The U.S. Hispanic population may be the fastest growing ethnic segment in the country, but according to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study, it is also one of the most misunderstood, with a large portion of younger viewers in the demographic watching shows on multiple devices and preferring English-language content.
Hispanics currently number about 55 million residents in the U.S. and are and expected to grow to one-third of the entire country by 2060.
In its recent report – Always Connected: U.S.-based Hispanic consumers dominate mobile, entertainment and beyond – PwC found that the segment is one of the most tech-savvy – U.S. Hispanics are more likely to use newer technology like 4K TVs, virtual reality and drones – are heavy TV watchers and are increasingly viewing video on mobile devices. According to PwC, 90% of Hispanic consumers stream video on a smartphone or tablet, 10% higher than non-Hispanics. In addition, the average Hispanic consumer spends 26 hours per month watching video online or on their smartphone, 7 hours more than the overall U.S. average.
In addition, language isn’t as big a factor with the newest generation as it has been in the past. According to the PwC report, only 3% of first-generation Hispanic consumers watch exclusively Spanish-language content when streaming video, and just 21% said they stream more in Spanish than in English.
“Reaching Hispanic consumers is less about language and more about content,” PwC said in its report.
U.S. Hispanics also are heavy users of social media – younger consumers (aged 18-24) are more likely to tweet, like, share or follow a brand on social media than their non-Hispanic counterparts, 33% compared to 21%.
The heavy online and mobile viewing in the segment also translates into a high percentage that subscribe to subscription video on demand and over-the-top services. According to PwC, about 90% of U.S. Hispanics have subscribed to at least one SVOD service. The segment is less likely than non-Hispanics to subscribe to pay TV, with 79% seeing themselves as cable TV subscribers in one year (compared to 83% for non-Hispanics), dropping to 52% (55% for non-Hispanics) in 10 years.
Other key findings from the report include:
* TV consumers are much more likely to watch Spanish-language programming that is live – 77% of consumers who typically watch TV in Spanish said they watched live TV in the past seven days.
* First-generation Hispanic consumers are significantly more influenced by what they see on TV. 1 in 4 surveyed said they would be most influenced to purchase a product after seeing it on TV—more so than if they received a personal recommendation from a friend/family member, or saw something online, on social media or in the movies.
* While TV advertising dominates new-movie discovery for the majority of consumers, Hispanic consumers are more likely to find out about a new movie from a YouTube video ad.
* Hispanic consumers overall lead online viewership of TV. Hispanic TV consumers are watching a significant more amount online (average of 12.49 hours a week) than non-Hispanics (9.44 hours a week).
