Avoid these 3 common misconceptions while Marketing to Hispanics in the US

Posted by priya katti on July 20th, 2017

Do you know what’s the population of Latin America? Roughly, about 569 million! To add to it, did you know the population of Hispanics living in the U.S. is about 46.9 million. Mind you, that’s not a small number. Hispanics embrace the largest U.S. minority. Now, to attract the growing purchasing power of the Hispanic consumer, you must learn more about the culture. Here's a good start.

#1 Misconception: Hispanics are one homogeneous group.

Truth: It’s incorrect if you choose “Hispanic” as ethnic group. Remember, "Hispanic" is a cultural term, not an ethnic group. To changing degrees, Hispanics originating from Latin America are descended from European, Native American and Black African groups as well as Asian and other mixes.

Certainly, all Hispanics are not the same. Hispanic is a term that refers to anyone originating from a Spanish-speaking country. This spreads along a wide variety of ethnicities, cultural traditions, regional dialects, diets, political and social backgrounds. In the U.S. people coming from the same regions often share common cultural characteristics, behaviors and customs but Latin America includes incredible diversity. Importantly, their country of origin, families migrating from Latin America are eminent in their behavior by the socio-economic class they belong to. Some are wealthy, some are poor. Few speak English, few don’t. Few seek employment opportunities, while others are refugees seeking political asylum. Similarly, each group is prejudiced by distinct experiences and cultural backgrounds.

Thus, always remember to identify your Hispanic employee, neighbor, client or business partner as a unique individual first.

#2 Misconception: Hispanic families have lots of children.

Truth: If you go by the U.S statistics, it shows birth rates are higher than the average for Hispanic immigrant families. It is witnessed that that majority Hispanics are at least supposedly Catholics, and that many devout Catholics do not practice modern forms of birth control. This explains why Hispanic families are so large. However, that could be directly jumping to conclusions.

When we take Hispanics into consideration, remember they do not distinguish between nuclear and extended family. For them, every relative is a part of their family. They don’t part ways easily and believe in staying together as a family.

Try to never make a mistake of ignoring how close a Hispanic family is, it may lead to the next point…

#5 Misconception: Hispanics don't spend much money here in the U.S

Truth: You will witness, in the U.S., during a crisis - Hispanics are among the majority who tend to abandon their properties. To them, real estate represents a home, not an investment. If their family has worked hard enough to purchase a home, they believe it’s no more a property but a place where the family shares their lives together.

Thus, don't undervalue the purchasing power of Hispanics or Hispanic marketing. Realize their buying habits. Target your marketing hard work to them, and offer them value in your products and services.