Me entiendes?
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Revisiting Acculturation written by Manila Austin, Ph.D. and JosuĂŠ Jansen
diverse. dynamic. fluid. 2
Latinos are currently the fastest growing consumer group in the United States, challenging marketers and demographers to take a fresh look at what it means to be—or become—an “American.” The demographic buckets commonly employed in market research do not really reflect the Latino experience, nor are they capable of sorting Hispanics into meaningful, actionable segments. Yet, reaching and engaging Latinos is a critical objective for brands today, and will continue to be so for decades to come. It is a real dilemma for marketers, and one that we have experienced firsthand at Communispace.
executive overview The standard acculturation and ethnicity classifications used in research and marketing are excluding the vast majority of people who self-identify as Hispanic or Latina. And, as the Hispanic market grows and evolves, it continues to challenge conventional ideas about what it looks like to be “American.”
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At Communispace, for our private insight communities, we’ve recruited and engaged Hispanics as defined by our clients’ traditional criteria, such as Spanish-language dominance, consumption of Spanish-language media or duration of U.S. residency. In doing so, however, not only were we excluding a large number of self-identified Latinos, but the communities we did build around these demographically based criteria were less vibrant. Given the acceleration of interest in Latinos, we wanted to explore
how we could optimize our work, maximize our impact and make sure that we were operating with the appropriate assumptions. Like many researchers and Hispanic marketers, we sensed that a primarily demographic approach was narrow, one-dimensional and irrelevant to the very audience we were trying to reach. And we knew that by better understanding our problem, we’d derive some insight that would benefit not only us, but every company and brand trying to connect with this market. To that end, we conducted primary and secondary research designed to revisit the very meaning of “acculturation.” We measured the importance of language and nationality relative to other factors, and explored the myriad and evolving ways in which Hispanic consumers experience and express their cultural identity.
This process has taught us that, to succeed, we must recognize that: Acculturation is not binary, nor is it a one-way and onedimensional process (from less to more American).
Ethnic and cultural identity is increasingly intentional, choicebased and self-defined (and not just for the diverse population lumped together as “Hispanics”). Hispanics experience and express their cultural identity in myriad ways, and marketers who insist on using a blunt, demographically-based definition of who is Latino will generate research and products that are similarly flawed and off the mark.
Acculturation is not defined exclusively, or even primarily, by language spoken.
Country of origin is a more meaningful indicator of cultural identity, but even that is only one small piece of the puzzle.
When it comes to language, the medium is not the message.
Not all Hispanics are equally proficient in reading, writing and speaking Spanish, and most prefer to move fluidly between English and Spanish. If you concentrate your marketing communications efforts exclusively on Spanish-language media, you’ll not only fail to connect with a huge population of self-identified Latinos, but risk offending them as well.
Acculturation is a reciprocal process.
The increasing size and force of the growing Hispanic market foreshadows larger cultural changes on our horizon: strong, vibrant, non-White communities will someday characterize the United States and “mainstream” America. Rather than attempt to classify the growing Latino market with terms that don’t fit their reality, it is time for brands to recognize that the notion of a “general” market is less meaningful than it once was.
Meaningful, actionable commonalities do exist.
Despite the great diversity that defies demographics, shared ways of experiencing and expressing Latina identity—cooking meals, building a family and instilling moral values in one’s children— represent a great opportunity to speak meaningfully to Hispanics.
engaging hispanics in online communities
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We have recruited and engaged thousands of Latinas since launching our first Hispanic community in 2004. Working across clients for many years, we have experienced firsthand the challenges companies face when attempting to bucket Hispanics according to demographic criteria. We have seen how “standard” acculturation and ethnicity classifications and Spanish-only formats exclude the vast majority of people who self-identified as Hispanic or Latina and believe we, as an industry, can do better.
Because dialogue and collaboration are central to the mission of our online communities, Communispace is uniquely positioned to explore these challenges with Latinas, getting at the nuance behind the numbers.
The Dilemma Though we’ve succeeded in running and generating client value from Spanish-language communities, we’ve observed problems from the standpoint of both recruitment and engagement: • Recruiting only those willing to write and participate in Spanish narrows the target considerably. • Rejecting those who do not speak Spanish “in the home” excludes many bilingual Hispanics. • Excluding Latinas who do not use Spanish-language media narrows the lens even further. • A sking people if they live in the United States or to report their citizenship status is threatening. • M aking people quantify in a linear way whether they are “Latina” or “American” may be awkward, off-base or difficult to answer. • Not giving people multiple ways to indicate how they self-identify is potentially alienating. Additionally, we found somewhat competing dynamics at work that affected engagement: • The tone and facilitation approach that most resonated was subtly different from our best practices in general market communities. • The Spanish-dominant members quickly took ownership of the community, and participation by bilingual members tapered off.
STUDY GOALS AND DESIGN Something was clearly amiss with the way marketers were conceptualizing “Latino-ness,” so we set out to explore the following questions: • H ow big an opportunity are we missing by shutting out—or turning off—those Hispanics who don’t want to talk, read and write Spanish all the time? • If traditional national, ethnic and racial buckets are failing to reflect the Latino experience, what are some ways we can describe identity that are more in line with how Latinos see themselves? • What are those new, more relevant ways for brands to engage Latinos? How can marketers speak to the Hispanic community as a whole?
Who We Listened to and How We Did It* In all, 638 self-identified female Hispanics in the U.S. participated in our research—432 Communispace community members and 206 panelists. • P anelists were given the choice of whether to take an Identity survey we designed in English or in Spanish. • I n this survey, we asked questions that were normally used to screen out respondents, but simply captured their answers without terminating them from the survey. • T he survey also posed additional questions that we hypothesized would be more meaningful and actionable markers of identity. • W e presented the same survey to our private, branded community members (361 from Spanishlanguage communities, 71 from English-language communities). • W e also engaged them in discussions around the question of Latina identity. • I n addition, we turned to our Spanish facilitators for insight and advice, inviting them to talk about what they observed in running our Spanish-language communities, and what engaged and repelled them in the market, both as professionals and consumers. *See pages 38-40 for more detailed information about the study design and participants.
roadmap: how to read this paper 8
What are our (often unexamined) assumptions about acculturation, and how might those assumptions be getting in our way as we try to understand and develop products and messages relevant to Hispanics? We begin with some background and secondary research as foundation.
Then, each section of this paper provides quantitative findings from a survey and qualitative texture from our Latina community members and facilitators. We conclude by suggesting some material changes in approach and practices, not just for us as a company recruiting and running online communities, but with broader applications for brands and marketers.
Setting the context
We begin with a general exploration of acculturation— how its meaning has evolved, and why we need to revisit it today.
Identity is not a single select question
Then, we examine national and ethnic terms for bucketing Hispanics, assessing the relative value and appropriateness of asking about country of origin, race, and the cultural terms “Hispanic” and “Latina.”
Why Spanglish rules
Next, we consider language, and explore how Latinos move between Spanish and English in fluid ways, depending on their situation.
What should we do differently to speak to the commonalities that do exist?
And last, we identify ways in which Hispanics consistently do experience and express their cultural identity, and propose some new ways of thinking that should inform how we define, connect with and develop relevant products and messages for this market.
latinos are acculturating differently
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Setting the
context
The term “acculturation” was first coined in the late 1800s by anthropologists studying European immigrants. Initially, acculturation was conceptualized as a reciprocal process that occurs when “groups of individuals having different cultures come into continuous firsthand contact, with subsequent changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups”1 (emphasis ours). Over the years, however, acculturation came to be understood more as a one-way process; something that could be construed and measured by a 1–5 point rating scale (with “Hispanic/ Latino” as one anchor and “American” as the other).2 The expected end product of acculturation would be “all American” (and indeed this is the model many European immigrants followed when they adopted English as their dominant language and Anglicized their names). The problem is that a one-way Latino-American continuum does not accurately reflect what is happening right now. Academics and demographers agree that the size of the Latino market has hit critical mass3 and is now at a tipping point,4 where acquiescing to the dominant culture is no longer a numerically driven necessity. Aided by the international connectivity enabled by the Internet, Hispanics today— and this is particularly the case for younger generations—are holding onto their cultural heritage, language and values. They also, more than previous generations, have the freedom to choose when, where and with whom they will express their Latino identity. With the growth rate of the Hispanic population and its purchasing power (growing three times faster than the rest of the nation 5), they do not need—nor do they necessarily
want—to assimilate into “American” culture. Indeed, being multicultural has become cool in our increasingly pan-ethnic world.6
A full 91% of Hispanic children were born in the U.S.7
embracing the power shift Historically, the dominant U.S. culture has been a White culture, and thus our ideas about acculturation have been shaped by that power imbalance. However, not only are Hispanics not following a linear acculturation process, but their diversity challenges conventional racially-based demographic buckets. The categories we use—Black/AfricanAmerican, White/Caucasian, Asian, etc.—will never be a perfect fit, as Latino identity is dynamic and more about a shared culture than belonging to a single nationality or race. The increasing size and force of the growing Hispanic market foreshadows larger cultural changes on our horizon: strong, vibrant, non-White communities will someday characterize the United States and “mainstream” America. In the near future, it will simply be wrong to use the word “minority” to describe non-Whites. The racial labels that allow us to group people into clearly defined buckets will be less and less relevant. Rather than attempt to classify the growing Latino market with terms that don’t fit their reality, it is time for brands to recognize that the notion of a “general” market is less meaningful than it once was. Rather than impose a classification structure on a “minority” population, we need to find more relevant ways of relating to the many diverse cultural groups and subgroups that make up the United States. That requires us to think of acculturation in a new way—in fact, the old way—as a reciprocal process.
The average Hispanic family has 4.0 members, compared to 2.9 members in White, non-Hispanic families8
Latinos are the largest and youngest non-White group in the U.S., comprising 16% of the total population and 25% of all newborns9
Latinos make up 51% of all youths (ages 16–25) in New Mexico, 42% of youths in California and 40% of youths in Texas10
Since 2000, natural population increase accounted for 62% of the growth of Hispanics, with immigration responsible for the rest11
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Identity is not a single select question
Grouping people into national, ethnic or racial buckets is how we have historically thought about classifying Hispanics and how “American” they are. But these are categories of convenience, created from the outside looking in. In fact, identity is not binary. Country of origin is often more relevant than a specific label like “Hispanic” or “Latino,” but even that is insufficient. It is simply impossible to capture the entirety of the market in a single word, and most researchers today agree that there is no, one “best” bucket. Latino identity is dynamic, fluid and highly specific to individuals.
which box do you check?
which best descRIbes you?
In the dialogue below, two of our Hispanic facilitators discuss their dilemma when it comes to forms asking for demographic information. There is no one bucket that fits every scenario—nationality and ethnicity are defined differently depending on the situation.
When asked to describe themselves, the Latinas in our study made use of a wide array of ethnic, racial and national options.
“In some applications they ask, ‘Are you Hispanic?’ and you check off ‘Yes,’ and then they’ll ask you, ‘When did you obtain your citizenship?’ So they’re looking for a year ... so I have to go back to the year I was born, because I was born here but I still consider myself to be Hispanic ...”
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“And it’s a matter of convenience, too ... when I applied to schools I applied as Latino, because of the quotas and a better chance of getting in ...” “That’s true. But at the same time, I mean a lot of people are like ‘Oh so you were born here, you’re American,’ and I’m like ‘Yes, but no. I’m from Colombia ...’ ”
“When I fill out forms for my kids, I always check off ‘Hispanic,’ but when my husband does it he stops to ask me. He’s like, ‘What do we put? What do you think?’ I don’t even think about it, but he thinks about it ... and lately I’ve been putting the word ‘half,’ like the fraction, because I don’t know how else to say it ...”
For example, when we asked people to describe themselves with a multi-select question they used as many as seven “boxes” of the nine available, choosing “Latina,” “Hispanic” and “country of origin” more or less equally. However, when we forced people to pick only one national, ethnic or racial label, hardly anyone identified with being “white,” “black” or “brown.” Rather, it was “country of origin” that was selected the most.
Single term to describe yourself
Country of Origin Hispanic Latina American Lineage A Spanish Speaker White Religion Brown Other Black 0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
Country of Origin tops “Hispanic” and “Latina” as a descriptor; and skin color is chosen least frequently.
home (country) is where the heart is National pride transcends generations and remains centrally relevant even after decades of acculturation. If marketers want their products and messages to resonate, then targeting and tailoring to specific countries is imperative.
“I don’t know how it is in other countries ... but I know in South America a lot of the people are light skinned and have a lot of Spanish descent. Like if somebody from Colombia sees me, they’re like, ‘You’re so Colombian’ ... to Latin people I look Colombian, but to American people ...”
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“Both of my parents are from Ecuador. They met here in the United States and we were born here ... I’m married. I married a West Indian, his father’s Portuguese and his mom is Chinese. So my kids ... my kids are mutts.” “Every country has their customs, their culture, their music, their food ... I mean I like to dance merengue, I like to talk in Spanish with my friends—maybe mix a little English in the way ... it’s a cultural thing ... the family values as well are very marked in my country. I don’t know if in other Latin American countries, but at least in Dominican Republic family values are very important ... ”
we’re latina, we’re hispanic, but we’re not necessarily mexican One misstep marketers make, however, is overgeneralizing in their attempt to tailor messaging to a particular country. We asked our community members how they described themselves and found that they used national terms first, saying, for example, that they were “super Peruvian!” or “100% Mexican!” Yet, as it would be with any ethnic group or race, Hispanic members expressed frustration with the stereotypes associated with their culture. One that is frequently and organically mentioned in our communities is the frustration that non-Mexican Hispanics feel whenever the Latin culture is overgeneralized as Mexican—Mexican music, Mexican artists … and especially Mexican food! Though perhaps less financially efficient, companies may have to invest in even more targeted, micro-marketing strategies that vary at a local level, but enable them to connect in a more relevant and authentic way.
“I don’t like when they generalize the Hispanic population with being Mexican. Don’t get me wrong—I have nothing against our Mexican brothers, but people shouldn’t generalize so much.” “Just because I am Latina, doesn’t mean I enjoy spicy food!” “With regards to commercials in Spanish, it really bothers me when they assume that being Latin means coming from one same country. South and Central America have more than one country.” “We can identify when a marketer has simply said, ‘Okay, I want to go after the Hispanic market,’ and that’s it. They haven’t put any more thought into it, they haven’t really researched it; they just think we’re all in one big bucket.”
Why 18
Spanglish rules
Language is a big part of culture and plays a pivotal role in keeping ethnic heritage alive. But for Latinos in the U.S., which language to speak—Spanish, English or a fluid amalgam of both—and when, is also a choice. Demographic research shows that the emerging Hispanic population will be comfortably and increasingly bilingual, with many actively retaining (or even reacquiring) their Spanishlanguage skills. The current demographic trend is for Latinos to retain Spanish while becoming fluent in English.12 Indeed, 70 percent of Latino youths report using “Spanglish” with friends and family;13 and the use of Spanglish in advertising (when done well) has been shown to be very effective with this group.14 Because language is so fundamental to culture, it makes sense that, in the past, brands have communicated with the Latino market in Spanish. (Similarly, it has made sense for market researchers to recruit and engage Latino consumers in Spanish.) But these assumptions presume that the predominant audience for Hispanic products is composed of newcomers who either must use, or prefer to use, Spanish. Yet that is not the growing market. When we assume that the best way to reach Latinos is through the Spanish language, and when we rely on that approach without exception, we risk losing opportunities to connect with this group in English or “Spanglish.”
don’t assume Spanish is the right— or only—way to engage hispanics Just because Latinos may speak Spanish, listen to Spanish radio, or even read and write fluently in Spanish, does not mean they uniformly want to engage with brands in Spanish. In fact, our research suggests that English is often the preferred choice.
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We found that many Latinas actually preferred English when it came to participating in our online survey. When we examined language preference for Latinas in the general and Hispanic market panels, we observed that the majority (61%) chose to participate in English, not Spanish. Over one-quarter of Latinas from the specialty Hispanic market panel—people who regularly consume online content in Spanish—took our survey in English when given this option. We also found that language did not crisply define who did—and did not—identify with being Latino. Mirroring our clients’ approach, we measured (on a scale of 1–5) how “American” or “Latino” people considered themselves to be. Taking the survey in English did not correspond to clear identification with being mostly or entirely American. In fact, Hispanics who took the survey in English tended to identify with being Latino as much as they did with being American, and in many cases identified more strongly with being Latino. It is time to recognize that the group of Hispanics (to the extent it exists) that prefer to engage with brands in “all Spanish all the time” represents the minority of U.S. Latinos.
Just because someone identifies with being “Latino” does not mean they want to talk to you in Spanish.
Language and “latino-ness”
American first or American only Latino and American equally, Latino first, or Latino only 100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Took Survey in English
Took Survey in Spanish
(n = 126)
(n = 80)
numbers alone are not enlightening Marketers have tried to understand the Hispanic household by quantifying behavior on a five-point scale, but language use is too fluid and situational to capture with this method. While standard acculturation measures may help us assign a number to those who watch Spanish-language television, they tell us nothing about the situation or context in which Spanish usage occurs. Quantitative results show that people who took the survey in Spanish were more likely to speak Spanish in the home and to consume Spanish-language media. But what does this really tell us?
In online communities, when we listen to Hispanics describe their experience, we can see how many factors contribute to how, where and when they speak Spanish— who you are married to, where you work and even the subject of conversation affect language choice.
Language and media usage
1 = Spanish none of the time 5 = Spanish all of the time SpanishParticipating Latinas
EnglishParticipating Latinas
In your household you speak Spanish
4.1
2.1
Listen to Spanish radio
3.7
1.9
Read newspapers and magazines in Spanish
3.6
1.7
Watch television in Spanish
3.6
1.9
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“In my family we’re both from Puerto Rico. If it was for my husband, like he could care less if Sebastian spoke in English every single word, because it’s like, ‘Oh, if it’s easier for him then have him say it in English.’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ He needs to learn how to say it in Spanish, he needs to get that in his head ... ” “You’re married to a Puerto Rican, so both of you are Spanish-speaking ... In my house, it is very hard and difficult for me to teach my children to speak Spanish, because we’re always speaking English. My husband doesn’t speak Spanish ...”
As the quotes above illustrate, many Latinos do not regularly speak Spanish in the home, particularly if they are married to someone who speaks only English (although they may frequently speak Spanish with relatives or friends or at work). And even when Spanish is spoken infrequently in the home, many Hispanic parents make it a priority to teach their children to speak Spanish as a way of preserving their heritage.
language use at home, at work, at play and in-store is a mix of necessity and choice When we successfully engage Hispanics in dialogue and listen to how they describe their experiences, it becomes clear that language use switches and shifts depending on who is talking, what is being discussed and where the conversation is taking place. Marketers need to nimbly—and expertly—employ both Spanish and English. There is no doubt that unacculturated Latinos in the U.S. feel more comfortable with their native Spanish language. Most of these people have moved to the U.S. with littleto-no English training, and being surrounded by Spanishspeaking neighbors, sales associates, services and media makes their transition smoother.
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However, we’ve seen (via different activities) in our Hispanic communities, that there are certain things for which Latina moms prefer materials written in English. For instance, many Latina moms agree that, while they have no specific language preference for product coupons, some say that English coupons are easier to use—store cashiers can understand them—thus, making the customer’s experience faster and smoother. However, it is important to them that these coupons be explicitly labeled (e.g., “50% off,” “free”).
“Well, I don’t have a language preference when it comes to coupons, since most of them are in English, as long as I can get what the coupon is about and have the stores accept them, I really don’t mind what language they are in.”
English is for work, Spanish is for bonding. It is clear that many factors determine what language Latinos speak at home, and our analysis of conversations among Hispanics shows that even at work, Spanish is spoken situationally. In the following snippet, two of our Latino facilitators discuss how they move back and forth using English for business topics and Spanish for social ones.
“You feel more Latin in different situations ... I’ve noticed at work it changes every second ... it depends on what I’m doing, and if I’m talking to Maria or Nelly like I can have a conversation with Maria or Nelly and I’m talking about a report or an activity and it’s in English, then we switch out when we talk about food or the family or something funny that happened, it’s Spanish; and then we switch back to English ...” “It’s like the official part, and then there’s the unofficial business ...” “And not only the language, but I feel different ...”
“Like the bonding part is in Spanish ...”
narrow assumptions exclude the majority Defining acculturation in terms of language fails to capture the full spectrum and complexity of the Hispanic experience; and conducting market research with Latinos exclusively in Spanish similarly fails to engage the majority. Every person who participated in our study checked the “Latino/Hispanic� box to qualify, with the majority opting to participate in English. Yet, when we analyzed who would be screened out in a mock recruit (see charts), we found the questions about Spanish-language media to be particularly limiting.
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Unless the business goal is to test Spanish-language advertising and marketing initiatives, we needlessly shut out the majority of people who identify with being Latina or Hispanic when we limit our scope to those who prefer to participate in Spanish. In general, we are moving to a more fused culture, where language is only a subset of a larger Latina cultural identity in which retaining Spanish-language skills and fluidly moving between English and Spanish will become the norm. As marketers and market researchers, our approach will need to be similarly bilingual and fluid.
Focusing on Spanish-language media excludes many: Results of mock recruit
Took survey in English 150 120 90 60 30 0
Initial Pool
SelfWatch Listen Read identify TV in to Radio in Print as Spanish Spanish Media Hispanic in or Latina Spanish
Took survey in Spanish 150 120 90 60 30 0
Initial Pool
SelfWatch identify TV in as Spanish Hispanic or Latina
Listen to Radio in Spanish
Read Print Media in Spanish
Spanish oR English: do it right or don’t do it at all Careless translations evoke strong—and usually negative —feelings, sending a message to Latino consumers that “this brand did not care enough to communicate with me properly.” Discussions with Hispanic community members and Communispace facilitators reveal that, while seeing translated commercials, products and displays makes them feel positively toward a specific brand or service, seeing incorrectly translated text is a major turnoff. In that case, they would rather see it in English.
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“But, in that same respect, I feel that can go two ways. Like, if it’s a commercial and it’s in Spanish, it might grab your attention, but if it’s awful Spanish ...” “Then you’re done ...” “We get turned off so fast ...” “And then you have a grudge against it for a long time ...”
“It’s a one-strike-you’re-out mentality ...”
be prepared to micro-market In many cases, there may be no single “right” way to say something in Spanish that resonates with all Hispanics. So, it is up to marketers to make judicious decisions: either tailor messaging to micro-markets or make the call to go with English. As the conversation about popcorn—and how there is a unique word for it, depending on country—shows, using English can be the preferred option! So if language, country of origin and immigration status are not individually the best ways to identify and target Latinos, how can marketers meaningfully connect with all those who self-identify as “Hispanic”?
“Popcorn is one of those words that folks from all over Latin America call different ways. In Dominican Republic, we call it ‘cocaleca’!” “In Puerto Rico, people call it ‘palomitas de maiz,’ but most people just call it ‘popcorn.’ “In Columbia, we call it ‘maiz pira’!”
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What can we do
differently?
Family, moral values, religion, music, cooking, dancing, socializing; these are commonalities that emerge over time in our online Latina communities. And these are the important aspects of daily life that Hispanics share (regardless of what language they speak or whether they read the paper in Spanish). Our previous research on participation in Hispanic online communities15 along with our reading of secondary research all point to the conclusion that the U.S. Latino market is not monolithic, but fluid, dynamic and diverse. But dividing Hispanics into convenient acculturation groups is just that—divisive— highlighting differences without shedding any light on potential commonalities and without yielding clear courses of action. In this research, we intentionally explored other ways, besides standard national and ethnic terms, for people to express or connect with their cultural identity. In particular, we looked at everyday situations in which people could express ethnic identity and found that, regardless of language preference, label and acculturation level, many contexts for expressing identity are similar and shared.
Focusing on Spanish-language media excludes many: Results of mock recruit We asked people to rank their top three contexts for expressing ethnic identity—situations in which they particularly connect to being Latina. Some contexts were frequently chosen, such as those that involved family, moral values, religion, the preparation of traditional meals, music and socializing.
Other contexts were chosen much less frequently. Assessing the extent to which Hispanics consume Spanish-language media is often part of acculturation algorithms. So, it is noteworthy that contexts which involve media consumption—watching TV or reading magazines—are not as meaningful as a way to express identity.
Highest-ranked contexts
Lowest-ranked contexts
How I define my family
What movies/TV I watch How I dress
My moral values
My political beliefs
What language I speak
How I entertain myself
What I cook and eat
How I go on vacation
My religious beliefs
My volunteer work
Who lives in my household
What I find funny Books or magazines I read
Who I socialize with What music I most enjoy
What stores I shop at 0
50
100
150
200
250
300
0
5
10
15
20
25
switch the focus from finding “perfect” buckets to finding the common ground When we look at traditional demographic labels, Hispanics are divided over which ones they would choose. We see a great deal of consensus, however, when we ask people to identify situations in which they experience or express their cultural identity. These charts compare the identifiers chosen by those who took the survey in English versus Spanish, and to a significant degree, identity labels differed depending on the language in which they participated.
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However, when we asked people to pick those behavioral situations in which they expressed their “Latino-ness,” we observed consensus across groups. The only significant exception was in the context of “what language I speak.” It is not surprising that those who took the survey in Spanish were more likely to express identity through their choice of language. Whether or not they spoke Spanish or English in the home, took our survey in Spanish or English or considered themselves to be Latino, Hispanic or Nicaraguan (for example), people tended to experience their ethnic identity similarly. Thus, as a way to talk about and potentially understand Latino identity, certain situations and behaviors (e.g., cooking meals, building a family, instilling moral values in one’s children) may be much more meaningful than conventional nationality and ethnicity buckets and measures of acculturation. These commonalities represent a great opportunity to speak meaningfully to Hispanics, despite the great diversity that defies demographics.
Participated in English Participated in Spanish
Country of origin
Hispanic
Latina
American 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
How I define my family
My moral values
What language I speak
My religious beliefs 0
5
10
15
20
25
five big ideas for brands and marketers. As the Hispanic market grows and evolves, it will continue to challenge conventional ideas about what it looks like to be “American.” The goal of acculturation for Latinos is not assimilation, but is a more nuanced and intentional integration, where aspects of Hispanic culture are coordinated with aspects of U.S. culture: an identity that is both Latino and American.
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Implications Real. Relevant. Relatable.
It is on us—marketers, brands and companies—to shift our lens and to discover culturally relevant ways to interact. Companies need to understand not how to better classify Latinos, but how to adjust their own perceptions and behaviors to acculturate themselves. Ignoring this imperative is risky: As Latina culture continues to challenge and influence “mainstream” culture, those who are not flexible will end up being the marginalized ones, unable, or unwilling, to participate in a genuine multicultural dialogue. We undertook this research to understand how to more effectively recruit and engage the full spectrum of self-identified Hispanics. And because the best marketing research is actionable, we vowed from the outset to emerge from it with some concrete measures that we could apply to our business. So, here are five things we’re going to do differently, measures to help ensure that what we do is real, relevant and relatable. And we think they are as germane to our clients as they are to us.
1. If you identify as Hispanic, you’re Hispanic.
2. Capitalize on the commonalities.
While it is tempting to try and simplify the evolving Hispanic market through the use of conventional race and ethnicity buckets and linear models of acculturation, the only thing this approach guarantees is that it will alienate some portion of the diverse Latino community. Not only is the Hispanic market much broader than first-generation and Spanishdominant consumers, but the larger and growing proportion of it comprises American-born people for whom maintaining a Hispanic identity is as much a choice as a necessity. Therefore, in recruiting for Hispanic communities, we’re going to avoid using blunt, demographically-based measures such as percentage of Spanishlanguage usage in the household, years in the United States, or even Spanish media consumption; and we advise any market researchers interested in understanding a population broader than new, non-English-speaking immigrants to do the same.
Despite distinct national differences, qualitative and quantitative analyses clearly demonstrate that Latinas share many contexts for identity expression. We intend to employ those contextual and behavioral modes of “being Hispanic,” both in the recruitment process and in building a sense of community and connection within our communities once they’ve launched. Brands can and should get equally surgical in their approach. Rather than simply relying on Spanishlanguage advertising and packaging, brands have a big opportunity to connect with and support people who wish to express their Hispanic identity, by focusing on and incorporating those elements and reaching out in those contexts that are most relevant across the board—family, food, values and music.
3. Use Spanish selectively. Spanish-language usage among Hispanics is less of a default and more of a choice; the border between Spanish and English is porous and situational. Thus, while we will generally not conduct Hispanic communities in Spanish, we’ll continue to use Spanish-speaking facilitators who can selectively conduct individual research activities in Spanish, where appropriate, such as when testing packaging or ad copy. Brand marketers can and should be equally selective about when and how they use Spanish; and use Spanglish—which incorporates the true two-way nature of assimilation— more broadly and freely.
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4. Micro-market whenever possible.
5. Maintain a constant connection.
We’ve learned that we must take both a broader and a more focused view of the Latino market: broader in the sense of not insisting on Spanish-language usage or media consumption as a prerequisite for “qualifying” as Hispanic, but more focused in recognizing that, within the broad population of people selfidentifying as Hispanic, country of origin often plays the most dominant role. Though it may require smaller, more numerous and targeted forms of outreach, we recognize that there is a world of distinct cultures, cuisines and traditions to be uniquely addressed. Brands and market researchers may need to develop strategies that work, not on a national, regional, or urban scale, but at the neighborhood level, and with the knowledge that word of mouth will likely have a sizable impact.
There is no one, consistent picture that describes today’s “acculturated” U.S. Latino, and this dynamism requires brands to experiment with new ways of interacting and communicating. Because they are private, high-trust environments which encourage openness and candor, our closed and secure online communities provide a safe place for companies to engage in that kind of experimentation and learning. But communities are not the only means to this essential end. Companies will need to be even more intentional about ensuring diversity in their own workforces, about establishing a local presence and face, and continually developing new ways to engage Hispanics in candid, authentic and ongoing dialogue; to make them not just “targets” but trusted teachers.
1 Floyd W. Rudmin, citing Redfield, Linton and Herskovits, 1936. Critical history of the acculturation psychology of assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization (Review of General Psychology, 2003). 2 Gerardo Marin, Fabio Sabogal, Barbara Vanoss Marin, Regina Otero-Sabogal and Eliseo J. Perez-Stable. Development of a short acculturation scale for Hispanics (Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1987). 3 Van C. Tran. English gain vs. Spanish loss? Language assimilation among second-generation Latinos in young adulthood (Social Forces, 2010). 4 Peter Francese. Hispanic market hits tipping point (Ad Age, 2010). 5 Betty Beard. Latino purchasing power grows (The Arizona Republic, 2009). 6 So you think you really know Spanish (http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=138510, 2009). 7 Peter Francese. Hispanic market hits tipping point (Ad Age, 2010). 8 Ibid. 9 Pew Hispanic Center. Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America. (December, 2009). 10 Ibid. 11 William H. Frey. Five myths about the 2010 Census and the U.S. population (Washington Post, February 14, 2010). 12 Pew Hispanic Center. Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America. (December, 2009). 13 Ibid. 14 Catie Shadlick and James Rowean, Spanglish: Understanding and reaching U.S. Hispanics (Unpublished masters’ thesis, Emerson College, 2008). 15 Katrina Lerman and Julie Wittes Schlack. Hispanic and Latino Participation in Private Online Communities. (Communispace Whitepaper, 2008).
Appendix SAMPLE
Analyses
Self-identified Latinas (N = 638) primarily or equally responsible for household shopping:
We did conduct statistical analyses to arrive at our quantitative findings and only significant results (p < .05) are reported. For more information about specific analyses, or for copies of the survey items we used, please contact the authors directly.
• 1 02 from a general market (English-language) panel • 1 04 from a Hispanic market (Spanish-language) panel • 3 61 from Communispace private, branded Spanishlanguage communities • 7 1 from Communispace private, branded Englishlanguage communities
In addition, we turned to our Hispanic facilitators for insight and advice, inviting them to talk about what they observed in running our Spanishlanguage communities, and what engaged and repelled them, both as professionals and consumers.
COLLABORATION = CULTURAL COMPETENCE This paper was conceived as a conversation between Hispanics and the companies that wish to engage them. We recognized that it was imperative to involve the Latino community itself, in designing the research, analyzing data and interpreting findings. Collaboration among the members of Communispace’s Research Team (who are all White) and our Latino community facilitators and members was built into the research process. Manila and Josué attempt to recreate some of this dialogue throughout this paper.
Communispace Hispanic Team that collaborated on this study
Maria Sara Roberts First Generation, Costa Rica
Manila Austin, Ph.D. Co-author, United States
Design Overview Data were collected in parallel (from panel and community members) in 2010:
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COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
PANEL SURVEY
En Español
Latinas in English- and Spanishspeaking communities
1. Discussion: Exploring Identities
Offer
Catie Schadlick Hispanic-market Specialist, United States
1. Terms for Latino identity were generated by qualitative research with Latino community members.
In English
2. Identity Survey: Being Me Means... (role, culture, context)
Client Screeners Qs (demographic) + Identity Questions (role, culture, context)
2. Hispanic facilitators worked with the Research Team to design the identity survey, and to review and interpret findings.
3. Latino facilitators participated in a focus group (that included their friends and family) to qualitatively expand on survey results.
3. Discussion + Collage/Video: How to Connect with the Ethnic Me
Analysis
Eddie Crespo Second Generation, Ecuador
Maria Vasallo Second Generation, Ecuador/Cuba
Josué Jansen, Co-author First Generation, Dominican Republic Amelia Wish Second Generation, Cuba
4. In particular, Josué Jansen and Manila Austin, who collaborated on the analysis, also co-authored this report. Adnelly Reyes-Colberg First Generation, Puerto Rico
About Communispace The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most admired brands turn to Communispace, the leader in generating game-changing insights via private online customer communities. Founded in 1999, the company has created more than 400 customer communities for industry leaders such as Kraft, Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, Hallmark, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, and Hilton Hotels Corporation. Headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts, the company has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, London, New York, San Francisco, as well as Imperia, Italy and Sydney, Australia. For more information, please visit: www.communispace.com