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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