• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 23, 2013

According to a new report from Experian Marketing Services, the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States, the Hispanic population, is only growing larger. In 2012, 16% of Americans age six and older identified as Hispanic or Latino, up from 14% in 2006. While the Hispanic population is increasing in share across all age cohorts, the fact that Hispanics already represent a much larger share of younger cohorts foretells even greater growth and influence in the years to come. Nearly a quarter of Americans age 6 to 34 today are Hispanic compared with less than 10% among those age 50 and older.

Hispanic households account for 10% of all discretionary spending in the United States, with annual expenditures of $164.2 billion on non-essentials in 2012, up from $143.9 billion in 2011. In fact, discretionary spending of Hispanic households grew 14% in the past year while spending among non-Hispanic households remained relatively flat.

Regionally, Hispanic households in the South and West control a much larger share of the region’s total expenditures on non-essentials than in the Northeast and Midwest.

Marketers need to understand the degree to which Hispanic households control total discretionary spend, says the report, as Hispanic control of discretionary spending varies greatly by market. In the San Antonio DMA, for instance, Hispanic households account for fully 60% of the area’s $11.2 billion dollars in annual discretionary spending, compared with just 6% of the Washington, D.C. DMA’s $41.6 billion in annual discretionary spending.

Between 2006 and 2012, the Hispanic adult population nationwide grew from just under 13% of the population to just over 15%. The report identifies several Designated Market Areas where the Hispanic adult population, as a share of the total adult population, grew the most since 2006. For instance, 8.7% of the adult population in the Greenville-North Bern-Washington, North Carolina DMA is Hispanic, growing by a relative 58% in just a few years. In many Florida markets, where the Hispanic population was already at or above the national average, the Hispanic population is growing much faster than that of non-Hispanics.

Advertising in Spanish is important, even among English-dominant Hispanics.

Hispanics, still have emotional ties to the Spanish language that carry over to companies that advertise in Spanish. For instance, 52% of Spanish-dominant Hispanics and 29% English-dominant Hispanics say, “When I hear a company advertise in Spanish, it makes me feel like they respect my heritage and want my business.”

Being able to access Websites in Spanish is especially important for Spanish-dominant Hispanics. A number of technology-related sites, such as Google Play, the Apple Store and Virgin Mobile reflect the larger tendency of Hispanic consumers to be early adopters and heavy users of mobile devices.

Specifically, Spanish-inclined adults are 70% more likely to visit the Google Play site than the average online adult. Also, Spanish-inclined adults are more likely to visit toy sites, like LEGO Worlds and Toys ‘R’ Us. These companies and others like them, may indeed enjoy greater loyalty and respect from the Hispanic population, English and Spanish-dominant alike, by providing visitors the option to experience their sites in Spanish.

The report concludes by noting that Hispanic consumers, on average, are more optimistic about their personal financial situation and that of the United States as a whole than the rest of the population. Since reporting of the CEI began, Hispanic consumers score five index points above the all adult average. This optimism should translate into better opportunities for marketers, since Hispanic consumers are more likely to feel like they’ll have more money and that the country, as a whole, will be doing better in the year to come.

For additional information from Experian, please visit here.