• by Aaron Baar , May 23, 2013

Marketers looking to capture more of the growing Hispanic market in the U.S. would do well to employ the mobile Web more often. According to a new shopper behavior study from The Integer Group, Hispanic shoppers are more likely to use their mobile devices to make purchases than general market consumers. 

According to the survey, 16% of Hispanic consumers use their mobile devices for their purchases, compared with 12% of general market consumers. According to Armand Parra, director of insight and strategy at The Integer Group, age and early adoption of technology are the main drivers behind the trend. 

“The median age of Hispanics in the U.S. is roughly 10 years younger than the total population. This younger population are adopting technology at a faster rate than the older general population,” Parra tells Marketing Daily, in response to e-mailed questions. “Secondly, for the majority of Hispanics, mobile is their primary access point to the Web and therefore their whole Web experience is based around a mobile tool set versus the PC-based Web experience.”

Accordingly, marketers should approach the Hispanic market differently when it comes to interactive and mobile marketing, Parra says. “For Hispanic users the Web is more organically integrated into their lives,” he says. “It’s on the go, right now, access to their friends, family and information. Marketers need to see this environment and determine the right way to message in it so they are providing utility to this experience.”

The access to “friends, family and information” is key. According to the survey, Hispanics also put greater emphasis on their personal networks for product recommendations (40% versus 29% of the general market) and put more weight behind the shopping experience than the general market (25% versus 18%).

Still, Hispanic consumers are also more likely to consider private-label products than the general market (68% of Hispanic consumers said they shop for their usual brand in a store, but then consider the private-label alternative; only 60% of general market consumers do the same). More than three-quarters of Hispanic consumers also said they regularly compare prices between the name brands and the store brands. Hispanic consumers, however, remain very brand loyal when it comes to products such as laundry detergent, health and beauty products and breakfast cereals. 

“A large part of the desire for brands in these categories stems from the nature of family and the role of the mother in the household,” Parra says. “These are categories where she wants trusted brands and products that make her feel like she is doing the best possible job in this role. Brands provide a guarantee of performance and the trust she needs.”

"Mobile Shopping" photo from Shutterstock.