Skip to main content

As mobile technology has become more readily available to the public, US Hispanics have similarly become characterized more as being socially connected and digitally acute.* Like many, their lifestyles have adapted to welcome new technologies in their daily lives such as smartphones* as there was an increase of 10% between the years 2009-2012 of Hispanic adults who owned a cell phone.** However, this technological shift is strongly indicicative of a divide between where Hispanic-Americans are born, as a majority of Latinos who own smartphones are born in the US and a larger number of Latinos without a cellphone are usually born outside of the US.**

US HISPANICS ARE FAST ADOPTERS OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Hispanic_Millennial_Male_Using_SmartphoneIn 2012, the Pew Hispanic Center reported that 86% of US Hispanics claimed they owned a cellphone and now they are just as likely to own a smartphone as the rest of the US.** Compared with another study from the Pew Research Center, the similarities between the US Hispanic market and General American market also extend to match amongst demographics in cases such as decreased smartphone ownership among those with less than a high school education and those over the age of 65 were less likely to own a smartphone than other age and education level demos.***

Notably, the greatest percentages of smartphone ownership actually came from Latino-Americans who earned more than $50k annually, between the ages of 18-29, and with at least some college education,** which also is reflected in trends among the general market.*** However, what is not quantified in the General American market, that is quantified in the Hispanic market, is that a greater percentage of Hispanics with smartphone ownership are born in the United States and are bilingual as compared to the percentages of English or Spanish dominant US Hispanics.

THE WAY US HISPANICS UTILIZE THEIR MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

Latina_Checking_Smartphone_While_ShoppingWhile we can establish that increasingly more US Hispanics are likely to own a smart/cell phone, we can also see that Latino Americans are more likely to use their mobile technology to access the internet. Increasingly, it is more likely that companies looking to measure their mobile analytics will find that the Hispanic market accessing their information shows a tendency to over index.

We can also see this via multiple sources and avenues. Beginning with mobile video, we see that Hispanics over index there with 10 million Latino Americans watching video on their mobile phones. This likely also acts as a partial reason that mobile data use is approximately 16% higher than the national average.****

The US Hispanic market is also known to over-index when shopping as they are about 52% more likely to use their smartphones for local shopping.***** Furthermore, they’re also more likely to over-index while shopping via social media.******

Beyond just a growing trend, the new norm for Hispanics has been, and continues to be their increased online connectivity, which, based on their over-indexation, seems to show the potential for greater opportunities companies have available to further increase their brand’s perceptions and total revenues.

Hispanic Buying Power Report

SOURCES:

*Adweek.com, “Hispanics Are The Most Digitally Savvy Group, A Marketer’s Dream” by Roberto Ruiz
**Pewhispanic.org, “Closing the Digital Divide: Latinos and Technology Adoption” by Mark Hugo Lopez
***https://www.pewinternet.org/2012/04/13/digital-differences/
****https://www.latinpost.com/articles/7181/20140211/u-s-latinos-are-ahead-of-the-digital-curve-nielsen-study.htm
*****https://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/online/hispanics-over-index-in-mobile-use-for-local-shopping-41066/
******https://blog.biakelsey.com/index.php/2014/02/28/hispanics-consumers-are-mobile-social-and-loyal-local-shoppers/comment-page-1/