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Archive for the ‘Research’ Category

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Using The News To Reach Hispanics On Health Issues

Despite the fears this year about swine flu, a recent study by the Clorox Company found that the majority of Hispanics in the U.S. (56 percent) are not currently worried about the flu.  In fact, only four out of 10 Hispanic adults said they are “very likely” to get vaccinated this year.

This seems strange given that in some cases Latinos have been disproportionately affected by the flu.  In Boston, for example, though Hispanics are only 14 percent of the population, they made up a third of the cases of swine flu this spring.  Meanwhile, a CDC study this August showed that Latinos in Chicago were four times as likely as whites to be hospitalized for the flu virus.  According to the CDC, because Latinos suffer more often than whites from asthma, diabetes and other aggravating health conditions, they may be more vulnerable to the flu.

The contrast between Hispanics’ perception of the dangers of flu and the reality is a cause for concern, and it suggests the need for public health education.  This is where proper use of the news media can make a big difference in reaching Hispanics.
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Posted in culture, Health, Health information, Hispanic, HispanicPR, language, Latino, Network, Population, Public Health, Research, Spanish, television | 3 Comments »

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Hispanics Top The Charts In Use Of Social Media

Everyone is abuzz about the use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, and companies are all seeking ways to capitalize on their potential through bloggers, tweets, vodcasts, etc.  At the same time, questions remain as to how much of the public is engaged in social media.

The news about Hispanics has been encouraging: research has shown that more Hispanics use online social media on a regular basis than African-Americans or non-Hispanic whites.

Earlier this year, Dr. Felipe Korzenny of Florida State University released the study “The Multicultural World of Social Media.”  The study surveyed use of social media sites among 2500 people, with approximately 500 people in each of five groups: English-preferring Hispanics, Spanish-preferring Hispanics, Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Non-Hispanic Whites.  The researchers determined the percentage of people in each group who used social media sites like Twitter, along with Facebook and MySpace, on a regular basis.

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Posted in Census, culture, Hispanic, HispanicPR, language, Latino, Population, Research, Social media | 7 Comments »

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Taking Hispanic Marketing Beyond Language, Acculturation (Advertising Age)

There is a new study being conducted by Starcom MediaVest Group and Telemundo to give marketers a more in-depth look at the changing U.S. Hispanic market, according to an article by Laura Wentz in Advertising Age.  The study will go beyond language and acculturation, also looking at passions, lifestyle, interests and other influences that shape one’s identity.

The study is expected to be released in 2010, just as the content from the 2010 starts to emerge.  Read the Ad Age article here:  http://adage.com/hispanic/article?article_id=138237

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Posted in Acculturation, Assimilation, Census, culture, Hispanic, HispanicPR, language, Latino, Population, Research | 4 Comments »

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Market Research Techniques and The Hispanic Market

This week, the AARP released a survey looking at older Hispanics in the U.S. workforce, and the survey provides a good example of the difficulties of doing survey research on Hispanics.   The AARP asked older Hispanics, age 50-69, about their job satisfaction, and found that despite higher levels of physical activity on the job, lower wages and less job security, Hispanics ages 50-69 reported less stress and higher job satisfaction.  At least, that’s what they said for the survey.

The AARP admits in the report that there’s a cultural issue here: Latinos feel more of a need to respond positively when asked questions in surveys, and are less likely to complain so as to be polite.

This problem was taken on in a great piece last year by Ricardo Lopez of Hispanic Research, a NJ-based Hispanic market research firm.  Lopez has been in this business for over 20 years and he says that while glad that more companies are looking to do Hispanic research, the old methods will not work with un-acculturated Hispanics.  Just as culture’s a factor in our marketing, it’s also huge in our market research.

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Posted in culture, Hispanic, HispanicPR, language, Latino, Research, translation | 6 Comments »