages
on the website, while offering content that
represents a fusion between their Hispanic and
American cultures.
The study then determined that roughly half of
the marketing departments interviewed
conveyed a general dissatisfaction with the
efforts made by their respective organizations to
reach Hispanics. Although much of this
dissatisfaction can be attributed to lackluster
results, many participants identified budgetary
constraints as the source of their dissatisfaction.
It is important organizations not necessarily
increase their budget allocations towards
Hispanic advertising, but spend their resources
more wisely. To begin with, it is suggested
organizations obtain and monitor Hispanic
population trends within the regions they
operate, as biculturals have been shown to be
an evolving demographic. This will be essential
to properly target Hispanics. The very fact the
majority of respondents suggested the 2010
Census will have no impact on their budgeting
allocations is disconcerting. Perhaps its lack of
effect is the sole result of not being a variable,
as its publication has been ignored or not been
made aware to organizations. It is strongly
recommended that organizations take
advantage of this highly detailed resource
provided by the federal government free of
charge over the internet. However, organizations
appear wise enough not to disregard the impact
of Hispanics on their future sales, as there were
no plans to decrease budget allocations towards
Hispanics in the coming years.
Although the creation of a unified regional or
national marketing campaign targeting
Hispanics of all acculturation levels or in addition
to traditional Americans may prove to be
tempting to organizations hoping to save time
and money, such a method is unadvisable. Not
only do acculturation rates shift dramatically
based on location, but they directly affect
corresponding consumer behavior. To reach the
widest possible Hispanic audience, while
focusing primarily on biculturals, organizations
should no longer limit themselves to regarding
Hispanics as either English speaking or Spanish
speaking; in turn they should recognize that
language does not merely define a person’s
culture. By focusing less on translating ad
content and more on adapting it to appeal to the
lifestyles and values of Hispanic consumers,
organizations will better position themselves for
market penetration and future growth.
Limitations and Opportunities for Future
Research
Although the study contributes to the existing
body of research detailing Hispanic acculturation
and its impact on the marketing industry within
the United States, there are several limitations
which are present. To begin, participants were
selected from a convenience sample located in
the metropolitan Washington, DC area; thereby
the ability to generalize results on a national
scale is limited in the context of the
demographic and geographic makeup of the
area. With 58 participants, it would have been
beneficial to have conducted more interviews, as
this would have increased the study’s reliability
and provided a means to more deeply analyze
the information provided. Furthermore, as a
cross-sectional analysis was executed, this
prevents the inference of a causal relationship
between Hispanic acculturation and the
marketing variables being investigated. In
regards to the questionnaire used to gather the
data, as this was a self administered digital
interview, the potential for a respondent to
misinterpret the question and/or answer
alternatives remains present.
The findings confirm that despite the staggering
population growth and increasing purchasing
power of Hispanics in the United States,
organizations are keenly oblivious to the shifting
demographic trends occurring within a portion of
their customer base. The net effect of
acculturation among biculturals, specifically in
relation to consumption patterns, warrants
further investigation. Additionally, research
should be conducted in communities of varying
sizes and demographic compositions across the
country to determine if reported trends differ in
direction or effect. More direct interaction with
study participants could also provide more
qualitative data, which would improve the depth
of understanding of Hispanic consumers. The
inclusion of a visual content analysis on
participating organization’s Hispanic
advertisements would also be beneficial to
gaining more insight into their ethnic advertising
practices. This information coupled with the
opinions of Hispanics of varying degrees of
acculturation, related to the advertising they are
exposed to, would be particularly interesting to
investigate. This research will serve as a step in
that direction by serving as a glance into the
complexities of Hispanic marketing.
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